January Scenes

The first beautiful Crocus tommasinianus forced inside this January

Hello from the snow!
I hope this post find you snug, warm, and enjoying the cozy moments of winter in your region. We have been driven inside by sever cold, snow and ice since Christmas. We are making the best of our winter by keeping busy with school, crocheting and some rest before the spring gardening season arrives. Here are some scenes from outside and in this week at Havenwood....

Happy 9th Anniversary!

To the man who made me wife nine years ago...
            then mother and gardener... 

Our favorite sitting spot at Phipps' Botany Hall

I am so pleased to be celebrating nine grace-filled years with you!

Hope Grows Day: May 2011

Thanks to Sweet Bean Gardening for the prompting of Hope Grows Day to write about the simple things in our lives that we can appreciate and enjoy...

                                remembering glimmers of the great Hope.

 

Hope fulfilled... not quite yet!  There will be more waiting at Gilmore Gardens until we can smell the sweet-scent of Iris pallida variegata again on the Shade Path.  Everything is quite behind this spring ever since the whole month of March was covered in snow.  But how would we ever learn perseverance if everything was just the way we wished all the time! There is a joy is getting to see the slow unfurling of spring... to get to savor each flower.  

Hope for next Month: Clematis!
We have 6 varieties already, though I am still waiting for 2 of them to bloom for the first time.  And we have added four more this year! See yesterday's post about our new trellises. 

Check back for our continuing series for the First Week of May all this week!

The All-Weather Gardener

   As I have braved the cold, wet and windy climate this week to spend some time in my garden, I was reminded of an article that I wrote in early winter last year.  Parts of my garden are now looking nice and green already, and parts are still holding on to the hope of renewal... and that is what I am holding on to today for my own heart.

re-post from Dec 2010:
One cold late-autumn day, I stay inside to do the wife-task of ironing collared shirts for my husband... which I actually enjoy, sometimes, when I can put on music and make it a kind of meditative, worship time... one of the few times that I allow myself to slow down and be reflective while still in my house full of chores.

The pile has over a dozen shirts that I have saved up (or maybe ignored) until I must do this task.
     I heat up the iron, turn on the music and  
          let the Lord start to iron out the wrinkles in my heart...

I draw my curtains back so that I can look out onto the Shade Path while I work...

   The song on loop is one of my new favorites, Matt Maher's "Garden"... it is quiet (which I need while my two toddlers and one baby sleep), peaceful, and reminds me of the Lord's presence with me...

And you walk with me

You never leave

You're making my heart a garden

  As I start to relax, I begin to let down from my long day.  Being the mother of three small children can be exhausting!  I give and give, and try to give more though my flesh is howling in resentment.  I am worn from their needs and requests, but also from the battle with my own selfishness.

I am faced in this quiet moment with my sinfulness... the mess that is my life... all that I do not do...
     and all that I do, that I hate...

And I look out at that cold, almost frosted garden...

Everything green is dying down...
   what's left looks  
     broken, brown, shabby...
     on its way into the dormant season...
     the cold, frozen, dead-looking season...

                                  ...Like my heart
                                                    looks and feels.



   Our Shade Path is very near to the sidewalk and the road, and our home is situated on a fairly busy street headed into the downtown area.  Many, many times in this fall planting season
I have been out gardening in the cold afternoon... sometimes in the rain with water dripping down my hood... sometimes with fingers mostly frozen.   

And they pass me by.

The cars... the kids walking home from school.  And I feel the weight of curious,  
                    unbelieving eyes as they see me out there in that nasty weather.
                                                                               I think to myself, "They must think I am crazy."

  And what am I doing?  I am perfecting my garden.
That brown mess.   Beloved mess.  Truly, I am out there because I love it!
I love admiring what is there, even in this harsh season.


  I am tweaking the beauty that will exist next year... moving seedlings... planting hundreds of bulbs...
The beauty is hidden, dormant... cannot be seen by normal vision right now.

Only through eyes of faith can I see it already full of flowers... 

new growth... new color combinations... new heights of beauty. 

And you walk with me

You never leave

You're making my heart a garden

...the chorus sings on and I am suddenly struck: I am a garden!

I am brown and broken, yet loved by my Gardener. 

He tends me in the most caring way...

looking happily at the new growth here and shuffling more bulbs there...  

and He is making my heart beautiful.

Like me, He is an all-weather gardener...
     enjoying me right where I am,
          and patiently working into me the beauty that is to come. 

Hope Grows Day: April 2011

Thanks to Sweet Bean Gardening for the prompting of Hope Grows Day to write about the simple things in our lives that we can appreciate and enjoy...
               remembering glimmers of the great Hope.

Hope fulfilled: This week I will be sinking my hands into that rich compost! We will be getting our 3 yards of mushroom compost to make a beautiful backdrop and food for our gardens.  And it is the best of spring workouts too!

This photo, from last year, shows the excitement and eagerness with which my garden crew goes to work!

Hope for next month:

That I will be smelling those amazing grape-scented Iris pallida variegata again as I walk down the Shade Path.

Garden journal escape...

     I know that as a gardener in Pennsylvania I should be accepting of snow at this time of year, but I am weary of it today.  As it started falling Tuesday afternoon, fluffy and white, I put on a brave smile while thinking, "Yes, it is here again, but it will certainly not lay on the ground for long." Two days later, I am kind of itching to move on with life, for more color and less white.  Even four-year-old Grace, who was anticipating this winter's snow starting last July (no joke), said this morning, "I wish the snow would melt so that we could have more flowers again."

   So here we are, learning perseverance through the seasons of life by waiting as patiently as we can for these last snows to fall... watering the earth, hydrating the roots, giving respite before the heat of summer... and putting the cold weather in perspective by writing down the happenings in my garden journal.

 
   This is the third year that I have used a date book as a garden journal... which is an all-encompassing journal for me that holds my notes from my garden book reading, monthly calenders where I can record the main blooming attractions, days to write down my gardening tasks, notes from gardens we visit, plants I buy, and brainstorming for new combinations, bulbs, annuals, etc.  And a place where I can record the weather each year so I know what I expect... mostly.

   A glimpse of three years of March... this year definitely containing more snow than the other two. I  feel a little panicky when I look out the window right now, but looking ahead to April in my past journals brings calm assurance that the snow will stop... by June for sure.

   A view of how I organize myself: blooming plants & combinations on the monthly calender (left) and tasks in the day-to-day blocks (right).



   A sneak-peek at my Thompson & Morgan seed order for the season (right)...


   A look ahead of what to expect in April... this record from 2010 (below).





  Rosemary Verey, one of my gardening heroes, encouraged new gardeners to "take note as you go" (Rosemary Verey's Making of a Garden, 17).

   Learn to build up your knowledge of plants, not only to be able to recognize them but to know what growing conditions they like or dislike, when they will flower, what their leaves will contribute before and after flowering, how they will relate to their neighbors.  This knowledge comes only with familiarity, observation and experience (pg. 17).

   I have enjoyed being more methodical about the art in my garden.  Recording my thoughts and schemes has helped me both to fully appreciate the moment and to learn more through reflection by reading past entries.

Perhaps this is your year to start a garden journal too?

For anyone wondering: I have really enjoyed using these Brush Dance date books, after finding one in a Floridian gift shop in 2009 when my husband and I were on a get-away.  They are beautiful and earthy. 

 

Fresh New Day...

For all gardeners, regardless of their equatorial location...

Whether it is with flowers or in the snow... 

       here is hope that you are enjoying the freshness of a new day today.

"Behold, I am making all things new." Rev 21:5

Top: Snow on the maple tree out our front door on Friday morning.
Bottom: Forced white hyacinth bloom from Ruth's bridal shower two weeks ago.

Hope grows...

 "Look, Mommy! It's a robin!!"

Grace, my four-year-old, pointed out the window as she sat at the table eating breakfast this morning. 

"I'll grab my camera!"  That was me, of course.

As I thought about a post to describe my hope for the season, I was struck by how this picture describes both the result of my past hopes (hope fulfilled) and what I am waiting for:

It is Spring! The robins are here in western Pennsylvania!

And next month, I look forward to being able to stay out gardening after dinner
    hands in fresh mulch, seeing new blooms everywhere...
               and listening to the robin's song in the evening.


Thanks to Sweet Bean Gardening for the prompting of Hope Day to write about
the simple things in our lives that we can appreciate and enjoy...
               remembering glimmers of the great Hope.

A child's wish come true...

      With beautifully warm temperatures yesterday (nearly 55!), my four-year-old suggested that we take a stroll around the garden and see if anything is in bloom yet.

     And just a few steps down our Shade Path garden, I heard a squeal of delight.  "Mommy, Mommy, look!! A flower!" This snowdrop (Galanthus elwesii), was in full bloom on a warm mound-site near to one of the maple trees that frame our path.

     While I was busy making a mental note to plant a larger group here next fall,  
she was in simple reverie at the sight of this one.

     A good reminder to hope for... and enjoy!... the beauty in front of us,
             however small it may be.

the garden in december

  


Enjoying the new season...


                  the clean, fresh snow...





the quiet renewal of what is hidden, dormant...

                       knowing that the green will rise again... 
                                   
                                          Spring will come.  

 Today... I need to take hold and be thankful for other small, beautiful moments in life...

• hanging the gold christmas balls above the kitchen table 
• ...while all three squeal about the ones on the floor
• toddler masterpiece of tangled ornaments
• trip to the post office accomplished
• mail bound for South America
• baby laughs
• warm, dry place to run
• garlands with lights and gold ribbon
• The Parable of Joy and Scribbling in the Sand, both by Michael Card 
• Jesus' delight in a party

"The feast, or party, is part of the foundation of Christianity.  Here at Cana, Jesus performs His first miracle, so it could be said that our faith, in a sense, began at a party.  Early in the history of the church, times of fellowship resembled parties, or love feasts... How could a group of Christians coming together not resemble a celebration? Even as the Christian faith began at a banquet, so it will come to completion at a wedding feast."                                                          From pg. 42 of Parable of Joy by Michael Card

 

the all-weather gardener...

     One cold late-autumn day, I stay inside to do the wife-task of ironing collared shirts for my husband... which I actually enjoy, sometimes, when I can put on music and make it a kind of meditative, worship time... one of the few times that I allow myself to slow down and be reflective while still in my house full of chores.

The pile has over a dozen shirts that I have saved up (or maybe ignored) until I must do this task.
     I heat up the iron, turn on the music and  
          let the Lord start to iron out the wrinkles in my heart...

I draw my curtains back so that I can look out onto the Shade Path while I work...

  The song on loop is one of my new favorites, Matt Maher's "Garden"... it is quiet (which I need while my two toddlers and one baby sleep), peaceful, and reminds me of the Lord's presence with me...

And you walk with me

You never leave

You're making my heart a garden

  As I start to relax, I begin to let down from my long day.  Being the mother of three small children can be exhausting!  I give, and give, and try to give more though my flesh is howling in resentment.  I am worn from their needs and requests, but also from the battle with my own selfishness.

I am faced in this quiet moment with my sinfulness... the mess that is my life... all that I do not do...
     and all that I do, that I hate...

And I look out at that cold, almost frosted garden...

Everything green is dying down...
   what's left looks  
     broken, brown, shabby...
     on its way into the dormant season...
     the cold, frozen, dead-looking season...

                                  ...Like my heart
                                                    looks and feels.



   Our Shade Path is very near to the sidewalk and the road, and our home is situated on a fairly busy street headed into the downtown area.  Many, many times in this fall planting season
I have been out gardening in the cold afternoon... sometimes in the rain with water dripping down my hood... sometimes with fingers mostly frozen.   

And they pass me by.

The cars... the kids walking home from school.  And I feel the weight of curious,  
                    unbelieving eyes as they see me out there in that nasty weather.
                                                                               I think to myself, "They must think I am crazy."

  And what am I doing?  I am perfecting my garden.
That brown mess.   Beloved mess.  Truly, I am out there because I love it!
I love admiring what is there, even in this harsh season.

  I am tweaking the beauty that will exist next year... moving seedlings... planting hundreds of bulbs...
The beauty is hidden, dormant... cannot be seen by normal vision right now.

Only through eyes of faith can I see it already full of flowers... 

new growth... new color combinations... new heights of beauty. 

And you walk with me

You never leave

You're making my heart a garden

...the chorus sings on and I am suddenly struck: I am a garden!

I am brown and broken, yet loved by my Gardener. 

He tends me in the most caring way...

looking happily at the new growth here and shuffling more bulbs there...  

and He is making my heart beautiful.

Like me, He is an all-weather gardener...
     enjoying me right where I am,
          and patiently working into me the beauty that is to come.

Weary, rainy day...

"How are you doing?" my friend asked me.

"...weary...", I said.  "I am doing pretty well at not taking it out on my kids - not being overly angry with them or constantly frustrated. But, inside, I just feel worn out."

It is a sleepy day today... with the rain coming down outside in cold November sheets. And though I know that the Lord sends it to refresh the parched plants in the ground- especially the ones newly moved and not given the luxury of a deep drink...


I do not feel refreshed.   

I feel worn.

And yet, is He not here today to give me  rain for my soul,

just as He cares for those dried out roots?

The plants need to prepare for the long winter ahead.

They will need the moisture that the rain brings today because soon the ground will be so hard, so frozen that they will not be able to drink.  Kind of like when summer sun dries everything to dust, there is a parched time also in the winter, with it's desiccating winds.

And if I do not drink today, when He gives it, how will I survive... or even enjoy... the next test that comes along the way?

"For every good and perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights..."

James 1:17