Since I wrote such a long post last time, I thought you might enjoy some photographs of spring as it looks right now. The bouquet of bearded Iris is in my favorite shades of blue, purple and white–they make a stunning backdrop for the hot pink peonies that are just about to pop. Enjoy!
Very nice photography. All the plants look so healthy. Oh! I wanted some writings as I love reading them.
Well KL, I’m not sure you could have left a more welcome message for a writer with a young blog! (And here I was thinking people wanted photographs.) I imagine a mix is fine, but boy, you have made my day–maybe my week. I can promise you some good stories coming…I have many prepared and ready to go, in addition to the book I’m working on. In the meantime, may I suggest that you check out the sidebar on the Home page for some published stories, if you haven’t already. My favorite are “When an Oeuf is enough” and “The Beet goes on.” They are in the section called “Food Fight.” Also you may like the travel pieces on Lighthearted Travel. (I’ll have a lot of travel coming up…) Anyway, thanks KL! And can you kindly tell me how you found my site? I’d love to know because I’d love more readers like you. Susie
What a wonderful garden. Beautiful shots.
Gorgeous. I especially loved the lilac image since they don’t grow this far south. Too warm here year ’round.
Thanks Carver and Hootin’Anni. I appreciate the comments. I’m with you on the lilacs…they were really something this year.
Lovely post for Nature Notes this week. You have beautiful plants and flowers and I love the raised beds too. I see some Nature Notes participants have already visited… Thank you for linking in…Michelle
Thanks Michelle–I think I finally figured out how to do it. Will you be sending the overview post pretty soon? I always love seeing what others have sent in….Susie
I didn’t see this till now Susie…the overview? I just take all the photos from the NN posts and make a collage and add the corresponding web address at the top of next week’s Nature Notes post. I don’t e-mail anything usually and I highlighted your first post but that was unusual. From time to time I highlight, but I found it was taking a lot more time and I am still having some shoulder issues which make sitting at the laptop typing uncomfortable….Michelle
Oh, I’m so jealous – we will have that much spring soon!!!!
Hi Marilyn, Portland is a pretty good gardening location and we’ve had a very warm spring. Am I right that you are in Colorado? I don’t know if you are at elevation, but that could take awhile for blooms. I was communicating with a gardener on the northern coast of England and she was really anxious for warmer weather. Now, that would be a challenging location. Ah, the perseverance of gardeners–I think we are all slightly neurotic. -:)
What a nice overview of your lovely garden!
Thanks Pat! I appreciate that you stopped by to take a look. Please visit anytime.
Susan
Susie it is a joy to see your garden…those beds are gorgeous and I adore those iris and their color…mine were going to bloom and now a cold snap.
I’m always glad to see you stop by Donna, thanks. Hopefully, your bearded iris will be in full bloom soon. Susie
Susie – When you sent home that beautiful bouquet of irises with me last week, it brought forth an inspiration to write something of my own. I am posting it here, under your beautiful photos, so that everyone can visualize the lovely flowers of which I speak.
The Gift That Iris Brought
I’ve spent some of my days lately feeling older than my years, even though my skin suit often leaves those I cross paths with assuming that I am younger than the claims on my birth certificate. This leaves me to question, “How can a person feel old and young at the same time?”.
The youthful part is somewhat easy for me, I guess. Give your body an enormous amount of healthy food, sunscreen, and exercise, and your outward appearance will suggest a youthful glow. But what makes you feel old on the inside, and is this necessarily a bad thing?
This is where my mind has been lately, and having Iris around really allowed me to dive in. Sitting at my dining room table, and enjoying a cup of tea, I found myself becoming intoxicated by her heady perfume. Permeating my entire living space, her scent took me back to a place from long ago. My mind began a roll call of female elders, conjuring snippets of memories from my childhood, and the formation of my current self from those years long past. It was almost as if Iris’ deep, purple-colored scent was weaving its way through my mind as I recalled making biscuits with my great Aunt Lalih (or Maw, as I liked to call her), or a decoupage project with my Nana. Eyes closed, all I could see were images of long, flowery, “old lady” skirts, Satin-Set hairspray bottles, brown paneled walls, costume jewelry, and tubes of hot pink lipstick. And that aroma…Iris…
Just then, a breeze came through my open window, diffusing Iris’ scent, and snapping me out of my nostalgic moment. Glancing around my apartment, I realized just how elderly it is itself, and how I’ve done a great job of adorning it as so, with its vintage green velvet couches, mustard-colored cut glass lamps, brown-edged doilies, and mid-Century chairs. Sipping the last bit of tea as I walked down the much-painted-over plastered hallway to my kitchen, I placed the cup in the sink to mingle with a couple of thrift-store Fiesta Ware plates and Pyrex bowls. It occurred to me, at that moment, that maybe feeling old and having vintage feelings are two totally different things. Feeling nostalgic for my formative years is a great reminder of the events that shaped my current being, and maybe Iris was just the lady I needed around to help remind me of all the other fabulous women that I’ve been lucky enough to spend time with over the years.
Pondering this as I pushed my rhinestoned spectacles up the bridge of my nose, I realized it was time to bid a fond farewell to Iris. She’d stuck around for an entire week – two or three days longer that I originally thought she would – and I was sad to see her go. Just like all the great ladies from my past – Lalih, Lucy, Helen – Iris’ time on earth eventually expired. But she leaves behind a bit of nostalgia….
Oh – and if you haven’t figured it out already, Iris was a flower, or rather a bunch of flowers, with a presence not unlike that of a great, old soul. She gave me the gift of scent-soaked memories, which lent me the conclusion that vintage feelings are priceless, and quite different than the things in life that make you feel old. “Old Lady Things” are quite nice to have around, actually, if depth and soul are more on par with your daily life than modern advances and the newest techniques. Personally, I’ll take a little side of Granny with an entree of current life any day of the week.
Wow Ivy–a lovely piece and all from that bouquet of iris….very Proustian of you! Thank you for contributing something so special that speaks to life and change in a warm and unique way. I’m so glad you shared this. I feel I know you better, and something of your southern heritage as well. Maybe you will feel inspired when we do our “Writers in the Garden” challenge this summer? I hope so.
Susie! I think of you often and I have been wondering how your garden grows. Now I see! What a pleasure. Mine, too, is looking lovely. I love having enough time to play around in the yard…which means clipping, pulling, tossing, composting, babying, and nurturing, to mention only a few. And I even squeeze in some time to play the guitar.
Love and light to you and your garden!
Hi there Mona—very good to hear from you. I’m so glad you checked in. I miss you and your guitar! Singing with you in Spanish–La Llorana was it?–was a highlight for me, you’ll never know how much. Let’s hope June is good to our respective gardens….love, Susie
You can bring me flowers anytime. We don’t have any bearded irises (I don’t think!). Let’s catch up amidst those blossoms when the sun decides to shine on our street again.
You bet. Leaving on vacation this morning. Something different will be blooming when we get back. If you think of it, stop by and visit with crew staying at the house. I hope to have some great photos of France. Love to the Berkhart-Levin clan, Susie
Loved your photos, Susie! Now I can’t wait to hear about your travels in France.
Ho capito perchè amiamo tanto la bellezza dei nostri giardini quando mi sono ricordata del mito del Garden of Eden. Ti senti in Paradiso, Susan, quando mediti fra i tuoi bellissimi fiori??? (BTW: we love the same flowers, in the same colors and nuances…)
Ciao mi amica, I loved your note. Sorry it took me so long to get back to you…….we were away. If I were not jet-lagged and writing at 4:30, I’d write you back in Italian. Yes, very often this feels like a little bit of heaven, with work involved-;) my garden moves from Monet blues to the hot colors of summertime, as soon as the dahlias and hot-colored zinnias take charge. I’ll be interested to hear what you think of that. In the meantime, check back for photos of France…it isnt’t quite the same as your Italy, but it will make you homesick still. Stai bene….un bacio, susie