The Color Green

Today

is brought to you

by the color 

green..

For those of you living in

snowy, white climates..

or waiting to see everything green up..

this post is for you..

though it may be only a virtual reality for you...

for me..

it is very real and I wanted to share it with you..

 sweet souls ..

starved for the greening of land..

and those of you

gentle readers..

who find the color green

serene,

rejuvenating,

and soothing...

we live in a forest..

the only home on our street..

and we never tire of the tall pines and live oaks..

Spring is gardening season here..

while summer is your season to plant and grow..

our season is finished by June..

I have been spending less studio time

and more time outside..

enjoying nature..

and nurturing and pruning the old..

planting the new..

and weeding..

the never ending work of the gardener..

I planted lavender this year..

if it lives through our hot and WET 

summer,

I will be very grateful..

Hydrangeas

are new this year too..

I am hoping they survive as well..

they will make it through the winter..

but the summer might be too wet..

every year 

I bravely try new plants..

hoping to find things..

That want to live where 

Mother Nature has such temperamental mood swings

of hot and cold..

tropicals all died the first year..

and by the third year

I had gardening fatigue..

but there are few things

more lovely than seeing what you plant

survive and thrive..

and flower and bloom..

I believe that the garden 

remembers the gardener..

long after she is gone..

and

hopefully I have brought you a 

cheerful

and 

slightly sunny post..

a little beauty break

for the soul..

perhaps..

Ciao, Ciao..

the meaning of magnolia flowers

I have a few more photos

from Florida to share with you. dear reader...

Spring in the south means magnolias are in bloom

and I have been waiting...

magnolia grandiflora

rather impatiently to see them

in all their splendid glory...

magnolias, you see...

 are the oldest flowering plants in the world...

that is quite a distinction...

don't you think?

I was impatient because I have never seen them before, but if you follow

La Dolce Vita... 

then you know that I am impatient about ALL blooms...

my quick sketch of the Magnolia Grandiflora...

nature has always inspired me...

I just finished reading Elizabeth Gilbert's book

The Signature of all Things..

the heroine, studies moss

and so I was captivated by the mosses on the trees...

and the tiny ferns growing from both

moss and tree, and thinking

what a great relationship trees have to all of life...

and it reminded me of how interconnected we all are...

palm trees the color or dusty miller...

and for those of you who have never seen a magnolia tree in bloom..

it is quite spectacular, I assure you..

the flower petals are very large and thick..

my quick sketch of Magnolia Virginiana.. the first to go to Europe

and they drape over the leaves as if they are swooning..

 the undersides of the leaves are a distinct copper brown..

quite remarkable...

they have an air of nobility and perseverance...

and their meaning?

a love of nature...

of course...

xo