Today I got to go visit an amazing garden. I have a wonderful friend who knew that seeing her brother's garden would be a visit to a work of art and a healing hour in a hectic time of life. I didn't bring my camera, and words are failing me to describe it - this garden was so beautiful - a kind of painting with shrubs and flowers and leaves. Jim really has such an eye for color - but not the kind of color where you plunk a marigold next to a petunia. Those kinds of gardens are nice, but Jim's gift is that he created a garden using color of the foliage and the texture of the leaves to create a kind of tapestry. The flowers are wonderful, but if there weren't a bloom in the garden it would still be beautiful. And restful. It draws you in, and there's a wonder unveiled with every turn. It's the kind of place that you can see in an hour, or you could take an hour to really study 6 feet of it. Amazing. It was so inspiring.
Most gardeners have generous hearts, and Jim does, too, so I left with a little runner of a beautiful shrub. Jim didn't know, and I didn't, until I put it in the ground in this jungle of a garden that is mine, that what I needed was silver leaves. So I planted this little shrublet (is that a word?), and it inspired me to weed out some of the invasive plants that this shrublet will have to content with.
Planting this shrub after seeing that garden is a bit like someone looking at a Rembrandt painting and then going home and trying to recreate it with Crayola crayons. But that's okay. The Bible says "do not despise the day of small beginnings." The picture above is of the small beginning - and now here's one of the jungle to be tamed. You can see the little silver shrublet in the middle of the picture.
a close-up of the daylily on the right above
called "Drop Dead Red" which I purchased on Ebay
And here's a daylily that the previous owners planted
which is gorgeous, called "Cedar Waxwing".
And here is a daylily that I didn't even know was there because
it used to be shrouded by this terrible deer-chewed yew
which my husband lovingly chopped down
as a Mother's Day gift to me.
It's a start.
Rome wasn't built in a day.
5 comments:
Morning, Dixie!
I am excited to see just what you will be planting. I believe that time spent in gardening is part of how the Lord "restoreth my soul"
be blessed.
Blondie
It looks beautiful. I have always felt that Memories are planted in a garden...
Peace
Annie
Your Day Lilies are SOOOooo lucious! Nice blog!
Bettina
thanks!
I completely 'got it' without seeing pictures of your friend's garden! *sigh* what a wonderful gift...
I recently did a garden slide show on my blog - I found that even with pictures it is still a HEART matter and a physical, aesthetic experience to be in a garden and to know the kind of worship that it brings forth from the heart.
Humble or grand - these vingettes of color, texture, fragrance, and even feelings - are testimony of He who knows us fully and speaks to our deepest needs. He made all this... and He made the sparrow...
"Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."
~Luke 12:6-7
He cares so much for us (what an understatement!) - it is reflected in all of His creation! I must remind myself...
"Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!"
~Luke 12:27-28
whoa...
joy in the journey,
katey
PS: thanks Dix - ! the song is lovely!!!
I just love daylilies. I can't wait to finish sorting out this house and get out into the garden.
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