Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Tip Toeing Through The Tulips


                       It was one of the most stunning sights I have ever seen.


Tulips, tulips and more tulips.


These individual, little bursts of color 


planted en masse by the thousands, like spools of ribbon


against a jagged edge of hazy blue mountain ranges,
 and topped off with blue sky and puffy, white clouds.


No, I wasn't in Holland,
although I would love to be there one day.


These tiny tulip bulbs lit up the fields liked fireworks on the grounds of Roozengaarde farm in the Skagit Valley of Washington state.  There were fields of yellow daffodils, too, just starting to fade in one field,


while the tulips were reaching their prime in others.


It  was reminiscent of Dorothy and the poppy fields in the classic movie,
The Wizard Of Oz.



Not only did the tulips fascinate, but the soil here was an interesting in itself. A puzzle of texture that cracked on the surface, yet, it felt like a soft, cushioned rubber mat when I walked on it.


And I know I am dating myself here, but I couldn't help thinking of Tiny Tim, on The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson, dozens of years ago when he sang, "Tip Toe Through The Tulips," a river of alliteration, on his tiny ukulele.



In the display gardens, patterns of color fascinated swarms of people, responsible for the adjoining fields of parked cars, who came to see the spectacle just about an hour north of Seattle.



I recall seeing an impressive photo of these tulip fields about 14 years ago, at least,  and I made a note to myself that I would have to go see it with my own eyes one day. I finally made it at the end of March, 2015. The month long festival is usually in April each year. This year was the earliest bloom date ever, and it is attributed warmer weather.


It was worth the wait for me.


Plants, and flowers, were in the wide open fields as well as in nooks and crannies,
from Dutch clogs


as well as in mossy tree limbs high above ground. 
It was a gorgeous day in the Pacific Northwest.


This is GardenEnvy.




Thursday, March 19, 2015

Finding My Zen In A Garden

     I had the opportunity to spend three weekend days in Anderson's LaCosta garden nursery in a north county beach community of San Diego. It was December, and I was invited to participate in an artisan holiday marketplace to sell succulent plant arrangements.


   I spent the days in a lovely location in a shady spot, 


surrounded by plants, and chirping birds.
 Not a bad gig for me, since I love being in a garden.


  You probably know that many women pine for Italian Ferragamos or French Loubutin heels-- and I, too, like a well designed shoe.
 But, I pine for evergreen trees, Schwarzkopf aeoniums, designer succulents, the scent of stephanotis blossoms in my front yard, and kumquats from my backyard.


These sunny looking aeoniums


and Christmas cactus in bloom can bring out the best in me.
As the song goes, these are a few of my favorite things.


Fountains all around the nursery 


provided a background chorus of running water--music to my ears.


 In the orchid room,


like a bouncing ball,
 my eyes went from one beautiful bloom


to the next, practically sending me into a hypnotic state.


And I lusted after all the pots, 




in every size and color.


The texture on this pot sent me over the moon.
Now it sits on my patio, planted with succulents, of course.


I obsessed over the head planters,


mulling over how I might style their succulent hair.


But the buddha statuaries suggested a more meditative mood.


I was in a nursery all day and under the under the spell of a garden, and it was soothing away my stress better than a full body massage. That's not too surprising--after all, Buddha himself found nirvana while meditating for weeks on end under a tree.


As it happens, I found a little unexpected zen myself,
while sitting for a few days under the  shade of this garden.


And I took that home, too.



This is GardenEnvy.






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