Sunday Dinner: Hope

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“I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge.

That myth is more potent than history.

That dreams are more powerful than facts.

That hope always triumphs over experience.

That laughter is the only cure for grief.

And I believe that love is stronger than death.”

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Robert Fulghum

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“Listen to the mustn’ts, child.  Listen to the don’ts.

Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts.

Listen to the never haves,

then listen close to me…   Anything can happen, child.

Anything can be.”

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Shel Silverstein

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“The world is indeed full of peril,

and in it there are many dark places;

but still there is much that is fair,

and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief,

it grows perhaps the greater.”

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J.R.R. Tolkien

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“Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come,
Whispering ‘it will be happier’…”

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Alfred Lord Tennyson

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Photos by Woodland Gnome 2015

December scenes captured at Colonial Williamsburg

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“A Forest Garden 2016” gardening calendar is now available, featuring some of our favorite photos from 2015.  Write to me at woodlandgnome@zoho.com for details.

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One Word Photo Challenge: Taupe

Redbud tree seedpods

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Taupe: Tan, brownish grey or greyish brown; 

Khaki?

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Not my favorite color, but sadly, much of our garden fades to taupe in winter.

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This is the dried out husky color of dead grasses.

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The bleached left-over color of fallen leaves and dried seed pods. 

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It is the background, the default; Nature’s neutral. 

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It cloaks the marshes and carpets the forest floor. 

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We distract ourselves in December with pine green, berry red, cone brown. 

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We gild it all with frost and snow. 

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But Taupe is patiently waiting. 

It’s death-mask tranquility will still greet us

in January, February, March. 

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Beaten by rain, blown by wind, bleached by sun, rotted by time;

Taupe will not  surrender

Until it is overpowered with fresh spring green growth.

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Photos by Woodland Gnome 2014

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With Appreciation to Jennifer Nichole Wells for her

One Word Photo Challenge:  Taupe

For A Friend

This tree in Colonial Williamsburg always captures my interest. A beautiful tree,  with an unusual branch structure; and I haven’t yet been able to identify it.   Do you know this tree?

This post is for a special friend who moved away from Williamsburg a few years ago, to return, in retirement, to a Zone 10A garden near where she grew up.

She was kind enough to write to me today, and share some memories of times we shared together here in Virginia.

She followed a link I sent her to Forest Garden, and has been enjoying a window into our Virginia spring through the photos she has found here.

Sheep living in a field at Colonial Williamsburg

And so these photos today are especially for Janet, although you are certainly welcome to enjoy them, also.  I am hoping to possibly lure her back for a visit….

Janet is a dedicated gardener, like most of my friends, and she  also holds the gardens of  Colonial Williamsburg in a special place in her heart.

Colonial Williamsburg allows horses to graze in fields near the historic area.

My partner and I enjoyed a brief visit to Colonial Williamsburg earlier this week.

 

You may enjoy seeing some of the sights we enjoyed.  Perhaps you will visit Williamsburg this summer, too.  If you enjoy natural beauty, history, and wonderful food, you’ll enjoy a visit here.

The flowering shrubs on the opposite shore are Mountain Laurel.

Our world here in Virginia looks and feels like summer now. 

A marsh on Jamestown Island.

We hit 90 degrees this afternoon, and some little starts still in their nursery pots wilted in the heat.  I came home from a picnic to find them sadly wilted, and gave them a little emergency watering.

Honeysuckle perfumes the air with sweetness. It grows wild wherever it can get a foothold. I’ve been pulling honeysuckle vines out of the fern garden this week.

I felt heartless to have been off having fun with friends with these poor little plants neglected and dry.  If tomorrow morning is cool, they will go into the ground first thing.

Wild blackberries growing with honeysuckle. In a few weeks, the berries will be ripe and delicious.

We are almost at the end of planting season now.  Our heat has arrived, and it is enough to keep everything watered and deadheaded.

Ligustrum shrubs, blooming now in our garden, add to the sweetness of the summer breezes.

Pools are open now,  school is almost over, and we’re in the lull between college commencements and high school graduations.

The air is thick with sweet scents from honeysuckle, Ligustrum, and box.  Oh, what bliss is this for all of us whose blood flows green…

These shrubs grow “like weeds” in our garden; yet their flowers are beautiful. Our birds love these shrubs where they find food and shelter.

The fragrance of early summer always leaves me nostalgic.

It reminds of friends and good times we shared.  And it entices me out of the air conditioning, into the garden, to enjoy the wonder of it all.

Can you spot the bee visiting the purple milk vetch?

Photos by  Woodland Gnome 2014

This summer’s grapes have begun to form on the wild grapevines.

Signs of Spring: Colonial Williamsburg

We took a walk on Duke of Gloucester Street today.  We’ve had a few warm days in a row now, and the gardens have come back to life.  The birds are happily responding to the change in season.

Can you spot the male cardinal?

More flowers are opening, and we are happy that it is finally beginning to look a little spring like.

My blogging friend, Robin, visited CW over the weekend, and posted her photos from a beautiful, sunny day.

Robin saw our familiar sights with fresh eyes, and took beautiful photos.  If you haven’t yet visited Williamsburg, it is a nice place to enjoy a weekend.

This morning started out overcast, but that couldn’t dim the beauty of the day.  It got a bit brighter as we walked around.

We found the clump of irises Robin photographed, herds of daffodils, and some new lambs.

We found the same clump of irises Robin and M found, in the garden on Duke of Gloucester Street.

I hope spring is finding you, wherever you may be in the Northern Hemisphere.

Daffodils opening in the Bruton Parish church yard.

Friends to the south are saying goodbye to summer, but perhaps signs of spring  here in Virginia will bring back happy memories to you as well.

Here it is all just beginning…

Photos by Woodland Gnome 2014

Bruton Parish House garden.