Blossom XVI

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“Plants are also integral to reweaving

the connection between land and people.

A place becomes a home when it sustains you,

when it feeds you in body as well as spirit.

To recreate a home, the plants must also return.”

.

Robin Wall Kimmerer

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Bougainvillea

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“I have a very simple arrangement with my plants:

I give them love and they give me flowers.”

.

Joseph Rain

~

~

“Groom yourself and your life like a shrub.

Trim off the edges and you’ll be stronger

in the broken places.

Embrace the new growth

and blossom at the tips.”

.

D’Andre Lampkin

~

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Photos by Woodland Gnome 2016

~

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“Sometimes I wish I could photosynthesize

so that just by being, just by shimmering

at the meadow’s edge or floating lazily

on a pond, I could be doing the work of the world

while standing silent in the sun.”

.

Robin Wall Kimmerer

~

~

Blossom I

Blossom II

Blossom III

Blossom IV

Blossom V

Blossom VI

Blossom VII

Blossom VIII

Blossom IX

Blossom X

Blossom XI

Blossom XII

Blossom XIII

Blossom XIV

Blossom XV

BlossomXVII

Blossom VXIII

Tuesday Snapshots

We heard this morning on the Weather Channel that the official definition of Indian Summer is the first 70 degree day after the first frost.  Today is officially “Indian Summer” in Williamsburg. 

A beautifully clear sunny day, we marveled at how quickly the morning warmed up.  We both had a burst of energy and found tasks large and small to do outside.  The potted Norfolk Island Pine went back out in a protected spot.  I sowed parsley seeds in the Viola pots and washed the leaves of all the orchids.  A friend stopped by with a gift of cuttings from the Camellia by her front porch.

We are expecting temperatures in the 80s by the weekend; frosty mornings indefinitely delayed .

So here are a few snapshots from the garden this last week of October.  I’ve cropped them tightly to show you a glimpse of color and form, light and shadow, growth and decay, beginnings and endings in our forest garden.

Kale and Violas

Bougainvillea ready to bloom

Succulents

Rosemary in bloom

Begonia Rex

Moonflower seed pod

Sage cuttings root in place with Oxalis, fern, and Violas.

Begnonia Gryphon, after the deer decided it is delicious.

Lantana and Pineapple Sage

Begonia cuttings root with Swiss Chard seedlings, Violas, and Creeping Jenny left from the summer.

Geranium

Caladium and blue chalk sticks