It's 7 a.m. Sunday morning, a clear and cool 59 degrees (F) and the neighborhood blue jays have called me out into my garden.
Sitting still is not easy for me but I take my morning tea out to the summer dining space and listen to my neighborhood and look at my garden.
This magnificent white oak shades my back garden most of the day and when I first moved here, it was such a challenge to garden alongside it but now I treasure this 100 year old giant for the connection it gives me to the history of this garden.
I moved here almost 19 years ago and the first summer, one of my daughters and I rediscovered this little concrete pond nestled at the base of the tree. I'm sure the gardener than installed it had a much smaller tree 4 feet away and never considered that ponds should not be under trees. Pond landscapers would be horrified with the "condition" but the 200 plus American toad tadpoles currently residing there seem quite content.
I moved here from a sunny garden and struggled to find the best plants for a very shady yard but now I'm quite enamored with hosta. My youngest sister shared starts of many of her favorites and although I can't "name" any of them, I delight in their calm display of texture and pattern.
This morning, pearls of dew had collected along the edges of the leaves.
The transcandentia is the only spot of color in that long bed this morning but a parade of white flowering plants have been watching the hostas burst forth for the past several weeks.
For color and sun, I have to go to the front yard. This David Austin rambler rose has had a difficult couple of years so I did a big cut back in hopes that it can regain some of its strength this summer.
I was prepared for no flowers this spring, but there they are -- bless them!!
The front porch is scheduled for the big cleaning this afternoon, but the planter boxes I put together a few weeks ago are filling in nicely. In a month, they'll be flanked on either side by trellises of blue morning glories.
I'm sad to see the beautiful blue iris fading from bloom -- they have been glorious, but this spectacular foxglove is filling the gap.
It's like the giant ones I've seen in English gardens -- so amazing.
But my tea is getting cold and so I must go back to enjoy another hour of quiet in the back garden before church. By the time we get home, the neighbor men will be out with their blowers and mowers!!
I hope you are having a peaceful Sunday in your part of the world!
Grateful for quiet moments!
Mary Huey
