******** . . . A Ramble in the Garden

MARYCLAIRE WELLINGER Poet & Painter

Let's Go on a Ramble in the Garden

the promise of Spring . . .

"when tulips burst through soil and beach stone in the garden/

to blossom yellow and red like starfish" . . .

May Day -- a day signifying hope and rebirth.

May into June

We had unusually cold weather in May . . . in the 50's during the day, and the temperature descends even lower in the evening to the 40's . . . inland and north, in Nashua, there has been frost. So everything is one week or ten days behind. We have had rain almost every day, however, so our resevoirs are refilled and the garden loves rain. It is now June 20th, and I am uploading images of how the flowerbeds have emerged after six weeks of rain . . . it continues to rain every other day, and is unseasonably cold . . .

Cassady was born on Martha's Vineyard . . .

and moved "off island" as a kitten with Kristin

His Wampanoag name is "Gray Feather"

named for the whisp of gray on his chest.

He talks . . . and so Mark named him after

Cassady, Kerouac's talking hipster friend .

(below) a cat's eye view of the garden looking towards the front lawn, south-facing, and Pleasant Street

The garden is coming alive with Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Marsh Marigold, and seedlings of nasturtium, morning glories and more . . .

Lady's Mantle leaves, fern leaves uncurling

and I have planted pansies and parsley.

left rose bushes

sprout new leaves

right and below:

Cassady digs for a mole:

The Appletree Flowerbed

apple tree blossom

about to burst

under our diningroom window

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Bleeding Hearts

sprouting, unfolding

the violets below are a delicate purply blue

and were transplanted from the Lee Mansion Garden

The squirrels have occupied

the bird feeders and I can't

figure out any method to

keep them out . . they are

"expert generalists" and

have studied engineering at M.I.T.

This plant is a "May Apple";

it grows one blossom which first

appears like a small bright green apple,

then becomes this delicated white flower.

After this, it does nothing all summer.

This plant was transferred from

the Lee Mansion 18th century gardens

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rhododendron,

an early bloomer

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Jack-In-The-Pulpit

is one of the Native New England plants

I have nurtured . . . others include the

"Marsh Marigold" which has already gone by

The blossom is furled, waiting to be

unfurled (standing upright like a vessel's mast)

before the planter

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Siberian Iris are the next to blossom,

after the rhododendron and azalea have gone by . . .

just three delicate and esquisite flowers

grace the rear of the appletree flowerbed

(below) leaving the appletree flowerbed

Leaving the flowerbed, we follow the squirrel

and walk the path in a southwesterly direction

towards the birdbath . . .

(below) Meadow Rue (Thalictrum Aquilegifolium)

manifests clouds of delicate purple blossoms in Early Spring

purple haze . . .

the same plant in bloom

photo taken

from the opposite direction

looking back towards

the apple tree flowerbed

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The SUV Flowerbed . . .

there's an SUV in my garden,

the following photos

chronicle how this flowerbed

grows during May & June

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Pansies with Cassady, the cat

(left)

(below) hints of things to come

(left)

the hyacinths are pink

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left and below

spring parsley

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front lawn rolling towards

Pleasant Street facing East/Northeast

towards Oldtown

(below) the same view in late July

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Suddenly Summer . . .

June into July

By June 20th,

the appletree flowerbed

has grown lush . . .

the iris is 3 feet tall

and appeared out of

the leafy branches

of the bleeding hearts plant

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the bearded iris, flag iridaceae

(Iris Germanica)

By July 1st,

the bearded iris shown here,

and the Siberian Iris

have all gone by . . .

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By July 16th, the appletree goddess

carries her midsummer gear with grace

as she hikes her way through Summer

By June 20th, the SUV flowerbed

is flourishing . . .

the Cranesbill geranium is in full blossom . . .

phlox, roses & shasta daisies take form;

the dahlia and lily bulbs

are 18" - 24" high

By July 16th, the SUV flowerbed is alive

with blossoming roses, lilies,

bee balm and nasturtium . . . . the phlox and

morning glories are about to blossom

Milk and Wine Lily, Amaryllidaceae
(Crinum zeylanicum)

SUV flowerbed time capsule . . .

Lily bud to full bloom in less than a fortnight

(left)

"roses with their perfumed oils/

are sea-reaching . . . " .

(below)

portrait of

Daisy, looking out

into the Apple Tree

flowerbed

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we live on a 5-acre estate . . . unusual

to have this amount of space in Marblehead

There's a woodchuck family living under

the woodpile, and a red fox and a coyote have

been seen at separaate times loping across

the property. Cassady successfully hunts

for mice and moles on a daily basis.

Nick is the full-time woodcutter . . . his stacks of logs

are perfectly ordered by size, arranged symmetrically,

waiting for the winter . . .

The Birdbath Flowerbed

heliopsis, snapdragon,

& lilies in foreground

phlox grow to 5 ft or more

beyond the birdbath

Shasta Daisies

(below) heliopsis (false sunflower)

shasta daisies, primroses

& cranesbill geranium

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The Daylily Flowerbed

plants reemerging after the snow has melted

" . . . there are only hints and guesses . . ."

of what's to come

by June, the DayLily Bed is a jungle

grown thick with lilies, rose bushes

and the clematis vine which is climbing

skyhigh to embrace the appletree

Orange Daylily, Tawny Daylily, Tiger Lily, Ditch Lily
Liliaceae
(Hemerocallis fulva)

(left)

bee balm bud

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by mid-July, a "grove" of 4-foot tall bee balm in full bloom

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. . . perfect bowl of sky in milkglass blue

our front entrance doorway stays open

when it's warm in summer

(below) Cassady at the front steps . . .

his constant, loving presence makes him

seem as large as his image here, larger than life . . .

(loft) The Hollyhock were planted two summers

ago, on either side of the steps,

lemon yellow and alizarin crimson;

this is the first season they have blossomed . . .

(below) Light and shadow in late afternoon sunlight . . .

the rock garden where columbine blossoms in the background is one of five in the front gardens . . . .

More Views of the Rock Gardens . . .

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Let's walk back towards the house

and the peony flowerbed . . .

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(above) tree mallow in bloom

(left)

view of the house from the peony flowerbed

with pink tree mallow blossom, lily and fern

(below)

view south-facing of flowering phlox

looking towards Pleasant Street

The Clematis--

she-- has extended her

long graceful appendages

towards the apple tree branch,

curling her curly fingers . . .

they embrace--

tree and vine

summer sky through cupola . . .

peering over the phlox blossoms,

straight ahead, is Pleasant Street

and the house across from us . . .

now the Marblehead Inn

with its "hermeneutic cupola"

to quote poet Jorie Graham . . .

Behind the hollyhocks, beneath the shrubs,

Daisy makes a safe den for sleeping

in the afternoon sun (below) . . .

August 22nd is a day immersed

              in 101 f. degrees of simmering heat . . .

the following images of the garden reveal

late afternoon shadows

and the sun's piercing light . . .

      infinite arrows of light appear to radiate

                                from the greenery

The dahlias were planted in May as bulbs

and are now flowering . . .

late, in August and September,

at their peak when others are fading

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(below) Cassady contemplates the late summer garden from our dining room window and Daisy looks southeast towards the driveway ,

front lawn & Pleasant Street . . . in the direction (a few blocks away)of the beach, the harbor, the ocean

By Labor Day, the flowerbeds appears lush, and Lantana, daisies, nasturtium & squash blossoms spill over the rim of the clay pot . . . The Black-Eyed Susan vine has multitudes of flowers, and wraps itself around an apple tree bough . . .

the dahlias

are

dazzling . . .

at their

peak

now

until

the

first frost . . .

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"Magnificent Vistas" . . .

In 1995, I had the opportunity to organize a book-signing for Dr. Buzz Aldrin, Aeronautical engineer, inventor and pioneering Apollo astronaut. Buzz had just published his first epic sci-fi thriller "Encounter with Tiber", and I was honored to be his host that day. Buzz confided his feelings and impressions when he first arrived at the Moon. As Captain of that voyage, he had to secure the ship, and so was the second crewmember to disembark and explore the Moon's surface. He told me that upon stepping down onto the Moon's surface, he was struck viscerally, through every cell, with the visual impression of infinite vistas-- the vista of the moon's surface to the horizon, to Space beyond, and to the round blue ball of Mother Earth spinning in space.

"Magnificent Vistas" were his first words heard back at Kennedy Space Flight Center and broadcast to the world. These words came to him spontaneously as he attempted to describe a monumental image of beauty that was infinite . . . visually, one could experience the meaning of the word "infinite" in a unique way from the place where he stood above a lunar crater to observe the universe.

In this same way, the garden is a kind of cosmology, and provides for us, its own "magnificent vistas". From our small spacecraft, our humble first-floor, five-room "flat" in this 19th Century south-facing and sea-facing 3-story Dutch Colonial with its gambrel roof , we sail through space like Buzz Aldrin did in his space capsule. And through the portal of a multi-paned window, we look out onto the garden's flowerbeds which create a visual sense of "infinity". The image this garden creates, and the path our eye-shot follows makes "a way forward". Each time we linger to look out, our soul is moved by the grass-green, leaf-green, field of light with its random patches of brilliant color -- shell-white, pink, coral, yellow, orange, warm and cool reds, pale violet to deep purple. This magnificent vista is painted and repainted from moment to moment, and conveys to us a universe of infinite possibility.

peering through the portal (above) of our kitchen window, (below left) through the front entrance and (below right) through the dining room window