may

Rowallane Walled Garden

~ Ashley ~ 65 Comments

In the walled garden - Rowallane

This photograph was taken towards the end of May and with all the greenery it looks like the summer has arrived. We were in Rowallane Gardens, a favourite haunt of ours when we don’t have to travel too far from home.

There weren’t many people visiting and anyway the gardens are big enough to absorb the crowds. We arrived early and brought a box full of books for their used book shop. That’s at least 40 books we’ve donated this year (only another couple of hundred to go).

I’m a terrible one for plant names and writing them down just makes matters worse!  Here they are, from left to right:

Chaerophyllum hirsutum ‘Roseum’ – Marrubium vulgare Horehound – Ranunculus constantinoplitanus ‘Plenus’

Personally, I prefer hardy geraniums and here is a cracker:

Geranium hybrid 'Ann Folkard'

Geranium hybrid ‘Ann Folkard’

We did have some lovely warm sunny days at the end of May and the first day of June was a scorcher. However, temperatures have dropped back (10c feels like 8c) and today I actually put the heating on for an hour. It’s supposed to be the summer and in a few weeks time it will be the summer solstice, the longest day! Are you ready to celebrate?

Ashley

Beltain 2023

~ Ashley ~ 44 Comments

1 hawthorn

2 hawthorn

3 hawthorn (2)

New greenery everywhere,
White buds ready to burst into flower --
Hawthorn on May Day.

It’s May Day or if you follow an older ancient tradition, Beltain.  The Hawthorn is just beginning to show a few flowers and my heart rejoices to know the Earth’s energies are stirring.  I’m happy to celebrate this quickening of fertility and growth in my verse!  Today is warmer and with many damp weeks behind us the flowers and trees are sending us a message: the summer is here!

In my attempts to write these 3 line verses I follow the ancient agricultural calendar which is also the Hokku calendar.* 

In the Celtic Tree Ogham, Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) is the sixth tree: Huath, H. and it brings the spirit of wild places, even when growing in a town.  As the seasons change I hope to include more references to the Tree Ogham.**

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Happy Beltain, a time when Earth’s energies are at their most active.  The Earth is alive, not just at the surface but in its depths.

Ashley

[So much of what I am learning about traditional Earth celebrations is down to the writings of Glennie Kindred and I give thanks to her for her love and blessings which I am returning to her through my verse]

https://www.glenniekindred.co.uk

 

* Through David Coomler’s wonderful writings on WordPress I continue to learn about Hokku. https://hokku.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/the-traditional-hokku-calendar-west-and-east/

** https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Ogham