Mary Claire Rowe

As I sit to write this morning, I can gaze out my office window to a small garden, which I have arranged just for this purpose.

Inspiration comes more readily by viewing the beautiful flora and fauna. This little space has always been here - we have lived in this home for more than 30 years. It is only recently that I have taken it under my wing to make it just what I want to view. Using the window for my canvas, I have planned and planted.

First I added some already-blooming spring flowers to help with the scene. As I look out the window, a tall blue larkspur catches my eye. The bold upright blossom is the most satisfying color in my garden. Blue is "the" color for me; it fills my heart with joy. I can catch myself taking a deep breath with just the viewing of blue. Most gardeners feel that way about one certain color or flower or plant; it brings them peace and satisfaction to have it in their garden.

The larkspur blue echoes the blue of my bluebird neighbors, who come and go to their newly installed home in their own mysterious way. They have filled the house with pine straw, but they are absent more than present at this stage of their lives. I am wondering if they have another nest with babies they are raising, and will move into "our" new house, when that clutch fledges?

The feeding tray for meal worms hangs on a shepherd's crook pole, just to the right of the bird house, which sits at the back of the scene next to the tall privacy fence. When the worms are gone, the male will sit on the top and look at me through the window, patiently waiting for me to "get with it" and bring more. I am doing my best to be a good and faithful servant to their needs. In the front, I have placed the birdbath, which I clean and fill each morning.

The bluebirds are not the only ones who come for food and water. This year the goldfinch have stayed longer than ever before and are bright yellow. Usually they are gone by this time, and we only get a hint of the color to come. They fight each other all day long for a place at their feeder, which they almost empty each day.

When there is no place at their feeder, they sit upon the bluebird feeder pole or on the birdbath. Their bright yellow feathers draw my eyes to the beautiful, yellow Sweet Broom plants in full bloom, which are sitting just below my window. This bold yellow is a marvelous contrast to the blues and the most prevailing color of the garden - green. Everywhere there is green of every shape, size, color, and texture. A spring garden is an amazing place.

Next to the house, several different amaryllis cultivars have come up and are blooming in stages. A brilliant white one with four spiked-petal blossoms is at its peak, and two dark red ones, which I grew from seeds, are beginning to fade a bit.

The red draws my eye back to the back of the garden, where the loropetalum is in its glory. It had to be cut back earlier this spring, and now, with its fresh growth of new leaves, it is a thick ball of plumb, reddish brown, and magenta.

I am thinking I will clip it every year.

And all the while, the lovely garden goddess planter still sleeps upon the ground, with ferns in her hair and lariope blanket. It is a calming space. I am not finished yet, but I have a good start.

Mary Claire Rowe
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