Nest and Sparkle

Gifts for the garden are among the best kinds of gifts. For me, gardening has become a creative outlet, a leisure-time hobby, a vehicle for rejuvenation, a way to walk the talk of my environmental aspirations and a place to enjoy a tiny slice of nature’s solitude and beauty. So, given how much I value my garden space, you can imagine how delighted I am when a new plant finds its way into my life as gift from a friend or family member. Raspberry canes, chives, daisies, lilies and hollyhock seeds all have a special place in my garden and I get an extra lift with the memory of the happy place they came from.

The lovely white lilies in the picture above sprung up in the garden this past week. Aren’t they beautiful? Last fall, when my in-laws were putting their garden to bed, my mother-in-law brought over a couple of brown paper bags full of white and pink lily bulbs. I planted several in our sunny west-facing back garden and then a few in the front yard as well. After a hot and sunny day today there are no less than eight white and pink lilies blooming in the backyard. They look stunning, perfectly nestled against the hollyhocks, which have grown from seeds that my mother gave us a couple of years ago, both meant to be exactly in that particular spot. Lilies are a special flower, beautiful in a very striking way. Every time I look at them, I feel a deep breath of summer flowing through me – pure happiness!

The plants in the front are coming along as well, valiantly struggling against the northern exposure and the munching tendencies of the local wildlife. The neighbourhood rabbits are unfortunately exceedingly comfortable in the yard next door – I’ve seen them lounging lazily in the flower bed several times this summer, nibbling happily on the poor plants.