Chives in full bloom in our herb garden |
The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,–
One is nearer God’s heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth.
One is nearer God’s heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth.
I feel the deepest peace, the deepest joy when I am alone in my garden, and the birds sing. What ecstasy!! A garden of one’s own is indeed a deep joy at the centre of so many lives!
This is our seventh year in our home, but only the second year we’ve gardened seriously.
For the first five years, each summer, I tried to take on the garden with secateurs and weeding, but as I didn’t immediately cover the soil with mulch and fresh plants, put something in as I took something out, weeds took over.
This year as we remove weeds from a bed, we are putting in hellebores, which are my favourite flower, dignified, low-key, restrained, and bloom between December and April, the months when I most need an incentive to get out into the garden.
We will fill the gaps between hellebores with other shade plants–arum, bleeding hearts, heuchera, cyclamen.
* * *
I think I was stymied before because I just tried to remove weeds and overgrowth, but put nothing in its place.
It’s the same with breaking bad habits and addictions. You cannot get rid of a bad temper, or a reliance on chocolate, say, without putting something in its place–a deepened relationship with God, for example, or a taste for Scripture, or a healthier addiction to exercise!
Jesus has a parable of an evil spirit cast out of a man. When he sees his former habitation all swept and empty, he returns with seven others, more evil than himself, and so the latter condition of the man was worst than the first.
This perhaps explains why at the start of every diet, I weigh more than at the start of the previous one, no matter how much I lost on it!!
The food indulgences must be replaced with things to fill the void –muscle mass, or brain-healthy nutritional supplements, or a deepened relationship with God or positive thinking or all of the above—or else one’s latter state can be worse than the first.
Hellebores and Hostas with a ground cover of ivy. |
Pyracantha about to burst into flower. |
An alpine |
Fennel tops |
Siberian Itis |
What is this beetle eating our mint, and should we be worried? |
Welsh Onions, and shredded paper mulch. |
White clematis |
What is this flower? |
Pink and white columbines behind a rose. |
Rose in silhouette |
A friendly robin in our mulberry. |
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Jamie Frasier says
What a beautiful garden you have. Thank you for sharing your garden and your thoughts.
Anita Mathias says
Thank you, Sherrey. Lace Cap Hydrangea it is. Thank you, Miss Mollie. I am so happy to have contributed to the peace of your morning:-)
Miss Mollie says
I love this post. Gardens and weeds, replacing the weeds with plants, a great analogy. Reading this post has given me more peace this morning to start my day. Beautiful. Thank you.
Sherrey says
Anita, lovely post and lovely garden! We have many of the same plants in our garden. The white flower where you asked what it was — to me it looks like a lace cap hydrangea. I have a blue one and a pink one but have not seen a white one.