Wednesday, 29 August 2012

Serendipity


Things don't always go wrong.
Sometimes they come together seemingly without any effort,
or perhaps I simply forgot that I had planned it all very carefully.

Be that as it may,
planned or unplanned,
these juxtapositions of textures and colours
gave me great pleasure this morning,
when I looked up from my breakfast
and out into the garden.

I looked once, and looked again,
more closely, the second time.

So there is life at the tail-end of summer!

 Stately seed heads of volunteer poppies
which I nearly ripped out early in the season, because their garish colour didn't
fit into the colour scheme at the time.


A window box born out of desperation.
Left-over pink pelargoniums
matched with a tray of annual lobelias of (then) unknown colour and heritage,
bought from a stall in the market.
Some stiff golden grasses, pulled out from the borders,
stuffed in among the mix and, 
what do you know,
it works!



I had no idea 
that the plants under the Victoria plum tree
- which is not bearing well  at all this year - 
would all turn green-golden-reddish at the same time.
The Japanese maple is supposed to be the star attraction here.
Perhaps the others all bowed to her superior charm
and decided to become the supporting cast?



Another Japanese maple.
At the tail-end of last winter 
we prepared ourselves for its imminent demise.
Gnarled ancient branches stuck out, leafless, barren.
A former beauty in extreme old age.
Feeling sorry for it 
- it had been a star for many years -
we trimmed its branches, cut out the dead wood almost to the bone,
and now look at it: new growth from the stem upwards.

In the silver setting of the surrounding backdrop
it shines again, not quite the primadonna yet,
but well on the way.


43 comments:

  1. It's looking great - ain't nature brilliant!
    Di
    xxx

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  2. Frico, finally, I saw your beautiful plants! Window box looks great, the hanging lobelia decorate it very nice.
    Your Japanese maple is a star of your garden.
    I love its curved branches and a color of leaves.

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  3. None of the fruit trees are doing well this year - my apple tree was covered in blossom back in March/April to yield 3 (yes three) apples ... it was the exceptionally wet and cold spring that stopped the bees doing their business apparently.

    I love the tail end of summer in your garden, thank you for posting.

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  4. What a beautiful garden. Love the window box and the maple is definitely a shining star.
    Hugs
    SueAnn

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  5. Stupendous at the end of summer. Maybe I should take a photo of my 5 foot cosmos broken branched after the rain, or my roses that have long since dropped 90% of their leaves. No, wait, wait, it has to be the catmint bushes which are overgrowing everything! Yes, I am the Master Gardener and I did over plan, for what that is worth.

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  6. How truly beautiful. Thank you so much. We are entering Spring at a gallop here, with summer looming menacingly. I do hope that the end of summer here is a fraction as beautiful as yours.

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  7. i love the japanese maple.....we used to have them at our house in maryland....dont have any now.....it is encouraging to see life even as the seasons begin to change...

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  8. What a dreamland your garden is! Every bit of it is a feast for the eyes. All your work bears good fruit.

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  9. Everything looks so lush, so very full of life. The Japanese maple is an absolute beauty, and to see young leaves on the gnarled, old branches is altogether a different thrill. Only a few days before when I thought my pink rose had died, I saw tiny golden leaves sprouting from the barren stems. So there's hope after all!

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  10. It's always a pleasure to take a peek at your garden, Friko. That first photograph is beautifully composed - a piece of photo-art!

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  11. Beautiful, colorful, lots of textures, wonderful bits of creation to enjoy. Thank you for sharing. How fantastic that the Japanese maple came back for you.

    FlowerLady

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  12. There's a lot to be learned from the indomitable spirit of nature. Lovely photos, one and all but that first one touches me.

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  13. Thank you for such a wonderful post Friko! I am so pleased with the photos and your words! Your garden surely is a marvel, rising up from a lot of hard work, and appreciated, enjoyed and loved very much! :-)

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  14. What a magical garden! Gardening is not all about planning, seeding, watering, pruning... but more about being amazed with or in awe of magic and wonders of nature. I’m happy for you about the Japanese maple.

    Yoko

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  15. Lovely pictures, specially the first one - it looks like a careful flower arrangement by an artist!

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  16. It can be amazing what leaving things alone can bring about.
    There are so many 'volunteers' here that I don't recognise, so let them be to see what happens. Some prove to be killers...others absolutely stunning.
    Lovely photographs.

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  17. Those were beautiful views on your garden. Goes to show that sometimes planning too much doesn't bring about the beauty of a little haphazardness. The window box is especially pretty - big and full of colour, which is how I like the.

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  18. Oh for the healing balm of the garden. The poppies are my personal favorites, although I like your pink pelargoniums too. You're giving me ideas... But Dianne, you can't stuff one more thing in your yard.

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  19. oh, I love the poppy seed heads and the planter looke beautiful. In fact, everything looks wonderful.

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  20. garish poppy heads.....love it
    let them live
    we need such ladies around
    they have verve
    The Japanese maple....the old fellow
    a new life.....see you never know
    How we have been pruned
    and cast
    and we thrive
    love that you are full of joy and energy this morning

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  21. Beauty at the end of summer. There's a metaphor for life.

    Your garden serendipity is making me smile today.

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  22. It looks fantastic - sometimes you just have to trust Nature to do her own thing

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  23. Beautiful
    and your comments say it all.
    I have a long way to go
    but then my garden is just
    2 years old :)

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  24. I'll never have a pretty garden so I'll have to keep visiting yours. One bright spot here though! Some random seeds I threw into an old pot have sprouted in our early warm weather. At least I hope they're the seeds and not weeds.

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  25. My garden is still needing years of love and attention. It is nice to visit someone else's garden and believe in the possibilities.

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  26. Was für ein schöner Traum !

    Einen wunderbaren Donnerstag dir.

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  27. Your garden has such balance and character. I'm visiting in Aspen and saw a wonderful wildflower/perennial garden today. It looked so "natural" but I'm sure every inch was well-planned. Glad the maple survived. It's a beauty!

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  28. PS Love the pic of the poppy seed heads.

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  29. The sculptural qualities that start to show up this time of year are magnificent, aren't they? Your poppies are a brilliant example. Here, we have the lotus seed heads at Innisfree Garden. each time of year does have its own reward.

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  30. Your garden is a slice of Heaven. Really. The poppy seed heads are wonderful, and the window box just amazing. Joyful.
    Thank you for sharing.

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  31. You live in such a beautiful place, as befits you, Friko-



    Aloha from Honolulu
    Comfort Spiral
    =^..^=
    > < } } ( ° >

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  32. I love the delicate and very pretty window box . It's so much nicer than the usual serried ranks of red geraniums that always look as though they might yodel .

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  33. ein wunderschönes gedicht, wenn du den ersten abschnitt auch als gedicht beabsichtigt hattest. eine so schöne lebende stimmung vermittelt es. und die bilder, eine wahre augenweide. besonders gefällt mir der japanische ahorn. mir gefällt der lauf dieser bäume und ja, vielleicht werde auch ich... nächstes jahr... ach, ich bin begeistert!
    dir liebe grüsse und bis bald!
    renée

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  34. your garden just looks wonderful, what pleasure it must give you to walk in it! and where did you find that sun, did you order it from a summer catalogue?

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  35. Your garden is lovely and I just adore that lobelia, stunning. Take care Diane

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  36. Just gorgeous - especially that first shot. I do love serendipity in action.

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  37. Dear Friko, there's a lesson here for me--never underestimate the power of nature nor the amazement of humans when we come upon beautiful unawares. Thank you. Peace.

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  38. This was one of the most beautiful gardening posts I've ever read. Perhaps, it was that you wrote so well about the serendipitous part of gardening that made this a standout. You are an artist in all you do: writing, gardening, photography. Bravo.

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  39. Oh, my! What a glorious garden and what surprises for the end of summer/entry into fall! Your words are so very eloquent. I'm wondering what is happening to the last of my garden friends while I am away!

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  40. Your garden is spectacular in late August. My, but that first photo of the poppy seed heads against the red is fantastic.

    We have a Japanese maple about to come on stage; I'm glad to know that if we pruned it back, it wouldn't mind a bit.

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  41. I was impressed with your plant box of pelargoniums and mixed-coloured lobelias. Women flower-garden differently to men. I plant in an orderly fashion so that the plants look 'regimented', but, as do most women, you just stick plants in any old way, and when they flower they look great! :-) - Dave

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  42. Oh I do like this post! It's so hopeful, and so grateful, and so gracious as well.

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  43. Nature is lush! What a wonderful breakfast view of it.

    Anna :o]

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