Honeyanne

flowers for my mother...

    
When my parents spent the year with us my mother brought with her many of her own flowers from the acreage.  Now that they have returned to Busby she misses those dear friends she planted here. These pictures are for her.

I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck.  ~Emma Goldman

Summer with 'love beth'...

I know that summer is behind us now that the leaves have carpeted the lawn in orange and yellow but I just have to put in a fond memory of summer past.  We went out to the charming estate of one 'love beth'.  She brought her family from England because she wanted to have some space to stretch and grow.  We are so glad.  Nothing is as delightful as the soft british accent which springs from a gentle heart.  I felt instantly at home when we arrived and couldn't wait to explore with my camera.

 

 

 

 

 

 

what do you do with Comfrey?

 Majestic Comfrey grows at the corner of my garden -with it's rough hairy leaves and purple bell-shaped flower.  It seems immune to bug and disease.  Of course, I am pleased when a plant grows back year after year without my coaxing but just what do you do with Comfrey anyway?

My research in book and cyberspace has brought me to this -- If I sprain an ankle or break a bone I can boil the leaves and put the thick goo on the area to heal.  I should not eat Comfrey because it may damage my liver.  I could put it in a pail and let it decompose for a few weeks to make a compost tea but one gardener warned it smells something like rotting flesh and  makes spreading it over the garden quite unpleasant.  I could throw the leaves into the compost or till them into the soil (they decompose very quickly).

So, I dedicate this gentle giant to the compost pile.

Bringing the fairies...

If you are a lover of flowers, fairies, poetry and delightful little books then you might be interested in collecting for yourself Cicely Mary Barker's A Flower Fairy Collection.  I ordered these when I was first married because I loved the illustrations. Now, I have discovered what a wealth of learning they hold - especially for the child botanist.  Each fairy represents a specific plant and each plant comes with a poem.  What a delicious way to learn about the flowers growing outside our door!

We have taken the challenge written inside this book:

Open Your Eyes!

To shop, and school, to work and play, / The busy people pass all day; / They hurry, hurry, to and fro, / And hardly notice as they go / The wayside flowers, known so well, / Whose names so few of them can tell. / They never think of fairy-folk / Who may be hiding for a joke!

O, if these people understood / What's to be found by field and wood; / What fairy secrets are made plain / By any footpath, road, or lane- / They'd go with open eyes, and look, / (As you will, when you've read this book) / And then at least they'd learn to see / How pretty common things can be!

We are going on a Flower Fairy Walk using this book from the collection - trying to find flower fairies of the wayside in our back yard.  Each little poem tells us a little something about the flowers we are seeking- who knows perhaps we will see a little winged person on our trip.

I'll keep you posted as to what we find...