Wordsworth Meadow

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A TASTE OF SPRING

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When I was out walking in the garden today I was admiring the camellias. They are the evergreen structure that forms the bones of the garden and they bloom to boot!

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daffodils in the Wordsworth meadow are up and some are already blooming   …… but

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the meadow was not cut last summer so there are plenty of weeds, and several trees and limbs are down. Victims of the  heavy saturating rains and strong winds of late.

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One of the first times I’ve seen the incredible flowers of the ‘evermottled’ ginger…….. blooming at ground level.  I have not often seen them as I’m hesitant to crawl around the garden on all fours when it is cold and damp. This one just jumped out at me.

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Spring is here again!

 

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DAFFODIL ENVY

I am suffering  from Daffodil envy.

This morning I opened the computer and found the following photos on one of my favorite blogs THE GALLOPING GARDENER.

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And here I was feeling so proud of the Wordsworth Meadow! 

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Nevertheless, scenes like this were my inspiration.  

The photos were taken  at The Valley Garden in Surrey England by Charlotte Weychan. Charlotte travels and visits fabulous gardens.  Check her blog for a wonderful armchair visit to some of the best gardens.

I better get busy sourcing and planting. I think I need several lifetimes to achieve something like this!

Thank you Charlotte for use of your photos.

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SPRING!

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Spring is announced in the ‘Wordsworth Meadow’

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It does fill my heart with joy!

Every year the display increases. Presently scouting old abandoned homeplaces to rescue more Narcissus to add to the meadow.

If you have been reading this blog then you know these are ‘old timey’ bulbs that have survived for years unattended. The modern cultivars  I originally planted  disappeared after a season or two.

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The sweep of Narcissus on the left in the above photo is a younger planting than the one on the right, equal number of bulbs. Time is a huge element in garden design.

MORE SCENES FROM AROUND THE GARDEN:

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Prunus ‘Okame’ and Spiraea, wish you could hear the bees  a -buzz at the ‘all you can eat buffet’

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     Helleborus orientalis & Narcissus and the ghost of last summer’s Hydrangeas.    

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Of all the garden areas, it is the ‘Wordsworth Meadow’ that holds my heart.    It is still unfinished….

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THE WORDSWORTH MEADOW

“For oft’ when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood

They flash upon that inward eye…”

                                                                                 

 The meadow is a moment in time.  The  living garden, evolves…. the daffs fade… this moment is gone.

                                                                                                

 One looks forward to this annual ‘happening’ with much anticipation and it is celebrated with much wine.  Spring has arrived!

                                                                                         

“I gazed -and gazed- but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought.”

                                                      

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THE DAFFODILS

The Wordsworth Meadow is in full glory. The very first time I looked at this property, before I saw the interior of the house, I imagined this area flooded with sweeps of Daffodils “fluttering and dancing in the breeze.”

                                                                                

It was a privet and wisteria  jungle that took me months to clear. Then the planting began. the first autumn I ordered  500 bulbs recommended for the south.  The following year I planted more, but when spring arrived, only a fraction of the original planting returned. 

                                                                         

Does this look like 500 daffs? Today,this is what is left of the original planting.

                                                                         

Devastated, I thought my plan for this area would have to be abandoned untill I passed an old deserted homestead with a neat line of daffodils… big, fat,full clumps with many blooms. If these daffs could survive and INCREASE over the years….they were for me.

                                                                          

And so it began, sourcing,  digging, dividing and replanting.  Yes, I ALWAYS ASKED FOR PERMISSION.  I still regret those that were bulldozed to make way for a strip mall before I could find the owners.

                                                                                   

There are no words to describe the joy these bring every spring as I watch them multiply over the years.

Do you think it was worth the effort?