Mon, April 26, 2010 - 11:05:00 | (0) Comments | Categories:

English Gardens

The bright yellow flowers in numerous varieties are surely a welcome sign of spring wherever they may bloom.  In New England, daffodils naturalized against the stone walls that Robert Frost made known are spectacular.  Daffodils dance in the pastoral landscapes throughout the countryside in England where William Wadsworth immortalized the flower in his beloved poem, "Daffodils".  Our annual May English garden tour for women will be graced not with daffodils but late spring and early summer blooms. The wisterias will be cascading over century old buildings, trellises and arbors with a sensuality that is beyond description.  As a gardener, England is one of my favorite countries.  Surely the Brits are invested in all things gardening. Whether the revival of old varieties of apples or the latest variety of a David Austen rose, England's gardeners are at the forefront of horticulture.

Daffodils

I  Wander'd lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the Milky Way,

They stretch'd in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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