Sharing Pleasures

I know, I know.

It has been a long time since you have heard from me.

Let's just say....I have been busy.

However, I have filed a lot of material to share, along with some photos, and will be filling you in as the days go by.

Briefly, let me say that some of my time (a lot of my time) was spent in the doctor's office....and there will be NO photos. Or explanation. I know you are grateful.

As the world turns, and as I have been pulling my car in and out and in and out and in and out of my driveway this last month, I have been settling my eyes and attention on this....

And just a little closer...

I think it is a Camellia Japonica "Miss Nellie Eastman"....but I might be wrong.


I call it "The Harriett". Because that is what it is. In my mind.

And you are all subject to my mind.

My gurlfriend, Harriett, gave this Camellia to me when my daddy died. I planted it. It has grown a good bit and man, is it blooming!

I think of Harriett and Daddy, every time I look at it. What a blessing.

I love the idea of "plant it forward" - sharing memories through gardening and creating a literal living history.

Over the years, I have been gifted with some memorable green things. In my first "starter" house, back in the middle ages, my brother-in-law (Bill) gave me a gardenia bush for my birthday. I planted it (on the south side of the house) and it thrived. It was quite large when we sold that house and moved on, but I still drive by when I am in town and I speak to that bush and say "you are mine".

Then, there were the iris that my sister-in-law, Lynda, gave me. They came from her grandmother's yard after she past away....and I planted them in my yard. I had to leave them, too. But they are still mine. When I see them blooming, I remember Lynda and Sadie.

As are the sweeps of daffodils, and the lilac bush and some others.

But now, in South Carolina, I have the Harriett.



Sharing our heritage - celebrations, commemorations, remembrances - with the gift of a beautiful garden ornament is a real treasure.

I love my Harriett - the plant and the woman. I am so glad for what I think of when I look at it.

I will leave you with these words:

In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.

~ Kahlil Gibran

Hey! Go dig in the dirt (or go to the local garden center). Take a cutting or a bulb or a bloom and deliver it to someone you love. It is a gift of immeasurable value.

Spring is around the corner....

~J