The Best Thing About June is.....

Everything! 

June has inspired musicians and poets for centuries and there is a good reason for that.  Spring is in full gear, the blooming has begun and the heat of summer, so draining on plants and people, hasn't arrived yet.  

The birds are singing and busy tending their young.  The sky seems close enough to touch and the breezes, though warm, can bring a welcome reminder that summer is still in the future!

My garden offers so many gifts in June.  I want to be in it every moment.  A recent early morning tour took me close to heaven.  I am quite sure, if God dwells among us here on earth, He finds refuge from humans in an earthly garden.

This attractive ground cover, Dead Nettle, is creeping across my shady garden, gradually eliminating the weeding wherever it goes.

Another favorite ground cover and useful herb is called Lady's Mantle.  It blooms now and gives my June bouquets a touch of yellow filler.

This feathery plant, called Goat's Beard, grows in shade and can get to be four feet by four feet.  

Oh, there's the Lavender, just beginning to shoot up its fragrant flowers.  I love to pick the flowers and make tiny dried bunches to put all over the house.  For an occasional headache, I crush the leaves and flowers and keep inhaling the lovely scent until the headache subsides.  It works!

The honeysuckle, grabbing a bit of early morning sunlight, acts as a lure to butterflies and hummingbirds.  It is a vine, which, if you place it on a pole, it will grow toward the sun and light up that corner with bright yellow or orange.

Although the peonies are almost finished with their show for this year, I found a late bloomer hidden among the greenery.  So delicate!

 This is a new arrival to my garden.  A mustardy yellow Daylily, which begins blooming in June and then performs, non-stop, until November.  My neighbor, ever generous, gave me a clump last fall and as you can see, it has made itself at home in my garden.

 .

The roses are coming, the roses are coming!  This beauty, named Cinque de Mayo has fragrant hot red blooms covering the plant at the moment.  It will bloom off and on all summer. 

These beautiful wild flowers, called Spiderwort, brighten up any corner of the yard, sunny or shady!  

Thought for the Day:  June is a gift! Savor it, every moment! 

 

A Wedding Celebration

Like a bad penny, I have returned.  

Recently, we celebrated the marriage of my niece Sara.  It was so nice to see the whole clan gathered together, something that doesn't happen too often. 

 While I was away, I worked on several poems and I was inspired by the young couple's evident happiness and sparkling joy, so apparent when they looked at each other.  I created this haiga  for them.

May they enjoy the sparkle for many, many years!

Haiku My Heart! Family

  There are some years when we celebrate family more than others.  This past year has been a banner year and the celebrations are continuing!  

   Last year we  had a wedding, and a 90th birthday party. Soon we will gather again for another wedding and several graduations both high school and college.  Later on this summer, a much anticipated and already beloved baby will arrive.

  Although the family is flung out across most of the East Coast, we delight and rejoice with one another at each and every milestone.

 My mother,at 90,is our matriarch, the glue which seems to hold us together.  Every one of her grandchildren and one great grandchild, adores her and she them. Although she does not get around so much anymore, she continues to be interested in all the accomplishments of her extended family.  

  On those occasions when we are all together, it is gratifying to look around the table, at all the glowing young faces,off-spring of my parents,  each one with his or her own unique features, yet all sharing a set of values , a sense of humor, and a sense of family - passed on from my parents.

 A light seems to shine from those young faces - connecting past to future - our hope for the world!   

©Barbara Kaufmann 2013

For Recuerda Mi Corazon'haiku my heart' 


Thought for this day -  It is good to gather and celebrate as family!

Spring Shadow and Light

  Of all my gardens, I think I get the most pleasure from my shady garden.  Everyone thinks gardening in shade is a challenge, but the reality is, if you plant the right stuff, it's a charm.

Ferns Unfurling ©Barbara Kaufmann 2013

 My tiny shady garden is best enjoyed by strolling through it, looking for tiny treasures since many of the woodland flowers that bloom there are tiny and can  best be appreciated up close.

Ferns 

  My shady area is underneath my weeping cherry, which itself can be planted under taller trees.  I added some shade shrubs that grow wild in the woods in the Northeast, like andromeda and rhododendron. 

Delicate Epimedium.....

   Next I put in ferns, lots and lots of ferns.  These lovely plants, although shy and retiring, can show off the dappled light that filters to the floor of the garden.

.....also comes in pink

 Some of my favorites shady perennials are  are dicentra, epimedium, lobelia, wild geranium, lady's mantle, anemone, daffodils,  astilbe, primrose and lenten rose.

Daphne scents the whole garden

  Some of the best shrubs to plant in the shade include the above mentioned andromeda, rhodos, daphne, viburnum, red- twigged dogwood and hydrangea.

Viburnum just opening

Jonquils- these late bloomers light up the spring shady garden

Lenten Rose starts to bloom in March and is still going strong!

Solomon's seal with vareigated leaves looks great in shade

    The flowers and flowering shrubs, light up the dark corners all spring and summer  and into the fall.

  This selection, along with the ferns and hostas, give the shady garden interest in every season. (And best of all, the weeds are not very aggressive in the shade!

  The other morning, as I watched the sun slowly begin to awaken my garden, this poem arrived unbidden:

*****

Spring Light

the Light begins

 to move

 across the sky

slowly it creeps north

awakening my soul,

opening my sleepy eyes 

after the dark night of winter,

the sun's warmth

soaks into my bones,

lighting the way,

 the earth begins to hum

with budding potential,

green unfurls its tiny flags

and then my heart

opens to new possibilities,

take me, 

spring Light.

*****

Thought for today:  Gardening in the shade can be rewarding and inspiring!