My resident hummingbird favors the wild roses beside my house. She often perches there looking out over the bay where I can watch her from my desk. In the early morning when the dew moistens the woods, wild roses release their scent to the rising sun. So pink, such an intense fragrance—these small, delicate roses are a treat for eyes and nose. As I walk down to the beach, the heavy moist air is scented with their heady sweetness. I can’t resist picking a small bouquet, even though I know the blooms rarely last beyond a day.
Continue reading...23. June 2009
I’ve always adored orchids. Growing up as I did the daughter of florists, I saw hundreds of orchids every year. Mostly nestled into sparkly corsage boxes ready for some clumsy guy to pin onto his date. They were also big at Mother’s Day, back when dutiful children took Mom out for Sunday dinner all gussied up with a huge cattleya attached to her chest. Then of course there were the various white orchids wired into showy bridal bouquets.
Continue reading...22. June 2009
Oceanspray, an aptly named wild shrub of the Northwest coast, washes across bluffs and woods with its creamy, billowy clusters of flowers. So flagrantly does it bloom, that its stems and leaves nearly disappear, enhancing the impression of wind-tossed spray. At first it blushes along pale pink stems. Then as each floret opens, the stems fade to a mellow white. To discover its fragrance, I must tickle my nose in its gentle midst. It has a delicate scent, like forgotten handkerchiefs found in my grandmother’s dresser drawers, still tinted with her perfume.
Continue reading...10. June 2009
On our morning walk today my dog and I paused beneath a favorite green neighbor. The gentle sound of a breeze weaving through a fully leafed-out maple tree reminds me of shady shelter sought on warm summer days. The rhythm of the leaves swaying and rustling soothes me, calls me under its bright green spell. Fragments of cerulean sky peek through the layered patterns of translucent pointy maple hands. I linger beneath the fluttering parasol and close my eyes, allowing summer to whisper: soon, soon, soon.
Continue reading...7. June 2009
Lilacs were late to bloom this year—but then so were many plants. That brings their blooms out of April into May and even into June, where they can mix with lupine and peonies and other fragrant delights. This year I’ve been able to gather bouquets that weren’t possible in other years. The intense sweetness of lilac and wild rose is almost too much, a heady mix that send me into my own olfactory orbit.
Continue reading...7. May 2009
Dandelions are setting seed on spring breezes. Whenever I see them I think of wishes, of hopes blown aloft on my breath—a reclamation of innocence and optimism. Spring is such a hopeful season, as we witness the ever more miraculous renewal of the earth’s life force in the northern hemisphere. How does She keep regreening despite the abysmal way we treat Her? This morning I watched a sparrow pick at a dandelion seed head then fly off, her mouth full of fuzz to line her nest. What a lovely home she’s building.
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11. July 2009
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