As time passes the small copse is becoming a quiet and secluded place.
Flowers bloom early here because she is sheltered. My first daffodil is about to open......
Mosses grow on decaying fallen branches.....
Elder grows from a rotting tree stump. This small area is full of life and death.......
A pot that was blown over in the wind becomes a home for some small creature.
Plants and trees grow, without attention.
We can grow something beautiful by shaping nature.....
but left to its own devices, a garden will show a certain character,
create its own atmosphere. This is now a secret garden. It has a magic all of its own..... nature has the upperhand. I am loving watching the changes.
but left to its own devices, a garden will show a certain character,create its own atmosphere. This is now a secret garden. It has a magic all of its own..... nature has the upperhand. I am loving watching the changes.Have you an area in your garden that has great meaning? Do tell me, I would love to hear about it.......
Happy Sunday safari.
I've always longed for a secret garden, and I love the way yours has evolved naturally, Cheryl. It looks like the perfect place to "hide out" and daydream for awhile. Everything is so wide open at my home that I'm not sure I could even create anything resembling a secret garden.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe you have bulbs blooming already!
Your garden looks beautiful. No we don't have any special or secret corners in our garden since we moved here just over 2 years ago and the vendor obviously liked everything neat and tidy and low maintenance so it was completely characterless. We are working on it and We do have the wood (not ours sadly!) adjoining with only a post and rail fence between us so we have lots of wildlife in there! I am hopeful of one day having a more overgrown garden with nooks and corners but it will obviously take time.
ReplyDeleteJane
Thank you Rose, whilst it is not to everyones taste, I love this area. It does not feel like a garden, nothing is manicured or teased into place. It is full of wildlife....especially birds....this is where the song thrush nests. The magpies do not frequent this area, so she is relatively safe.
ReplyDeleteI can imagine an enclosed area around your home.........hedges and gateways.........arches and obelisks with climbers rambling over them.
I cannot believe the daffodils are getting ready to bloom......
Have been thinking of you and your family today......
Dear Cheryl,
ReplyDeleteYour daffodil is a loving gift! We still have snow on the ground! It is melting but it will take a week or more of above freeing temperatures to melt all the huge drifts.
My gardens have changed so many times over the last 35 years. I had secret garden with a brick patio in the center. When my Ash tree was struck by lighting and died so did the secret garden. I have changed it to be a garden for the bees and butterflies. Lots of sun!
My most recent garden is a small area where I am growing my medicine. My Doctor thought if I could grow my own medicine I could get well. With help from my husband I began growing all sorts of herbs. This healing herb garden has been my joy. It has brought me back to the earth, to the soil, to the dirt, and to wellness.
Beautiful Safari......thank you.
Happy Valentine's Day!
I am sending hugs.
Sherry
Hi Jane, how lovely to have a wood so close to your home. My daughter is fortunate to have ancient woodland at the bottom of her garden. We walked it yesterday with the children....a truly magical place.
ReplyDeleteIt does take a long time to make a garden more enclosed. I am still working on areas, and I have been here nine years, so I do understand.....I feel sure you will get there.
Dear Sherry, the daffodil is indeed a gift.
ReplyDeleteA herb garden holds much magic.......I have used herbs for healing for as long as I can remember.
I can see your lovely ash tree with the secret garden beneath....how exquisite. Nothing stays the same, does it? To garden in one place for 35 years is wonderful.
Happy Valentine's
Warmest wishes
Hi Cheryl,
ReplyDeleteWonderful, oh if only I could have my own woodland! lol, maybe I'll move next to one instead and plant things as you have :)
I hope you've had a lovely week and weekend and that the weather has been nice for you!
Hi Liz.....dreams do come true you know!
ReplyDeleteIt has been raining all day, and I mean raining.
It is also chilly, I am just about to light a fire....
Have a good week......
Wow this really does look magical! The first photo is so inviting and I love the faery figures nestled in the undergrowth, the piper especially.
ReplyDeleteWe don't have a big garden but I have kept one bed in the back for wild flowers which I like to think of as my area of wilderness.
Oh and one thing, when I click on your name in my blog to come here it takes me to someone else's blog. Wasn't sure if you realised?
Enjoy your fire, we've had one going most of the day here!
x
Hi Whisperingearth,
ReplyDeleteA wildlife area does not have to be large. The smallest space can make such a difference to bees, butterflies and birds.
I love my piper......I have had him for many many years. I love the lichen that is now taking hold.....
No I did not realise that......how strange. I wonder if anyone else has the same problem. Tks for letting me know.
Whisperingearth, I have just been checking my name on other blogs and it does bring them here. Why it does not on your blog, I really do not know, very strange......
ReplyDeleteYou have a daffodil about to open! Oh joy! I do like your secluded "natural" secret garden.
ReplyDeleteI have a wild and secret planting of periwinkle just under the old, gnarled lilac tree. Lily-of-the-valley reside nearby and often pop over for a visit or tea(very rude to come without an invitation!)Moby my cat sniffs the area gingerly then runs away, as if not wanting to upset the "ladies" tea party and not letting them know how upset he is for not being invited!
Sorry, to go on so, I love making up stories.
I do have that wild patch, but sadly the lilac tree is dying. I don't know if I will have any blooms this spring. But the periwinkle do quite well and grow wild as can be.
Hi Cheryl, my entire back garden is like a secret garden. We live on a busy street. I have planted so that the garden isn't exposed. You can sit in my garden and almost forget the traffic whizzing by. I have had people exclaim about how private it feels. I like the feeling of going back into the womb so to speak.
ReplyDeleteHi Cheryl..what a lovely post, I so much enjoyed the Safari!!
ReplyDeleteHave a Happy Valentines Day..♥
Hi Wendy, thank you for your detailed comment, such fun. You have a wonderful way of telling a story.....
ReplyDeleteThe daff was a complete surprise, feel sure it will open this weekend.....
Hi Lisa, why aren't I surprised. It is just how I imagine your garden, tucked away from the rest of the world.....how delightful.
ReplyDeleteHave a good week......
I would love to have a copse in my garden Cheryl, large or small, it must be lovely and such a haven for wildlife!
ReplyDeleteIt is so nice to see your well advanced Daffodils, I have some coming on quite well at the warmer end of my garden but yours are definitely ahead of mine.
I always wanted to find a secret garden as I loved the BBC adaptation of the book as a child. I always wanted the little robin to befriend me and show me where it was on my grandpa's property.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised that you already have daffodils about to bloom - mine are only about 2 inches above the ground up here in Perthshire.
Rosie