Monday, 22 April 2013

Wild Child

Do you see what I see? 
Where I live, all the lawns look very much like the one pictured above: shots of green mingle with patches of dry dead growth at the yards slowly awaken to the gradual strokes of heat the occasional sunny day brings.  And nestled tightly amongst the blades of grass lies these...

The ephemeral blooms at their peak
deeply vivid, intensely fragrant wild violets.  So sweet and powerfully scented, as only an uncultivated flower can be, these clusters can be found in the old established neighbourhoods of our town. As a child each spring without fail, I picked handfuls to bring home, placing them carefully in tiny crystal glasses that graced our kitchen windowsill.  I can't tell you how thrilled I was to discover, a couple of years of ago, masses growing in our side lawn.  It was the unmistakable scent that wafted over our garden wall one sunny spring day that brought them to my attention.  We've left them spread, unchecked, on their way to a glorious carpet.  Spring has finally arrived. 






Photos D. Sleziak

Monday, 1 April 2013

Spring Fling

The promise of spring: swollen magnolia buds nearly ready to explode in profusion

In My World: The Garden

 
While the days are growing longer, the warming heat of early spring has evaded us.  There are few signs of true spring -- no flowering forsythia, no crocus in the garden, no daffodils pushing their stalks up to sky.  Today, a sprinkling of flakes is falling, but the harbinger of spring is here: bud-laden branches of the magnolia set to burst when the first blanket of warmth settles upon them.  Surely, surely, true spring is not far off.

 
Just detectable: a herbaceous peony begins its ascent
 
 
 
 
 
 
Photos D. Sleziak