So I spied daffodil shoots sprouting up and a few cherry blossoms poking out their little pink petals... too soon...
Of course today is raining and it’s suppose to be 72 degrees... seriously Darlings it’s mid January in North Carolina....
I am happy to report that my camellias in all there array of colors are blooming and they are especially lovely and set off by the carpets of Shiny green leaves of the blooming hellebores.
It’s been 21 years since I moved my family into this home and began creating a garden out of a wooded lot and not much else. Up sprung a garage and a screened in porch... beds of boxwood surround a small fountained courtyard... pea gravel paths and ground cover of hellebores, ferns and mondo grass... although that was a mistake...still on the war path with those pesky tubers... a swing set and a play house evolved eventually replaced by a chicken coup... a tree house flying a pirate flag... long abandoned as the children grew and moved on to other things.... over the years I’ve realized I created a small slice of my own childhood.... A small part of the Cotswolds right here in Matthews.. minus the sheep....the dry stacked walls of honey and grey Tennessee field stone that reminds me so much of the walls that border the fields in the cotswolds... The meandering pathways and the crunch of my wellies as I take my morning stroll with the rascals.. always planning the evolution as trees and plants have died off and planting changes occur.
This past spring I took a firm hand to the front of the house where climbing roses and Carolina jasmine had taken over the front porch... I think the UPS driver had a visible sigh of relief when he saw an open path to the front door. With the removal of some over grown and woody bushes I was able to free up space for a beautiful dwarf weeping maple and complementing hydrangeas and azaleas... of course I’m excited to hopefully see the resurrection of the daffodils, blue bells and irises.. followed by foxgloves, black eyed Susan’s and flocks... I have some lovely antique shrub roses whose scents are heavenly throughout the late spring and summer... they linger into the late fall although not as Prolifically.
Fingers crossed that we get a bit more cold.... I’ll be plotting though the seed catalogues.
Wellies on I’ll be in the garden.
