Sun Setting On Our Field, by Rainer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How
Did the rose
Ever open its heart

And give this world
All its
Beauty?

It felt the encouragement of light
Against its
Being,

Otherwise,
We all remain

Too

Frightened

-Hafiz

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Hodge Podge of Spring Signals

Lovely flowers that have bloomed all winter. Does it matter what their name is?

Wow, rosemary loves this time of year.

Pondering these onion-sprout signs of spring.

It just keeps getting deeper. He's gotten past sod level and silty, dark soil, through clay and now he's at sand level.

Two very different looking artichoke plants (right?). Feels like years since they've been in the ground, but they are thriving. "Over-wintering", I guess. Can't wait to see some more action.

These are four baby river willows, clipped from the river bank, rooted by Frida on the window sill, planted along the fence by the climbing tree. The ground is so soaked we won't worry about watering for a long time.

Hey, a toad hopped into our garage the other night! After spending a little time in Frida's vacation house, it went back to the front yard.


Flowering Japanese red plum trees, in our yard and all over town.
Ours is the skimpiest one I've ever seen. Needs to be pruned, they say. Ok, next year.



4 comments:

Unknown said...

the darker green "artichoke plant" looks more like Mexican sage to me.
Really great photos!

zakris said...

Yeah, thanks, Melissa. I"m skeptical of it, too! I thought we got a six pack of these and they were called artichoke, but I can't remember.

Sharon Lovejoy said...

LOVE the picture of Frida and the toad. Absolutely wonderful!

Thanks for mentioning my book Roots Shoots Buckets & Boots. Please check out Toad Cottages & Shooting Stars. It should be at your local library by now.

Keep up your GREAT work.

Sharon Lovejoy Writes from Sunflower House and a Little Green Island

zakris said...

Oh, great, Sharon! So good to know your book is out. Sounds toad-ally relevant to our gardening. (Sorry couldn't help that.) Thanks for your kind comments, too!