First Visit of the Year to Chanticleer Garden

The delightful weather of early April has allowed me to visit several gardens in the Philadelphia area…

Morris Arboretum 

in Chestnut Hill,

Jenkins Arboretum & Garden 

in Devon,

and my all time favorite Garden…

Chanticleer in Wayne!

I have a Community Bible Study friend, Suzanne, to thank for introducing me to Chanticleer.

As our small group leader, Suzanne thought an outing might be fun for our little group and that some social time would allow us get to know one another a little better.

Thank You Suzanne for organizing that visit to Chanticleer. I can't begin to express how grateful  I am for your sharing this jewel of a garden with me.

So, last Sunday, with camera in tow, my daughter and I met up with a friend and we took in the delights of this incredible pleasure garden.

For a Sunday it was not to crowded, but then it’s still early in the season...

I don’t know how others experience their visit(s) to Chanticleer, but for me it’s the colors, texture and spaces. A walk through this pleasure garden always leaves me refreshed and restored. Even my family notices its effect on me… Now, they even tell me when I need to go visit Chanticleer.

On this first visit of the 2011 season, I learned that a new book has been published about the garden…

Chanticleer; A Pleasure Garden 

Adrian Higgins. Photographs by Rob Cardillo

176 pages | 10 x 7 | 92 color, 2 b/w illus.
Cloth Apr 2011 | ISBN 978-0-8122-4274-4 | $29.95

The photographs and text in this book take you through the different seasons, and moods of the garden. Can I just say… Mothers Day is coming-up!

Chanticleer is open

April – October

Wednesday – Sunday

In Search of Cherry Blossoms & Spring

Spring Bulbs in the Rose Garden

This past Saturday my husband and I had a "Date Day", and we visited Morris Arboretum in Chestnut Hill, PA. We went in search of spring... fresh air... warmer weather... cherry blossoms... and some special time together. We found all that we were seeking, except the cherry blossoms - it was still a bit to early and they hadn't yet burst out from their winter slumber.

Each spring, Morris Arboretum hosts an annual Japanese Cherry Blossom Celebration. The Festival offers a variety of activities for both children and adults, and celebrates the art, culture and gardens inspired by the 35 varieties of cherry trees that grace the Arboretum with their blossoms each spring.

Lydia's Seat - in 1910 garden steps, a wall & seat were built into the hillside at the north end of what would become the Rose Garden

The seat & stairs were a favorite garden approach from the Compton Mansion to what was the mixed flower & herb garden, today the seat provides a special & a bit more secret view of the Rose Garden

Stone wall the around the Rose Garden built in 1924 & made from Wissahickon schist

In the early 20th century, John and Lydia Morris (founders of the Morris Arboretum) established one of the finest collections of Japanese plants and gardens in the region at their home, Compton, which would later become the Morris Arboretum. The Morrises vision was to promote an understanding of the relationship between plants, people and place. The Morrises recognized that plants and people depend on each other for survival.

“The progress of the world is so rapid and the hurry of life so great that we are apt not to stop and consider the interest which old landmarks may have for future generations and old buildings are allowed to be destroyed until little remains in our city to show the difference between the past and the present ant to mark the changes that take place even in a single lifetime.” 

-Excerpt from the will of John Morris

Germination Sequence Sculpture

The Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania is a historic public garden and educational institution. Morris Arboretum is the official Arboretum of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Witchhazel near the Mercury Loggia (built in 1913)

Witchhazel near the Mercury Loggia - this shrub is around 100 years old!

Spring Flowers near the Log Cabin - Lydia Morrises private retreat

Close-up of spring flowers near the Log Cabin

Lenten Rose - Hellebore Orientalis

Bleeding Heart emerging near one of the Japanese Gardens

Spring House Garden

Close up of Lenten Rose near the Spring House Garden

If you live near Philadelphia, you can still catch the Japanese Cherry Blossom Celebration at Morris Arboretum this coming weekend – April 9^th.

As we celebrate the coming of spring with the blooming of the Cherry Blossoms, lets not forget to keep our Japanese brothers and sisters in our thoughts and prayers.

Making All Things New

And...

Why I Love Spring!

 

 “…The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it!... This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. ”   2 Corinthians 5:16-18 MSG & NLT 

 

My days have been Over-packed

Busy

Disconnected

Fragmented

Lonely

Running from one event to the next

Is anything really happening?

A gnawing sense of being unfulfilled

Moving from many things

...to the one necessary thing

The beginning of a Spiritual life

A change of heart

  

At first barely noticeable...

A joyful

surprise

 A gift

given

A gift

accepted

 A new

focus 

Made New - Renewed!

The discipline of solitude

Living

into the active presence

of God’s Spirit

Discovering space

for God

in our innermost being

Distractions and obstacles removed

           A heart changing 

{ Centered }

Space to listen

God speaking

Day and night

In our work and play

In joy and sorrow

In solitude and community

Attentive to that small voice

Responding

Priorities changed

R

o

o

t

e

d

Surprise... Socks & Snow!

I'm taking a quick break from posting pictures and comments about the Philadelphia Flower Show to share a couple of surprises that greeted me this week.

The first surprise came early this week. On Sunday I received a beautiful pair of hand-knit socks, delivered to me by none other than the Sock Fairy herself. I can't even begin to express how this gift has really touched me. I feel so honored to be given this hand-crafted gift!

Just think...

In this day and age...

How often are we given a gift that was created specifically for us?

Those kind of gifts take time and thought. The giver has to know us well enough to know what colors or style to select. And then, they have to be willing to invest their time in creating this gift - a unique creation made just for us. How special it is to be the owner of a one-of-a-kind pair of socks that were made just for me. Wow, I feel so honored, loved and cared for. A huge thank you my dear friend Cinnie!

Another reason this gift from my friend is so special, is it's unexpectedness... And in truth isn't that the essence of a gift... that we had nothing to do with earning or deserving it. It's only by grace that we've been blessed. And that reminds me of my sister Karen, and how we used to give gifts to each other for no other reason than we wanted to share it with each other. Karen and I called those unexpected and unearned gifts "Grace Gifts", because they were given just because we loved each other.

I would like to say that Karen and I always had this wonderfully fantastic close sisterly bond. But, the truth is, it was not until she was diagnosed with Inflammatory Breast Cancer in her early thirties that our relationship finally matured, and we reached a place where "Love always Wins", in the end, to love and be loved is all that really matters.

Karen's love, strength, courage, kindness and grace during her five year battle with that awful and cruel disease has forever changed me, and I've learned...

Every day is a gift, not to be taken for granted.

Real relationships require time, lots of forgiveness, even more love and are totally worth whatever we feel we are sacrificing.

People are more important than theology, and that God does work in strange, unusual and miraculous ways.

Losses never truly go away, you just find a way to go on living with them.

We regret more those things we did not do, than any mistake we've ever made.

Hugs are often more helpful than words. 

The second surprise came early Thursday morning, in the form of snow-flakes.

Winter's reminder that even though spring is in-deed "officially" here, the natural world is not controlled by dates on a calendar.

While I am so ready for spring, there is always something magical about a spring snow...

I think perhaps it is the contradiction of seeing snow and flowers simultaneously.

Whispers of Spring

It is the first mild day of March.

Each minute sweeter than before…

There is a blessing in the air…

                                                                       William Wordsworth

 

Still February

So after yesterdays post, I went sleuthing around the my garden, looking for any signs of spring... and low and behold, I did find some Daffodils starting to poke-up out of the ground. "Wooo-Hooo!", I thought. Only to awake this morning to about five inches of freshly fallen snow, and thus I was reminded...

It's Still February.

But I'm... THINKING SPRING ! ! !

Signs

I'm looking for signs of spring... I've hit the mid-winter doldrums. Right now all I'm seeing is snirt (dirty snow) and all sorts of shades of brown and gray.

March is coming up quickly, and while a precursor to spring, it's my least favorite month. March is neither winter or spring. It's so dull and damp and cold. I do have to admit, it does provide the perfect backdrop for those early spring flowers, a time of rebirth!

March does bring The Philadelphia International Flower Show. The theme this year is Springtime in Paris. Oh-lalala, how I would love to be in Paris for the springtime... alas, I will need to settle for this years flower show instead.

My husband has been in New Hampshire visiting his mother and helping to do her taxes - ahhhh... taxes, now that's a sure sign of spring.  He's also stacking wood for her, a reminder that winter still has its grip on us.

While up in the north country he loves to get in the car and just drive, and he's seen some of the maple trees are already tapped. He took this picture on one of those drives.

I do find it a bit ironic that the bucket collecting the sap is very clearly labeled "Not Eddible for Humans". Hummmmmmmm.

He also took this picture in Meredith, NH. You can see some open water peeking through the ice, but the bob-houses are still out on the lake.

I often wonder how many of those bob-houses end up on the bottom of the lake once the ice really breaks???

I just finished reading another book, "Waking up in Eden; In Persuit of an Impassioned Life on an Imperiled Island" by Lucinda Fleeson. While the book is about gardens, plants and flora in Hawaii, it's gotten me antsy to start digging into my garden. I am so looking forward to seeing the nodding white blossoms of the snowdrops,  the bright yellow of the crocus reaching to the sun, followed by bluebells, bleeding hearts, wood anemones...

Witch Hazels in bloom at Kew - February 2009

Last night I was even searching the web for gardening blogs... I especially love English Gardens. I don't know why, but I just love the very carefully planned chaos of an English cottage garden. I'm also envious of the English, their winters tend to me milder, and springtime comes earlier. I really miss seeing the waves of yellow primrose (aka: cowslip) among the brilliant bright green of the new grass... primrose just does not naturalize like that in my part of Pennsylvania.

Right now I have visions of Kew Gardens dancing in my head, and wishing I could find a way to sneak a quick trip to the UK... at least I have these pictures taken in February of 2009 to remind me that spring really is on its way, at least at Kew.

Snowdrops at Kew - February 2009

Purple Crocus at Kew, February 2009

Thankfully Puxatony Phil has predicted an early spring, and soon my little garden and all my favorite local gardens will be in bloom once again. In the mean time, the seed catalogs, flower show and blogs will have to tide me over until I can get my hands into the earth once again.