In the midst of hurrying and scurrying and getting ready for Christmas, take a brief respite and enjoy the introduction to my new book, Bless You Bouquets: A Memoir. This book celebrates Garden Gifts to Special People in my Life Walk. Sit down in a comfy chair with your favorite cuppa or a nice glass of wine, and enjoy the first of many interludes in my book. You’ll be glad you did!
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Picture yourself in the most embracing garden spot your imagination can envision. You’re nestled in a comfortable lounger, feet up, dressed in soft cottons, on a perfect day in paradise.
No excuses. Nothing else calls you. No seasons,
no allergies, no schedules, no appointments, just unbridled beauty. Melodic lilting wind chimes soothe and relax you, and lulling dove coos and lyric bird calls bring nature’s symphony close to home. The gurgling fountain and distant sea sounds enhance your reverie. All is at peace; all is well; nothing is calling you to attention but God’s time of meditation.
Off to your left, perhaps, there’s a glistening pond, its edges softened by bobbing water lilies in purple, white, and yellow, glistening like an impressionistic Monet painting. Along the shore, tall cattails raise their fuzzy brown spires, and busy redwing blackbirds play hide and seek.
Through the filtered sunlight of the weeping willows, you catch a glimpse of Grandpa sitting idle in his old rowboat, the chipped-painted oars quietly pausing in the ancient oarlocks, while his gnarled hands bait yet another hook. You catch a whiff of his pipe smoke wafting your way.
To your right, Grandma lovingly tends her roses in every possible hue. She knows them all by name. She has nurtured each one, nourished, pruned, protected, and talked to them; they reward her always with perfect fragrant blooms. She’ll select and clip some for her blue bowl placed on the intricate lace doily she crocheted to highlight each day’s treasure.
Ahead of you is a riot of blooms—reds, blues, fuchsias, oranges, yellows in kaleidoscopic blurs of beauty. Tall delphiniums and gladiolus announce they are the background eye-catchers, while the dainty alyssum and multi-hued portulaca fringe the front. Between these extensions are the geraniums, chrysanthemums, daisies, black-eyed Susans, lantanas, poppies, calendulas, and showy day lilies. The riotous colors blend in a spectacular visual array. Can you see it?
The rich tree canopy overhead protects you from the heat of the nurturing sun—the temperature from your survey-point is just perfect, since this is your imaginary paradise time and place. Maples, birches, dogwood, and graceful alders paint an ever-changing ceiling of texture, hue, and a tapestry of shadows to intrigue and shelter you.
The fragrance is magnificent. The spicy herbs from the well-stocked herb garden excite your hunger for your next savory meal, provided by the flourishing table-ready veggies you’ll soon harvest daily in heavily-laden baskets of produce. But for now, munching a warm tomato just picked, juicy and tasty, will satisfy any craving.
When your sticky fingers demand attention, you saunter down the wide-graveled pathway of the patterned knot garden to the lovely sparkling fountain. You dip your fingers into its refreshing stream.
From this vantage point, your formal garden, with meticulously trimmed boxwood, seamlessly fashioned in a hexagonal design emerges. It is interwoven with a lower curved interlaced border of wall germander and hyssop. The intricate geometric pattern of texture and pattern in this knot garden recall medieval castle gardens, with orderly patterns designed to be viewed from high turrets and balustrades above.
Leaving this symmetry, you stroll through the Japanese style vista, where every detail builds on its neighbor in perfect design meant to contract and expand your sight line. At your left is a gentle stream with a rhythmic deer-chaser device constantly filling and emptying its bamboo vessel.
Knock. Spill. Trickle. Knock. Spill. Trickle.
To your right is a tranquil koi pond where it gleaming inhabitants effortlessly glide among smooth grey rocks, placed significantly to enhance the swimmers’ white, gold, and black markings. A pagoda-shaped garden shed peeks through the clipped foliage, just around the bend. No, it does not just jut forth its presence; rather, it arises, perfectly placed from every angle, as if it grew into its space. That’s just how meticulous a beautiful Japanese garden is. At your feet is a restful sand garden, raked to perfection, with a solitary rock, beautifully sculpted by ages of rain, saying, “I am a tribute to past, present, and future while the earth remains.”
In the distance, you marvel at the tree canopy’s tallest residents. The soaring oaks, elms and hickories house eagles’ nests. An osprey overlooks the sea view beyond from its aerie platform. Its handsome mate perches on the strongest branch, a fitting promontory from which to observe you on your walk, knowing you mean no harm to their young.
The sea waves, twenty-six a minute, rhythmically soothe your soul. The lighthouse promontory on the distant cove demonstrates the blessing of arriving home safely, always, for in this perfect paradise garden, all is well. All is secure. All is in balance, and blessed by the Creator of all life and beauty.
The Cedars of Lebanon stand like sentinels along the west border. With the poplars and shaped firs, spruce, and hemlocks, these stately evergreens house the cardinals, sparrows, bluebirds, and wrens, and in the snowy winters, the juncos, grosbeaks, and red house finches. How they revel in collecting the nuts and berries, ripe and ready for their seasonal feasts.
The springtime orchards beckon our visit. The pastel cherry, apple, peach, and pear blossoms exude intoxicating fragrances. Meanwhile, on the tropical side of our imaginary garden, citrus limes, lemons, and oranges invite bees to enjoy their nectar, foretelling the awesome future fruit.
At your feet a profusion of grass flowers cushion your every step. Sweet clover and soft moss carpet the very ground you tread with low growing plants. Occasionally, this spring day, a trillium, dogtooth violet, or Dutchman’s breeches plant emerges. They’re rather shy in springtime, rarely prominent. They magically merely appear and then they’re gone, stealing away so the more exuberant daffodils, hyacinths, tulips, and irises can wave their more expected beauty to waft in soft spring’s zephyrs. Then the coral bells and lily of the valley appear, with dainty, saucy columbine, nodding their perfect blooms on slender stalks. Their bells softly tinkle in imagined dulcet tones.
Behind these are the blooming bushes. Forsythia, pussy willows, lilacs, snowballs, and azaleas shelter baby birds in their nests. The peeps of robins and cardinals tell us all is right with the world as their busy parents dart in and out of flower-laden branches providing succulent sustenance to their progeny. Oh, that we had such richly decorated nurseries for our children.
The summer zinnias, marigolds, lantanas, dahlias, and host plants attract fluttering flowers, the butterflies which grace the blooms and delight our attention.
The climbing trumpet vine hosts its flitting visitors, the hummingbirds which amaze us with their airborne antics. As wisteria hangs from the arbor, the skittering squirrels and acrobatic skinks and little lizards play merrily in their paradise of exuberant growth.
As the dragonflies swoop over the pond, their iridescent colors rival jewelers’ gems. With elegant grace they dart across your vision’s vistas bringing dreamlike glimpses of beauty.
In our imaginary garden, everything blends, everything lives vibrantly, and everything serves a purpose. Everything, even you, is blessed to be a blessing. All is well. All is at peace.
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About the Author
