Finding Stillness and Joy in the Garden

Lately when I am gardening I have had to wear long pants and sleeves and a mosquito net over my head.  This, combined with the VERY high temperatures has made me hot and sweaty and in a bit of a hurry to finish the job and get the heck back inside.  But every so often I am so struck by the beauty I have to tear off my mosquito net, run into the house and return with camera in hand.  Such was the case with the Japanese anemone above.  The light was hitting the blooms just right and even though there was a slight breeze, the anemone and I shared a moment of quiet stillness as I held my breath and took the photo.

And later in the week I found a joy so irresistible in my succulent garden I had to scurry in the house again looking for the camera.  I planted a new kind of sedum this year called Purple Emperor (above) that has dark purple leaves.  I can imagine this plant as an emperor wearing a lovely dusty color cloak and what a stunning surprise when the pink lining was revealed!   OK, maybe the heat was going to my head...but the colors of this sedum are particularly ravishing.

And right next to the emperor lives an unidentified succulent that finally produced these jubilant white blooms.  I have been curious for weeks what was going to come out of these long stalks that shot up about a month ago.

Below is another kind of Japanese anemone that lives in my backyard and has spread rapidly.  I don't have the heart to control it because I love the flowers so much.  They are also very nice cut flowers.

I think this post has been a bit rambling but I feel a little rusty since I took a break from the blog this summer.  It wasn't a planned break...but life just got busy and had other plans for me.  As I worked on the photos tonight and struggled with writing this post it felt good to be back doing my "thing."  And I thank those out there who noticed and bugged me to get back to it (Frank!).

"The forest and I was all there was. In the deep still silence I could feel the Earth's beating heart."

-Wren, F.J. Rouse (Aerie Earth and Sea)