Green thoughts on a summer morn

It is good to be alone

in a garden at dawn or dusk,

so that all its shy presences may haunt you

and possess you in a reverie

of suspended thought.

~ James Douglas,

Down Shoe Lane

In my garden there is a large place for sentiment.

My garden of flowers is also

my garden of thoughts and dreams.

The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers,

and the dreams are as beautiful.

~Abram L. Urban

As I strolled through the garden,

the daylilies were unfurling

their petals and sepals,

a smile and a nod

to the newness of the day.

Gardens are a form of autobiography.

~Sydney Eddison,

Horticulture magazine, August/September 1993

No two gardens are the same.

No two days are the same in one garden.

~Hugh Johnson

I never had any other desire so strong,

and so like to covetousness,

as that one which I have had always,

that I might be master at last of a small house

and a large Garden.

~Abraham Cowley,

The Garden, 1666

This year it struck me that I now have

a collection of daylilies.

It just seemed to evolve as I made room

for more and more.

They grow really well in the sweltering humidity here

and require little maintainance.

I have not previously considered myself

a collector of any sort of plant,

but, rather, a hostess to them.

Like guests at a garden party,

each one has her own personality and spirit.

Give me odorous at sunrise

a garden of beautiful flowers

where I can walk undisturbed.

~Walt Whitman

This morning I awoke early,

before the rest of the household.

The garden beckoned to me

as I sat on the porch,

a bowl of cereal in front of me.

Camera in hand to catch the morning light,

I coaxed a shy smile from each flower.

The air was soft, a gentle prelude before

the crescendo of heat comes

crashing down upon us

with the approach of mid-day.

Wishing you some moments of solitude

to spend in a garden,

time for reflection and reverie.

Until next time...

Anne