A Play of Light and Whites in A Late June Garden Walkabout

I am offering a rather long, mostly silent, walkabout but one that promises a flora and fauna feast for the senses. Plenty of textures to tickle the imagination along with delicious fragrances and bright refractions within butterfly wings.  

Walking though the gardens here at Flower Hill Farm in mid to late June can be intoxicating and enchanting. While strolling and scrolling down, be sure to imagine a gentle breeze blowing through leaves and fronds . . . the greenery in continual movement . . . a verdure river of vegetation. The air gently caressing your skin and hair, while delivering or wafting nature's exclusive perfume . . .  no artificial chemicals here . . .  to your alert olfactory organs. Clouds, slowly forming, hang in the vast canopy of azure sky above.  No nagging mosquitoes or flies . . . for the Tree Swallows, you will note, are gently sweeping the sky, while dragonflies zigzag by. 

Also, put your mind to music and conjure up a chorus of songs. Indigo Bunting singing out from atop a Black Cherry, Bluebird murmurs and trebles of Cedar Waxwings in unison, along with countless other calls floating through the boughs of trees and shrubberies as birds dash about from nest to blueberry field. Add to these sounds the humming of bees and cheeps of nestlings from within tall grasses or plantings, as well as, above in the arms of trees. 

For color . . .  there is a focus . . . a play of mostly whites within and above the greens. Kousa Dogwood, Sweet Fern, Goat's Beard, Budding Bugbane or Cimicifuga, another native I have forgotten - rather like a fringe tree only a perennial, Tree Lilac, Hydrangeas, Mock orange, Climbing Hydrangea, Viburnum and more add texture and delight along this walkabout. 

One cannot miss the many butterflies that flit about and at this time, thirty or more larger, Tiger Swallowtails may flutter into view and light upon a favored delicious white bloom. Numerous others are about . . . too many to name for now, but I have added an Admiral, a Fritillary and a Sulphur for those who share my thrill for Lepidoptera. As you stand near the large Hydrangeas, you will no doubt notice the bustle of native bees . . . the whir of the busy pollinators seems to make the bushes vibrate.

Enough of the introduction . . . you are entering fragments of a living landscape painting. My apologies for too many words to read and far too many images to see. You are now in control of the tour and your preferred speed to scroll. Enjoy the stroll. 

After walking along the grassy paths up and down hillocks and through fields and shrubberies, I should love to offer you a cup of tea and perhaps we could chat about your experience or I could do my best to answer any questions . . . perhaps someday you may step out of the virtual into the real world of Flower Hill Farm. I should love to welcome you. 

A play of white continues into the July garden next week. Thank you for visiting!

Winter Melts Away! A Garden Walkabout!

This was what Flower Hill Farm looked like two days ago. . . with the warm days this snow may be all gone today!! Snow falls from the metal roofs and becomes mountainous in front of the house and barn.

Walking through the little Crabapple Orchard on the north side of barn.

Out of the orchard looking back at the barn studio and house.

Still on the north side of Flower Hill Farm looking southeast. This slope is filled with invasive bittersweet and sumac I battle each year... I am trying to get it to be only wildflowers but would love to plant native low fruit bearing shrubs for the wildlife. 

Walking down towards the wild looking over between White and Gray Birch towards Native Black Cherry and Apples in the distance.

There is a great amount of movement on the ground . . . Robins dot the landscape happy for the bare earth.

Hellebores are stirring and today I would guess I will have flowers standing up!

The sky is filled with movement too . . .  alive with calls and songs! I love looking for the V flying high, when I hear Canadian Geese calling out. Spring is a time of welcomed migration and exciting change.

Zooming in . . .  each little goose silhouette brings to mind various movements in Japanese calligraphy.

Now I am leading you over to Flower Hill's south side. We are standing in the lower garden and above the Blueberry fields looking out over Walnut and Carey Hill.

Looking the other way and up towards another Apple, Rock Maple and the house.

Moving out into the south field we get a larger view of the eastern hills and the Tree Swallows house! They will be back soon!!

We take a few more steps into the field and look more left facing east and the 'Bonsai Apple' Nate and I will be pruning later. We also see the Weeping Cherry and two other Apples along with the Gray Birches.

Many a year I climbed and pruned this old Apple this way, but now I leave it to my neighbor Nate.

This tree was let go for too many years . . . Nate is casting out the old suckers that were near small tree sizes! We have more to do but you can see it is much better already. Thanks too to my friend Brian's hard work last year!

You can see from the earlier picture of this view (Three photos above) that we are nearly finished with pruning the old mohawk hairdo! We will finish the job on Saturday and then move on to many more!

Here we are working on another old Apple tree. What glorious days we are having!!

Even 'Old Bob' is glad to see the snow melted away! This was a brief walk along the edges of the gardens . . . I am so happy to see all the snow melting and to have a working monitor so I can see what I am doing here. This is my offering for Blooming Friday to see other gardens with more blooms visit Katarina's Roses and Stuff! Happy Gardening Everyone!!