Healing Elements
Sunshine summons me, and I find myself outside much more lately. The gardens give their splendid gifts of color and texture, saturate me with their emerald glow, give life a new dimension, and bathe me in serenity. It is what I need right now. My husband created these gardens from rocky soil which he had to work by hand, day after day for many months. My Mother's love of gardening is now his gift to enjoy. He creates magic with gloved hand, amended soil, correct light, and Mother Nature's blessings. Self-educated in this art, he has listened carefully along the way, has taught himself well, has paid attention in order to make the right decisions. It shows.
I will be having major surgery in 2 weeks. It is a bit complicated and scary, this 4 hour procedure I must undergo. When I come home from the hospital I will be recovering among these flowers and shrubs, sitting among these towering evergreens. I will be lounging in the sunlight on the courtyard, surrounded by roses and the exotic fragrance of sweet alyssum flowing from pots of red geraniums and white bacopa planted with deep purple petunias and light, airy lobelia, as blue as the sky. I will be looking out onto a landscape of magestic lilies, white and plum and mauve, at perennials cast across a canvas in hues that bleed together like watercolors, listening to the birds call and sing, and watching them splash in their garden baths. Their competitors at the feeder, the fuzzy squirrels, will entertain me hiding peanuts, even from themselves, and chasing neighborhood squirrels away. Windchimes make quiet music in the breezes here and will add more tranquility to these moments. Everything around me is conducive to healing and joy. My husband and his love, our gardens and their beauty, the wildlife and its mysteries, and nature's all consuming, exquisite magic. Just what the doctor will order.
In the coming weeks we will take some photos of the lilies which are just now beginning to open. Until then, please enjoy the photos we have of our May and early June gardens.
Thank you all in advance for your good wishes during my surgery and recovery. I need and appreciate all the support and healing energy sent my way. When I feel up to it I will post an update on Facebook for those of you who are there, and I will try to get some photos of the lilies posted here. Until later, good cheer to us all!
“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul.”
John Muir
Click on each photograph to enlarge for details. All photography shown is from of our private collection and may not be used in any manner without our written permission.Labels: Birds, Garden, Healing, John Muir, Sunshine, Surgery
Springtime Hypervigilance
Weeping Cherry BlossomsSome people would call us addicts. We move through the gardens searching for a new bloom, checking the soil for new green tips crawling up toward the sun. We seem to always be looking for our next "fix," the moment when we spot that perfect assurance that spring is alive and well and is living in OUR gardens! Eyes move across stems and branches, always exploring, noting changes from yesterday. We scan our colorful landscape hunting for the new bloom or a bud which might have burst open in the morning light. We are often surprised at the magic which can happen between the darkening night sky and the morning's first light.
We were sorry to learn that our extremely cold and snowy winter brought the loss of a few of our plants and shrubs. We lost a tea olive we had planted in memory of my uncle. It was his favorite plant, a lovely evergreen with fragrant blooms several times a year. An escallonia, another evergreen, may return in time. It was lovely last year, huge and full and filled with pink blooms all season. Now it is reduced to bare stems with 3-4 leaves. One of our treasured George Tabor azaleas lost most of her leaves. We will pamper her back to health as one pampers a sick child. We ordered her and her siblings from Georgia and spent many, pretty pennies on them. Almost all of our purple wall flowers were killed. Two of our heavenly bamboo shrubs were significantly damaged, but both should survive. One daphne odoro is dead; the other, healthy and covered with blooms until recently, always fills the late winter air with exotic scents. One immediately begins to search the gardens to find the host of the intoxicating fragrance.
We are seeing the lilies rise up and begin to show their buds. The alliums are growing tall and making huge bulbous buds which will open into my husband's favorite early summer blooms. Tiny leaves are now showing on multiple perennial stems which always look like dead twigs until spring removes the mask of winter. The columbines are up and full - their blooms will follow soon. Some early blooming azaleas are in bud now. The viburnums are bursting forth in clumps of white buds which will open within the week. Candytuft is covering the bank in small, white blooms, but its companion, lithodora, which always dots that white blanket with tiny, blue blooms, was almost killed back by a late spring snowfall. Now it looks dead. It is beginning to show tints of green amidst the gray/black hue of its clumps, but we don't expect much show of bloom from it.
Right now in bloom we have tulips and daffodils; purple heather; blue and purple reticulata irises which are on their way out; white candytuft; pink, purple, sage green, and white hellebores; early blooming rhododendrons; the chartreuse green and red blooms of euphorbias; pink and white bleeding hearts; and yellow and white bucharica irises. The hyacinths are about gone, and despite the fertilizing we do some have become too frail in bloom to keep. These will be replaced. I have no photos yet of a huge clump of purple/magenta tulips which are now in bloom. When I remember that we need a few photos of these magnificent trophies which opened recently it is either dark or raining. When it is light and sunny I am too distracted to think of it. There will be many other photos of our gardens so it will be added later.
Here are a few photographs of our spring garden. We hope you enjoy them!
All photography is part of our private collection and cannot be copied or used in any manner without our explicit, written permission.
Click on each photograph to see the details of each image. You will find a spider happily enjoying the white narcissus in the last photograph. Labels: Bleeding Heart, Cherry Blossoms, Daffodils, Euphorbia, Heather, Iris Bucharica, Iris Reticulata, Rododendron, Spring, Tulips
Scenes from Spring
Sunday was the first sunny day of the season for us Pacific Northwesterners. People poured out of their homes and the local coffeeshops to gather in the sunshine. Parks were filled with people lounging in the light, sitting on benches, hiking along trails, and standing in groups busily chatting in excited tones. The Sound was filled with boats of every size and type. We watched the huge state ferries come and go. A cargo ship from the oceanic fleet of Wallenius Wilhelmsen was likely headed to Tacoma as it moved past sailboats appearing to glide along the silvery blue water. All afternoon we were reminded that spring is on her way.
A bright sun falling in the late afternoon sky lit the waters
of Puget Sound in a blinding glare. I was mesmerized with
the way the light filtered through these trees and amplified
their wooden bones.
Sailors put their boats in the water along the Magnolia
shoreline just north of Seattle on this, our first warm day
of the season. Until Sunday a rainy chill penetrated the
skies and kept us all inside. It is the Pacific NW, afterall,
so rain will return for the entire week ahead.
Robins played along the banks of the Sound and pushed
their beaks into the grassy carpet looking for food.
Yes, it is spring - the robins say so!
Washington ferries traveled back and forth along the
waterways, sharing travel routes with cargo and cruise
ships, motorboats, and sailboats. It is fascinating to
compare the sizes of the various vessels which move
along the Sound.
A clever hummingbird made a nest and laid 2 eggs in a
large camellia which was for sale at Molbak's Nursery in
Woodinville, WA. A birder in a forum I belong to shared
this information, so we headed there on our only sunny day
this spring. There they were, 2 young hummers alone in the
nest. Staff have protected the babies by placing barricades
around the shrub and asking customers to give the
birds privacy. This was taken with a zoom lens.
In the evening of March 9th, my husband took his camera and tripod and headed outside to shoot this photograph of a full moon framed by branches of our bamboo trees. Even though it was not quite spring it was a magical sight, and the one with which I will end this exhibition!
All photography is from of our private colletion and may not be used in any manner without our explicit and written permission. To enlarge the photographs just click on each one.
Labels: Hummingbird nest, Robin, Sailboats, Spring, Sunshine
Mother's Gifts
My beautiful Mother left us on Wednesday, February 18, 2009. I miss her being here in my world. I am heartbroken that I will never hear her voice again or touch her soft face. I will never kiss her or remind her once again of how special she is.
She lives in my sister and in me, within our treasured memories, within our DNA, inside our hearts, within the gifts she gave us. Her love of reading and her love of gardening are two major gifts she imparted to us both.
In the early Seattle spring my husband and I will add a beautiful plant to our garden in memory of Mother, something which will remind us of her love of flowers, her enjoyment of putting new life into the earth. Today she rests under the branches of a crepe myrtle tree which will celebrate her life in its summer blooms which thrive under the hot, Georgia sun. We placed a beautiful JW Stannard windchime in the branches which sway above her. When we visited her grave before we left Georgia soft music was playing in the stillness of the late afternoon.
Rest, dear Mother, rest. You are deeply loved and remembered always.
An Observation
True gardeners cannot bear a glove
Between the sure touch and the tender root,
Must let their hands grow knotted as they move
With a rough sensitivity about
Under the earth, between the rock and shoot,
Never to bruise or wound the hidden fruit.
And so I watched my mother's hands grow scarred,
She who could heal the wounded plant or friend
With the same vulnerable yet rigorous love;
I minded once to see her beauty gnarled,
But now her truth is given to me to live,
As I learn for myself we must be hard
To move among the tender with an open hand,
And to stay sensitive up to the end
Pay with some toughness for a gentle world.
May Sarton
Originally published in A Private Mythology, 1966Let Evening Come
Let the light of late afternoon
shine through chinks in the barn, moving
up the bales as the sun moves down.
Let the cricket take up chafing
as a woman takes up her needles
and her yarn. Let evening come.
Let dew collect on the hoe abandoned
in long grass. Let the stars appear
and the moon disclose her silver horn.
Let the fox go back to its sandy den.
Let the wind die down. Let the shed
go black inside. Let evening come.
To the bottle in the ditch, to the scoop
in the oats, to air in the lung
let evening come.
Let it come, as it will, and don’t
be afraid. God does not leave us
comfortless, so let evening come.
Jane Kenyon
From Collected Poems
Copyright © 2005 by the Estate of Jane Kenyon
A Photograph of Mother only 3 weeks before her deathLabels: An Observation, death, gardening, Jane Kenyon, Let Evening Come, May Sarton, Mother, reading
Blizzards of Snow Geese
Snow Geese in Flight on Fir Island
in the Skagit River Delta Region of Skagit County, WashingtonSometime in fall the snow geese leave Wrangel Island, Russia and other areas of Artic tundra to fly at speeds of up to 50 mph some 3,000 miles in distance to Washington State in North America. It is no wonder they can be referred to as a
blizzard of snow geese when swells of them rise from the earth and fill the air with their fluttering white wings. These Artic birds can often be found on the Skagit River Delta between La Conner and Anacortes, Washington from early winter through mid spring. They winter here in our state feeding on vegetation in the rich delta soil. Their reddish stained heads reveal the high content of iron they have ingested during their stay, a condition which is only temporary.
These geese nest in the Artic tundra of northern Canada, Alaska, Russia, and Greenland, always returning to the same areas where they hatched to build their own nests. The female lays about 4 eggs which are incubated and guarded by both her and her mate. During these 23-28 days the geese eat little to nothing, losing about 20% of their total body weight. Shortly after the eggs are hatched the adults will molt and, like their goslings, become unable to fly. By the time their new feathers appear, their young are ready to fly. In the interim and during the remainder of summer they and their goslings will feed on the surrounding vegetation enjoying the long, sun-filled days of heavy feeding as they prepare themselves for their flight ahead.
At summer's end when the temperatures begin to to drop they are once again ready to return to their winter playgrounds on the Skagit River Delta or perhaps stop off a little north of Washington at the Canadian border and winter on the Fraser River Delta. In both places they find the water soaked farmlands and rich aquatic life of the bays which provide winter feasting and moderate temperatures which keep them comfortable
during colder months. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and local farmers in the county plant grasses and winter wheat for the purpose of providing a good diet for the snow geese. Winter feasting is critical to their survival during the nesting season. Since they go without food while nesting they must build up a good reserve of body fat during late summer and winter months in order to sustain themselves.
Seeing 30,000 birds in one place left me speechless. When huge flocks of them take flight the movement of wings blurs the vision. Nature grants us such privilege and provides amazing gifts. These geese, quite uncomfortable in human presence, allowed my husband within 3-4 feet of them for several photographs.
Click on all photographs to enlarge. It is worth it!
All photography contained herein
is from our private collection and
may not be used without
written permission.
Flocks Estimated at 30,000+ Feeding on Local Vegetation
Labels: Anacortes, Artic Tundra, Migration, Skagit River Delta, Skagit Valley, Snow Geese
Flakes to Inches to Feet
Happy Holiday Greetings from our home to yours!
Our first snowfall of the season was late arriving. We all expected it last Wednesday so I called my hair dresser to change my appointment to Tuesday hoping to
avoid a snowy traffic jam. Cars slide up and down hills near our home. Puget Sound is hilly like San Francisco. We live atop a small mountain so getting to and from home can become an issue when snow joins the scene. We had no snowfall last Tuesday night or Wednesday. I should have been picking up the last of my Christmas gifts instead of watching the sky like a meteorologist. I was too afraid to leave, afraid the snow would grab me like it did one evening last year when it had us sliding along Lake Sammamish Parkway, unable to follow any tracks because the snowfall was so heavy . Instead of doing my Christmas shopping I stayed home in front of the fire, keeping the pipes warm in the 20 degree temps we were having.
Thursday we awoke to a sprinkling of snow, perhaps 2 inches . Hubby can work from home so he set himself up in our office and began his day. I pulled open all the shades and watched the flakes fall, big hunks of snow swirling in circles and floating toward the earth. The branches of our giant Sequoia and its companion
evergreens were draped in white sheets; the Autumn Joy sedum and the rock garden flora wearing white hats on their stems and flowerheads. Hubby purchased hand warmers to tape to the bottom of the hummingbird feeder to keep the nectar in liquid form. Hummers were waiting for their nectar in the icy weather, a deadly situation for them which threatened their survival. They moved straight to the feeder each morning to suck the nectar, one balancing on the perch around the feeding holes, likely too weak to flutter his wings and eat. We placed a heater in one of the bird baths, suet cakes in the suet cages, peanuts in the squirrel box, and plenty of nuts and seeds in the feeders. The wildlife was doing fine, and we enjoyed watching them feast from the warmth of our inside retreat.
By Friday we had several inches of snow on the ground, a pristine landscape which we watched from the windows and the covered entryway porch. Soon the postman would break
the perfect white veil across the courtyard leaving his footprints as he delivered Christmas goodies from Swiss Colony. We decided to make a stockpot of chicken vegetable soup. Based on the weather forecast this may be our Christmas dinner, too! More snow fell over the weekend, and now more than a foot of snow hides the gardens from sight. Pathways and gardens disappear under wide white ribbons of snow while evergreens hold their lacy white branches a little closer to the ground. The landscape resembles a Christmas card; it is surreal - too quiet, too white, too perfect as snowfall once again covers the intrusion of any visitor.
It is all serene. There are no noises to interfere with the stillness accompanying these snowfalls except perhaps the sound of snow falling from a branch and crashing into a shrub below. Birds and squirrels scatter seeds, but there is a tranquility which
hovers over the landscape and the wildlife. Serenity, always appreciated in the busy hustle of Christmas, lays across our land and feeds our own quiet, contemplative moods. We are looking forward to getting out again and doing some Christmasing, eager to see the magic of the city lights, ready to welcome the Christmas ships as they sail to ports on Lake Washington, anticipating the carolers singing to us on Seattle's streets. We hear we will be getting more snow each day until Christmas, but on Christmas Day the temps will rise above freezing and the skies will shower us with rain. It is winter in Seattle, after all, and if it is Seattle in winter, baby, the rain must fall!
Labels: December, Rain, Seattle, snow
"...One is Silver and the Other Gold."
In summer the purple leaves of our smoke tree are highlighted by puffs of pink flowers. As fall approaches the purple fades to pinks and apricots when autumn takes up residence along her beautiful limbs.
Is there any tree more glorious in fall than a maple? Splashing oranges and reds throughout the landscape, maples hold me captive until the winds blow these boldly colored leaves through chilled air, sending them off to feed the earth.
An old barn in the Cascades has a story to tell about days long past as she stands among the aspens which tremble in the breeze. Until I saw my first aspen I had no idea what the word trembling really meant!
Off in the distance a bridge crosses the Skykomish River in the Cascades.
Aspens shimmer along Highway 2 where the road travels along several waterways as it winds toward Leavenworth, Washington.
The Cascade range seems to be striped in yellow, orange, green, and red as colors move vertically down the mountainsides where logging has removed evergreens.
This two lane highway tunnels through the rock of the Cascades on one side while the Skykomish River flows rapidly across river rocks and boulders on the other.
"...One is silver and the other gold." Actually the golden aspen gives the illusion of silver when its limbs are bare. The contrast here of silver and gold is pure magic.
All photography is from our private collection and may not be copied or used in any manner without our written permission.
Click on each photograph to enlarge it.
Labels: Aspen, Autumn, Cascades, Fall Color, Highway 2, Maple, Skykomish River, Smoke tree, Washington
