Temenos
Title:
Front, back, side and patio gardens, a fair amount of shade. Flowers (working toward mostly perennials in the beds), some herbs and a vegetable or two.
A high of 8 degrees today, and I was astonished to see the oregano, sage and veronica launching new leaves, and even buds on Burgen's Blue. Highly unusual for Montreal! Since the Christmas holidays winter has been mild, with much snow blanketing lands south of us. I hope this doesn't presage a dry summer.
Curiouser and curiouser--I'm not sure how or where all those question marks got planted in the quote I posted yesterday--doubtless some sly garden sprite in the matrix. There are worse things to have planted in the garden a sentence is. Maybe the answers will sprout in spring!
"From December to March, there are for many of ?us three gardens: ?the garden outdoors, ?the garden of pots and bowls in the house, ?and the garden of the mind's eye." ?- Katherine S. White
Most of winters' snows have fallen considerably south of us so far this winter. While the ground it still white, it is not freshly so. I look indoors for colour after the cardinals leave at dusk. Fortunately, my Christmas cactus has always been a February bloomer, and its salmon petals blaze through winter's dark stream.
Christmas has come and gone, with vacillating temperatures, but the landscape has stayed snow-white, refreshed by flurries every few days. While the gardens sleep, I am looking forward to reading Robert Pogue Harrison's Gardens: An Essay on the Human Condition, to cultivate my thoughts about them, if not, for a season, their soil.
Thanks, Ann. Your plants and pets are lovely too! And that luna moth!!
Your picture of the cicada is great. It looks like a giant insect from a sci-fi movie.
Thanks, Deborah, I'm glad you are enjoying them. Time-of-day transforms gardens, and some synergy between flower, light, camera and simply being there at the right time can capture the gift of these luminous moments.
Beautiful new pictures. You use the lighting so well the flowers glow.
Love the new pictures especially the lily with the stamen shadow. Clever!
Yes, Judy and Jerry, I have a lot of shade. The pictured garden gets about 4 hours of sun on the nearest third of it. That's where my lilies are. I've begun with bulbs, but also by simply planting lilies I've bought or been given at Easter after their flowers die off. They usually bloom the following year. What plants do you recommend for shade that bloom well and bring colour to it?
It looks like you have created a beautiful garden in the shade (we have similar shady conditions). Do you plant most of your lilies from bulbs?
Thanks. Montreal winters are long, and photographing the flowers is like gathering a bouquet for the hearth. The insects and all that passes through are also part of its richness. When I have time, I also use the images as a stimulus for art work. One's garden is so much more than a plot of land--as I'm sure everyone posting on gardenjot can attest to!
