Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Stopping to Smell the Roses

Mother's Day weekend is usually the best time to plant on Long Island but now that I moved to Virginia, I took the cue from my neighbors and planted earlier. Some of my herbs and flowers were hardy enough to endure the changes in temperature. Some did not so as Mother's Day approached, landscaping our new patio with beautiful beds of herbs and perennials became my focus. It was time to stop and smell the roses and not fret about unpacked boxes inside the home.

The builder's landscaping team arrived a few days before Mother's Day weekend and swapped out plants that were not on my wish list for beautiful flowering azaleas, a young holly bush, budding knock-out roses, and a cherry tree. The challenges of my family's life move started to turn to joy as I watched the plants enter the ground. 


Next on the agenda was a visit to the wholesale nursery with my gardener to choose a beautiful combination of perennials and herbs for my new gardens. While the weather felt more like a cool end-of-winter day rather than a spring one, I layered up and took off to the nursery with my husband. The first task was to find the weeping cherry tree for the back lawn that my husband had on his wish list. Who wouldn't want such a tree? After all, we now live in Virginia, well-noted for their blossoming cherry trees. Following that, we roamed rows of perennials to choose an assortment that would bring color to either side of the patio. The trip proved to be delightful. 

Early on Mother's Day, the gardeners arrived with truckloads of river rocks, large stones for decorative edging, and my tree and plants. The team diligently despite the coldish weather. When they finished planting and edging all the beds with large stones, I realized that Mother's Day will be celebrated in joy from the fruit of their labors. 

Welcome to my gardens,

A delightful Mother's Day gift to
Stop to smell the roses.

Walk through. 
Let nature bring happiness
Filling life with blossoming joy.
©CV, 2021

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I hope everyone's Mother's Day was filled with Blossoms ofJoy! (To hear more about this topic click on the link above to read other slicers' thoughts on this topic.)

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"The lesson I have thorougly learnt, and wish to pass on to others, is to know the enduring happiness that the love a garden gives."
-Gertrude Stein
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I am strolling over to a garden of blossoming slices of life at Two Writing Teachers

12 comments:

  1. How exciting, Carol. To see a garden come to life with plants you picked. To have a burst of color greet you when you step foot outside is uplifting to the soul. Here we have had some low overnight temperatures so it is a bit too early for us to plant anything yet. Give it another two weeks.

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    1. Bob, I checked this morning and although a dip in temp, my flowers have braved the weather shifts.

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  2. I always associate Mother's Day and planting as one holiday for our family. It appears that you will too from now on. Enjoy!

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    1. I certainly will, Patty. Glad to meet you here.

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  3. Spring does happen earlier in Virginia but there are still some cold days! It was even colder up here in the old country! I am also so glad to see those azaleas in your yard as I remember them looking lovely in front of lovely old houses in Arlington and Alexandria long ago when I lived in Virginia.

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  4. Nature always brings me happiness through your eyes and words, Carol - sounds like things are shaping up nicely in your new home. Lovely photos, verse, and encouragement to "stop and smell the roses" - even if we know this, the reminder is timely and timeless! I hope you and yours had lovely Mother's Day.

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  5. It has been fun to share in your move. My Mother’s Day included plants,too. My daughter has been developing a green thumb and brought me a pothos plant she rooted and a tiny succulent. I am just hoping I can keep them growing! I have more of a brown thumb.

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  6. Your garden is really shaping up into a beautiful space that you are creating! It's so exciting!

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  7. Just reading your post makes me stop and take a deep breath. Getting my garden going is among my favorite tasks. I planted a bit earlier this year too as I now have the time (and our weather had warmed considerably). I just had to keep an eye on the temperatures a bit. Most of my plants are hardy enough to handle a little cold - just not a lot. I'm glad to hear your place is coming together. I can't imagine moving. It's going to be great when all the work is complete.

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    1. I can't wait until I can say, I am in the living move not the pathway to it. Moving is touch but we are chipping away at the to-do lists.

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