Friends Beside Me

It's like a parade of good friends as I walk around and work in my garden:

In early April, there was the English dogwood (aka mockorange) that Edna gave me a start of about 4 years ago....

And in late April, there was the Virginia sweetspire, another gift from Edna, bursting into bloom as it gracefully arched over the pathway.

All spring in the fern garden, I have been enjoying the contrast of the Labrador violet (from Allan Armitage on the Atlanta MBG trip) and the dainty upright leaves of the dwarf iris from Patty. And then there's the commanding presence of the Confederate rose from Xanthy at the end of the garden path near my woodland nymph.

Several weeks ago, the first blooms of Miss Lily's peacock ginger, Kaempferia rotunda, peaked up into the light. The contrast of the delicate flowers against the sturdy mulch is a daily paradox, while the emerging leaves add yet another element of excitement to the garden.

Currently, besides the peacock ginger, I'm enjoying the blooms on Shelley's cleome (somehow I've ended up with pure white blooms!) and on Patty's crinum.

There are many more gifts and "pass-alongs" within my garden, but the limits of this blog keep me from displaying too many photos at once. However many I'm able to share visually with you on the web, though, friends are with me everytime I step into my yard. They add color and texture and depth to my garden, just like they add color and texture and depth to my life. I feel rich in all the ways that matter.