He who loves and understands a garden
will find contentment within.
will find contentment within.
You will have to forgive me for eternally posting the same views of this garden I love. For some reason, my camera lens always gets pulled in their direction. Of course, to me, this place is always changing, always offering new little joys to my eyes...just enough to keep me coming back for more, not so much as to overwhelm me.
It is a garden I have learned to love, though it really looks nothing like the vision that was originally plotted in my head.
My half-acre lot has somehow transformed into the garden of my heart...in spite of, or perhaps because of, limited means...the necessity of cheap plants divided a zillion times, the whimsy of picking bulbs out of a bin, the raids of clearance racks, and those treasured giftings from family and friends.
I must say I have grown to love this unplanned garden. There is nowhere I feel more at home, more at peace.
And it is summer, I think, that I love the most.
Summer, with its drenching downpours...
...colorful cordylines...
...lazy lizards...
...blushing bromeliads....
...blooming bromeliads...
...magnificent magnolias...
...busy bees...
...splendid spiders...
...and fantabulous flowers!
I have not had the best health of late. Blah. Perhaps my heart has also had a few aches as well this past month. But here, in my garden paradise, this jungle packed onto a tiny half-acre, humbled (but not yet crushed) by rampant weeds, I somehow find contentment in my soul.
***
May you always find contentment in your garden...
whatever the season.
***
All text and images in this post were created for a blog called "Peace in the Valley"
@ www.gardeninpeace.blogspot.com and are copyright protected.
All material on this website belongs to Floridagirl, unless otherwise noted.
Dear FG: Hope you are recovering well! I have been out on a vacation for two weeks myself, but I have checked in several times for your new post. Your garden in the summer really looks so beautiful, and with those downpours, everything just look so lush. I also find great contentment in my garden, and truely I think a garden is the best gift to a garden, comforting our soul and body.
ReplyDeleteTake care, and take easy on gardening. I wish you the best!
oops, I meant "A garden is the best gift to a gardenER" :)
ReplyDeleteMy garden doesn't look anything like the '5-year plan' I had originally either:) Your garden looks wonderfully peaceful and oh, so colorful. What a terrific shot of the downpour refreshing your plants. I always enjoy seeing your photography, FG. Hope your health issues resolve and your spirits lift.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ami. It can get a little depressing being stuck indoors all day. I actually weeded in my garden on Saturday and worked at Six Acres yesterday in that blistering heat. That was a BIG mistake. I was so fatigued, it was difficult making the drive home. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteThanks, NanaK. We are overdue for another downpour. It's been a few days since we had rain, and that St. Augustine grass is crisping up and turning brown real fast. Please come back, rain!
ReplyDeleteHehe, I spoke to quickly in that last comment. We are now getting a deluge.
ReplyDeleteHi FloridaGirl...I'm so sorry to hear you've had some health issues, and I hope you'll be better soon. I know what you mean about the garden being different from the one you envisioned. I think we all could probably say that. I believe that in the end we all end up with the garden that comes deep from within each of us. That's what makes gardening such a personal expression.
ReplyDeleteYour garden is looking lush and lovely in the summer heat. There's nothing like regular rain to help with garden chores. Take it easy and enjoy your beautiful paradise.