One Word Photo Challenge: Mint

Apple Mint

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Mint,

Coolest of greens;

Wakes up the senses with its bite.

 

 

Spearmint, peppermint, chocolate mint,

Wintergreen-

 

Rose scented geranium and Colocasia

Calms and invigorates,

Cleans and relaxes,

Soothes and strengthens.

 

Columbine with Vinca

Color of life,

Growth and regeneration;

Calm and collected,

Mint.

 

Apple mint with Japanese painted fern

Photos by Woodland Gnome 2014

 

Colocasia

 

With appreciation to  Jennifer Nichole Wells for her

One Word Photo Challenge:  Mint

 

Kale

A “Dirty Hands” Garden Club

Colocasia, “Blue Hawaii”

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I would love to join  a “Dirty Hands” Garden Club;

One whose members know more about fertilizers

Than they do about wines…

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A gift of Glads, from a sister gardener…

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I’d want our meetings spent wandering through nurseries,

Learning from  expert gardeners,

Or building community gardens…

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Bumblebee on Lantana

 

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Not frittered away in chit chat over hors d’oeuvres .

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Bumblebee on Basil

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And all of us would be at least a little expert in something,

Glad to share what we’ve learned;

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Tiger Swallowtail on Echinacea

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And we all would love putting our hands in the dirt

To help something grow.

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Eastern Redbud Tree seedpods

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My club would collect species, not dues;

Re-build ecosystems rather than plant ivy and  box.

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Blue dragonfly on Lantana

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We “dirty hands” gardeners can band together

In spirit, if not in four walls.

We can share plants and insights,

Instigate, propagate, and appreciate;

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Rooted Begonia cutting resting on a bowl of Pitcherplants

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Perhaps we can even help rehabilitate 

Some sterile lawn somewhere

Into something which nurtures beauty

And feeds souls….

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A gift of Siberian Iris, from Barbara, growing in a new section of the garden.

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Others can judge flowers,

Decorate homes at Christmas

And organize tours.

These things are needed, too.

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Native Hibiscus

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(But I would rather be out in the garden;

Where cardinals preside over the morning meeting,

And  hummingbirds are our special guests for the day.

The daily agenda ranges from watering to transplanting;

From pruning to watching for turtles and dragonflies.)

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We  wear our muddy shoes and well worn gloves with pride,

Our spades and pruners always close at hand.

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We converse with Nature,

And re-build the web strand by strand,

Plant by plant.

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If this invitation speaks to you,

Perhaps we can work together,

From wherever we might find ourselves

Around the globe.

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We can each put our hands in the dirt

and create a garden,

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Nurture Beauty,

And restore health and vitality to our Earth, together.

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Does a “Dirty Hands” Garden Club

Appeal to you?

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Words and Photos by Woodland Gnome 2014

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Canna