…from the Promise Gardens. Spring has surely sprung! As you see, the spring flowers have tempted me to create many lovely arrangements for the spring photoshoots. I am always in awe of the rich colors and uniqueness of each flower and leaf. Lilacs, hyacinth and bulbs create a spectrum of delight! I wish you were here to take in the sight and aroma! It’s breathtaking!
The Gardener
The gardener does not love to talk.
He makes me keep the gravel walk;
And when he puts his tools away,
He locks the door and takes the key.
Away behind the currant row,
Where no one else but cook may go,
Far in the plots, I see him dig,
Old and serious, brown and big.
He digs the flowers, green, red, and blue,
Nor wishes to be spoken to.
He digs the flowers and cuts the hay,
And never seems to want to play.
Silly gardener! summer goes,
And winter comes with pinching toes,
When in the garden bare and brown
You must lay your barrow down.
Well now, and while the summer stays,
To profit by these garden days
O how much wiser you would be
To play at Indian wars with me!
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Robert Louis Stevenson
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“The Gardener” from the Art on Canvas Collection of Jay&Jacy Photography ©2011 All Rights Reserved
Daffodils*
I WANDER’D lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretch’d in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
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*William Wordsworth. 1770–1850 “The poem is a sonnet,24 lines long, consisting of four six-line stanzas. Each stanza is formed by a quatrain, then a couplet, to form a sestet and a ABABCC rhyme scheme. The fourth- and third-last lines were not composed by Wordsworth, but by his wife, Mary. Wordsworth considered them the best lines of the whole poem. Like most works by Wordsworth, it is romantic in nature;the beauty of nature, unkempt by humanity, and a reconciliation of man with his environment, are two of the fundamental principles of the romantic movement within poetry. The poem is littered with emotionally strong words, such as “golden”, “dancing” and “bliss”.” _Wikipedia
Our Promise Garden Poetry & Quotes, Garden Media-Videos are now online for viewing. Come and see and be inspired for your own gardens and creativity! Click links at top of page “Garden Poetry & Quotes” and “Media-Videos” to view.
“Happy Spring from our gardens to yours!
Pictured: Our “Festival of Flowers” Photography Tour, Biltmore Estate, Asheville, South Carolina by Jay&Jacy Photography.
Painting the Garden…It’s All About the Flowers
Flowers and color, where would we be without them in the garden? We have the lovely greens of grass, trees and leafy plants and the varied blues of the sky as our backdrop so each year for the Promise Gardens Rose & Flower Show, we have every color/hue imaginable on display. In our container gardening areas and special beds, we mix it up each year with new color combinations and plants to create “awesome eye-candy” for our visitors, friends, family and of course, our photography. This is a special treat for me as a designer deciding what “new” and “old” creations I can design for a visual and aromatic feast.
A friend recently shared that their favorite part of visiting Promise Gardens was “just as I enter the gate area, the aroma of roses and flowers entice me in and then my eyes just take it all in and I swear each time I will recreate this myself at home so I can see and smell it all day long.” Well, that is also one of my favorite things too!
Are you painting your garden? ”I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers.”__Claude Monet
