You are entering my Enchanted Garden

BEWARE!

In this Enchanted Garden you may lose all sense of modern time and place.  You may forget about the bills you have to pay and the errands you have to run.  The garden may steal away any tension you're enjoying and force the jostle in your day to become quiet.

If you are prepared for these things to happen then by all means, follow me down the garden path.

It's been raining for days and the old rose tree is weighed down with all its new growth.  The roses are just beginning to bloom.  They bloom for such a short time, only a few days, but during those days their scent is marvelous.  I wish I could capture some of that scent in this post, but you will need to use your imagination.  I hope you use your imagination often.  It is a wonderful thing and a terrible thing to waste.  Look closely at the delicate blossoms of the old rose tree.

Such tiny flowers

Beneath the rose you will notice some peony in bloom. They are another of my favorite garden plants, but they too stay for too short a time.

Let us proceed down the garden path.

When life becomes too dominated with demands I love to come here, to come to my enchanted garden.  Modern life brings us many wonderful inventions, but nothing is as wonderful to me as nature.  There are no crowds in my garden.  There is no noise, only the chirping of birdies.  It is a most refreshing place to escape modern life.  In this setting I can imagine I'm back in any time period for people of the past enjoyed exactly these same beatious scents and sights.  Sights like this lovely Lamb's Ear.

or this Columbine

[caption id="attachment_1903" align="aligncenter" width="225"] a pink columbine[/caption]My garden always welcomes me.  It's welcoming you too.  It appeals to our spirits.  Here in the garden it is a grand place to reflect and enjoy contemplation.  I hope you spend time in reflection each and every day.  My "dead friend" Lord Byron said "A life without reflection is a sad affair" and I whole-heartedly agree with him.  You too?

Oh, I see the hostas have some company.  They are being visited by the purple iris.  Once again, the iris is another of those flowers which stays for too brief a visit.  I love to see their flowers come, but hate to see them go.  This is so true of many of my human friends too.

I invite impatience each year into the garden for unlike the peony and iris they not only stay a while, but they flourish and grow and become quite a plentious sight... that is if Peter Rabbit and his family don't indulge.  I understand Mr. McGregor's feeling about rabbits now that I tend a garden.

Oh, you must see the climbing rose that was planted by some former owner of our garden.  Take a look at this.

I'm training it to reach out to the house forming a pretty entrance to the patio.  The flowers of this climber are just lovely.  See?

Come, get even closer.  Take a whiff!

Is a flower like this not heaven on earth?

A Romantic garden should invoke flights of fancy.  I spend time in this enchanted place and creative ideas seem to come at me from nowhere, or perhaps the ideas are coming from the angels who live here.  Angels like this one.

 She hides under the lilies and iris.  She must be shy.  Sometimes she holds a blanket filled with rain water so the birdies can enjoy a refreshing drink.  But there is another angel.  This one is more mature and here she is...

I should name my angel friends.  I used to name the angels back when I was a little girl in Catholic school.  In fact, my friends and I would often play with our angels, especially our guardian angels.  allowing them  to enjoy the swings at the school playground.  We'd push our angel friends  instead of enjoying the swings ourselves.  I guess it's from those old days that my imagination got it's start.

Do you grow fennel?  I love fennel, especially bronze fennel.  I have it in my herb garden and here in the Enchanted garden too.  It grows beside some statuary.  Statuary is another thing I love.  It's so appropriate for a Romantic garden.

[caption id="attachment_1885" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Fennel and statuary[/caption]

The other side of this particular statue sees yellow lilies getting ready to make an appearance.  Welcome  lilies to my Enchanted garden.

And every garden needs a bird bath.  The birdies need to bathe too you know.  I love to watch them at this task.  They enjoy themselves so much, but then who doesn't enjoy a bath?

There are all sorts of birdies in the Enchanted garden.  Some are living and some are pretend birdies like this one that sits atop a structure training plants up and around it.

Sometimes I stroll the garden and other times I sit in chairs beside it just gazing at all my plant friends.

Other times I'll sit on the patio and view the garden from this vantage point.  I sit at the table and have afternoon tea alone or with friends.

Or maybe I'll take a book out to the chairs at the edge of the wall and read to the singing of the birdies.

The profusion of plant life in a Romantic garden  encourages rest, relaxation, contemplation and imagination, wonderful elements that soften and enrich  modern day life.  I sometimes wander near and far but though these escapes are always delightful,  I always look forward to returning to my Enchanted garden for this is a very favorite place, a place to rest and relax.  I hope you have an Enchanted garden of your own.  If not, come back often and visit me here in mine.

See you next time.