If you would have a mind at peace, and a heart that cannot harden,
Go find a door that opens wide upon a lovely garden.
author unknown
It’s definitely springtime here: goldfinches are fighting for space at the feeder outside our dining room window; doves are cooing and nuzzling on the back fence; and mischievous mockingbirds are dive-bombing the wrens on the lawn, trying as always to instigate trouble. Best of all, everything’s coming into bloom.
I ate a picnic lunch in my backyard today. It felt so good to be outside, soaking up the afternoon sun! Afterward, I took a walk through my garden, which I like to do when I need time for reflection, a sanctuary for quieting my spirit. And hey, look what I brought back for you — a bouquet of pretty flowers! 
Left to Right, top row: grapefruit; pansies and violets, Marie Bracie camillias
Left to Right, middle row: Nucco’s Gold white camillia, Nucco’s Gold pink camillia; campanula and sea coral
Left to Right, third row: sun azalea; pansies in vintage Red Flyer wagon, with Posy’s sculpture, “Gus” in back; Japanese magnolia
Left to Right, bottom row: lace-leafed lavender; geranium; cyclamen in pot, with plenty of bistro table seating for anyone who wants to join me for a cup of tea!
So lovely!!!!
Thanks, Kelsey. I’m sure you know why I especially appreciated my garden today. 🙂
So lovely!!!!
well, I was drinking this nice green tea all by myself.. but looks like now, I am having tea with YOU!!
Thanks for joining me; it’s hard to find anything more delicious than tea and a chat with a special friend!
Since it was only 15 degrees here today, it was nice to visit your garden!!!!! ; )
Since it was only 15 degrees here today, it was nice to visit your garden!!!!! ; )
Beautiful. I’m so jealous, I won’t be seeing flowers for months yet.
I remember well what it’s like to live for months on end without flowers. I used to visit greenhouse nurseries, just so I could see colors of spring before they showed up in my yard. Be sure to take some of these flowers with you…they’re yours, after all! 🙂
Thanks for the early taste of spring. 🙂 The Japanese magnolia is especially pretty.
I like your beautiful flowers, too. Are they from your yard?
Thanks. We have 200 tulips, 150 of which were a wedding present. We had tulips in Dutch wooden shoes on the tables at our wedding.
Ooooh, lovely! What a great idea for a wedding present. And I’ll bet those table-top decorations were stunning.
Thanks. We have 200 tulips, 150 of which were a wedding present. We had tulips in Dutch wooden shoes on the tables at our wedding.
Thanks. We have 200 tulips, 150 of which were a wedding present. We had tulips in Dutch wooden shoes on the tables at our wedding.
Very, very pretty. Makes me wish I had a backyard. Thanks for sharing yours!
Aaaaah, you’re polluting my garden with those terrifying gargoyles in that icon! Shoo, shoo them away!
(You’re welcome to stay, however. A garden’s always more lovely when it’s shared with a friend.)
But just think of how great the fertilizer from these clowns would be. I mean can you find a more pure form of bull**it than these tools? 🙂
Why thanks ya. You may never get me to leave your garden though. I’ll just hang out with the birds and butterflies. 🙂
But just think of how great the fertilizer from these clowns would be. I mean can you find a more pure form of bull**it than these tools? 🙂
Why thanks ya. You may never get me to leave your garden though. I’ll just hang out with the birds and butterflies. 🙂
But just think of how great the fertilizer from these clowns would be. I mean can you find a more pure form of bull**it than these tools? 🙂
Why thanks ya. You may never get me to leave your garden though. I’ll just hang out with the birds and butterflies. 🙂
Aaaaah, you’re polluting my garden with those terrifying gargoyles in that icon! Shoo, shoo them away!
(You’re welcome to stay, however. A garden’s always more lovely when it’s shared with a friend.)
Very, very pretty. Makes me wish I had a backyard. Thanks for sharing yours!
I know! I feel so fortunate!
Beautiful. We’re still buried under half a ton of snow…your garden made me long for spring that much more. 🙁
I know how you feel. For a long while, I lived in a place where it was dark, cold and dreary for much of the year. I’m so glad to be home again now, where there are year-’round flowers. I hope these cheered you, at least a little. 🙂
I know how you feel. For a long while, I lived in a place where it was dark, cold and dreary for much of the year. I’m so glad to be home again now, where there are year-’round flowers. I hope these cheered you, at least a little. 🙂
I know how you feel. For a long while, I lived in a place where it was dark, cold and dreary for much of the year. I’m so glad to be home again now, where there are year-’round flowers. I hope these cheered you, at least a little. 🙂
Gorgeous!
Thanks, Liz. I think your frog would feel at home in my garden. You, too, I hope. 🙂
Oh, I sure would! It’s so nice to see flowers there, since it’s a black and white world here. Somtimes you forget how vivid life is– and it’s such a nice surprise!
“Somtimes you forget how vivid life is– and it’s such a nice surprise!”
Precisely the reason the world needs artists like you!
Awww…
Thanks!
😀
“Somtimes you forget how vivid life is– and it’s such a nice surprise!”
Precisely the reason the world needs artists like you!
Oh, I sure would! It’s so nice to see flowers there, since it’s a black and white world here. Somtimes you forget how vivid life is– and it’s such a nice surprise!
Thanks, Liz. I think your frog would feel at home in my garden. You, too, I hope. 🙂
Thanks, Liz. I think your frog would feel at home in my garden. You, too, I hope. 🙂
Gorgeous!
Gorgeous!
Gorgeous, Melodye! Look at all that bright loveliness!
It’s fun to share it with you! Care for a cup of tea?
It’s fun to share it with you! Care for a cup of tea?
Gorgeous, Melodye! Look at all that bright loveliness!
Gorgeous, Melodye! Look at all that bright loveliness!
*sigh* Thanks for sending some lovely color and cheer to freezing New England! I can almost feel that warm sunshine…ahhh
I’m happy to share it with you, Erin. In a couple of weeks, we have to be in NY and CT for a few days…I’m already dreading the cold! Such a weather wimp, me!
Thank you for sharing! I love spring. So very much, I love spring. 🙂
You’re welcome; thanks for coming to my impromptu outdoor party!
Lucky you, Melodye! February is just the worst month in this clime – realy dreary. I long for sun and flowers!
I know how much you dislike the cold, so I hope these flowers help you think warm thoughts of spring!
… I am yearning for spring! And today the house is getting colder and colder because idiot that I am I hadn;t noticed that we were running low on heating oil, and now we’ve run out !Thank goodness, I was able to get more delivered this afternoon otherwise we’d have had a cold weekend…
Oh, no! I’m glad you noticed before the weekend!! Here, let me make you a hot cup of tea. We’ll sit on the sofa and chat ’til the oil arrrives…nothing like friendship to keep you warm, now is there? 🙂
Your flowers look beautiful!
We don’t have any in my backyard at all, and in front, Hubby had ripped up our garden and put up a really cool rock wall, but never replanted, so I have about two flowering bushes and tons of dirt. You must really enjoy writing or reading in your backyard!
Thanks, Mindy! I really do cherish having flowers in my yard. I used to hate gardening when I was younger, but now it gives me a sense of peace and well-being. Will you be planting flowers this spring? It sounds like a big project, but as someone who just recently replaced most of our backyard landscaping, I can say it’s a LOT of work, but so much fun to choose plants to replace what’s been yanked out.
Your flowers look beautiful!
We don’t have any in my backyard at all, and in front, Hubby had ripped up our garden and put up a really cool rock wall, but never replanted, so I have about two flowering bushes and tons of dirt. You must really enjoy writing or reading in your backyard!
Oh, Melodye, you are so lucky! What a beautiful garden! We’re freezing up here in Atlantic Canada. Spring is still a few weeks away…sigh.
Hang on; spring’s on the way, and the groundhog said it’s coming soon!
Thanks for stopping by to visit me in my garden; I love sharing it with my friends!
Thanks, Melodye!
If I lived closer, you can bet your geraniums that I’d be visiting in person! *wink*
Hang on; spring’s on the way, and the groundhog said it’s coming soon!
Thanks for stopping by to visit me in my garden; I love sharing it with my friends!
How refreshing! I love all the colors! *sigh*
Thanks, I do, too. I’m glad I was able to share them with you.
This is but one reason why I love living in SoCal…I got really lonesome for flowers when I lived in a colder climate for a while.
Now are you pulling our leg? Flowers that pretty growing here in the USA? They should be in South America since it is summer time down there. Nothing here but barren farm land and barren flower beds.
No sir, I’m not. Those pretty flowers are home grown, right here in my Orange County back and front yards. We’ve had a stretch of summer-like weather and the plants are showing their appreciation. Really, though, we’ve got flowers blooming (of one kind or another) all year ’round. THAT’s a big reason why I live in CA and not TX.
New icon? I like. 🙂
Now are you pulling our leg? Flowers that pretty growing here in the USA? They should be in South America since it is summer time down there. Nothing here but barren farm land and barren flower beds.