Florabundus

10/07/2022

The Horse Chestnut Fairy 💛🌰🍁🍂
My conkers, they are shiny things,
And things of mighty joy,
And they are like the wealth of kings
To every little boy;
I see the upturned face of each
Who stands around the tree:
He sees his treasure out of reach,
But does not notice me.
For love of conkers bright and brown,
He pelts the tree all day;
With stones and sticks he knocks them down,
And thinks it jolly play.
But sometimes I, the elf, am hit
Until I’m black and blue;
O laddies, only wait a bit,
I’ll shake them down to you!

Cicely Mary Barker (1895-1973) Artist & Poet

10/03/2022

The Hawthorn Fairy

These thorny branches bore the May
So many months ago,
That when the scattered petals lay
Like drifts of fallen snow,
“This is the story’s end,” you said;
But O, not half was told!
For see, my haws are here instead,
And hungry birdies shall be fed
[and The Heirloom Gardener - John Forti shall make tea]
On these when days are cold.

10/02/2022

Time for berry picking at . In here are Lord Woodmouse and his little daughter, Primrose 🐭💕
Artist:

10/01/2022

Stargazing 🔭💫
Artist: Maggie Vandewalle

10/01/2022

🐇🐇🐇Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit. Hare, hare, hare 🐰🐰🐰
Welcome October with these words, to ensure a month of good luck & weather fair 🍂🌾🌼🌞🍁 Artwork ~ Lisa Graa Jensen

09/26/2022

You must have a place to which you can go, in your heart, your mind, or your house, where you do not owe anyone, and where no one owes you - a place that simply allows for the blossoming of something new and promising. ~ Joseph Campbell
Artist ~ Jennifer Knaus

09/23/2022

Welcome Autumn ~ Alphonse Mucha 1896

09/11/2022

Garden on...

09/11/2022

09/09/2022

09/07/2022

Aster aka Michaelmas Daisy...

09/03/2022

JOY

Joy does not arrive with a fanfare,
on a red carpet strewn with the flowers of a perfect life.

Joy sneaks in, as you pour a cup of coffee,
watching the sun hit your favourite tree, just right.

And you usher joy away,
because you are not ready for it.
Your house is not as it must be,
for such a distinguished guest.

But joy cares nothing for your messy home,
or your bank-balance,
or your waistline, you see.

Joy is supposed to slither through the cracks of your imperfect life,
that’s how joy works.

You cannot invite her, you can only be ready when she appears.

And hug her with meaning,

because in this very moment,

joy chose you.

Donna Ashworth

Art by Inge Löök Oy Ab

08/31/2022

🐇🐇🐇 Ring in the first day of each month with hope and good intent,
before you speak another word, and to your hearts content...
say 'rabbit, rabbit, rabbit' or hare, hare, hare',
to ensure a month of joy and luck - not one of sad despair🌙 🍀🌤💚♍️♎️💓
Artist ~ Catherine Rowe 'Hares & Ferns'

08/29/2022

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing
and rightdoing there is a field.
I'll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass
the world is too full to talk about.”
Rumi

Artist: Chris Buzelli

08/16/2022

Crickets Singing
In the warm evenings in the Fall of the year
The song of the crickets one always does hear
'Tis the time of year when they do copulate
The dark male in song he does woo his dark mate.
From their homes in the walls they do venture out
And in search of a mate they go on hop about
From nightfall to daybreak they sing all night long
The voices of the crickets you cannot get wrong.
My wonder of Nature only seems to grow
So little about them I can claim to know
They sing out for love in the warm nights of the Fall
When they venture out from their homes in the wall
In shady dark places or in the moonlight
They sing out for love in the still of the night
Until the birds chirp in the gray of daybreak
The songs of the crickets one cannot mistake.
by Francis Duggan
Artist Fritz Baumgarten

08/09/2022

LOVE this! ❤

By Jeanne Santomauro Schnupp

07/23/2022

Hollyhock dolls. This is why fairy tales exist

07/18/2022

Summer Flower Herbal Cheese
The maker Mary Karen Euler said she kept it local except for the Himalayan Pink Sea Salt and a bit of garlic powder. She said, she "mashed up the goat cheese with salt, chopped edible blossoms and herbs (including some dill bits from some that had "gone to seed", giving it a nice tang) + paprika which imparted the salmon color. I'm a fan of using periwinkle-colored borage blossoms with salmony-colored things, as I adore that color combo ~ besides the obvious pansies & borage for decoration pressed in after the log was rolled (in parchment & refrigerated). The oblong yellow-orange bits are calendula petals"

07/12/2022

As you harvest your plentiful herb garden this season, use some cuttings to make this lovely culinary herb wreath. Not only are these beautiful, they're functional as well - it can be hung right in your kitchen so you can grab a few sprigs whenever you need some! 🌿

Make it: https://gardentherapy.ca/herb-wreath/

07/11/2022

It’s garlic harvest time! 🧄🧄🧄

07/09/2022

And another order to go!

07/08/2022

The Yarrow Fairy
Among the harebells and the grass,
The grass all feathery with seed,
I dream, and see the people pass:
They pay me little heed.
And yet the children (so I think)In spite of other flowers more dear,
Would miss my clusters white and pink,
If I should disappear.

Cicely Mary Barker's 'Flower Fairies of the Summer', 1925.

07/05/2022

Whether you're growing vegetables, herbs, or flowers, one of the greatest joys of gardening is the connection you make with nature. As you tend your garden, you observe the rhythms and cycles of nature, watching a tiny seed grow to maturity, flower, and, perhaps, seed again. This understanding of natural rhythms and cycles is integral to most traditional systems of healing.

Perhaps it's one of the big disconnects we feel with modern medicine: we have little connection to where drugs come from, how they are made, and who makes them. By starting a little herb garden, you set up a direct connection with the earth and the healing plants it nurtures.

Medicinal herbs can also easily be woven into the tapestry of an already-established garden. For instance, echinacea, yarrow, and valerian are lovely additions to flower gardens, providing color, scent, and beauty. Calendula, chamomile, and thyme are often planted in vegetable gardens as "companion" plants, said to enhance the growth and vitality of their vegetable partners. Still other medicinal herbs, such as basil, parsley, and dill, are common culinary herbs, often found in their own patch known as the herb garden. And, of course, there's the lawn that surrounds most homes. Reclaiming a section of lawn for a small plot of medicinal herbs is a revolutionary act that may get your neighbors talking.

~ Excerpted from Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide

This beautiful artwork is "Garden Magic" by the talented Joséphine Klerks of .klerks 🙏🌿💕

07/04/2022

Celebrations of summers sweetness...
With strawberries, peaches, red & champagne currants, beebalm & borage flowers, and the tail end of my elderberry sugar.

07/01/2022

Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit...

06/29/2022

"What's the matter, Rabbit?" asked Bear.
"I feel anxious... like the ground is falling away from under my feet," said Rabbit.
"What do you see around you?" asked Bear.
Rabbit paused, "...I see you, and the sky, the trees, flowers, birds and the grass."
"What do you hear?" asked Bear.
"Your voice, the birds singing, the rustling of the leaves as the breeze blows through, and the sound of the water flowing in the stream," said Rabbit.
"What can you smell and taste?" asked Bear.
"The flowers, and this lovely cup of tea you made for me," said Rabbit.
"Now... what do you feel?" asked Bear.
"The ground, solid beneath my feet," said Rabbit, "and love. I feel loved."

©Tara Shannon, 2022

06/26/2022

Strawberry season!
Strawberry fairy by Mary Cecily Barker

06/23/2022

Foxglove & Rose.
from ‘The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady’ Edith Holden. 1905

06/23/2022

Poppies: Flower Fairies, 1921.
Margaret Tarrant (British illustrator & writer) 1888-1959

06/21/2022

Happy Summer Solstice from The Heirloom Gardener - John Forti!
SOLSTICEs and Equinoxes mark the four movements in a celestial score. The older I get, the more I aspire to tap into the symphonic song of nature. To harmonize with the flow of seasons, the cycles in our landscapes, and the larger universe… Summer solstice marks the time of the longest day and the beginning of summer. In the Northeast, it ushers in prime growing weather and a magnificent rush of flowers and produce to enjoy and share. In centuries past, Midsummer’s Eve was seen as one of the times that the fairies were supposed to come out and dance; today a fairy house movement plays off this theme, inviting children lost in the pretend world of blue screens to take a closer look at nature and play for free in an outdoor world of imagination. For families it’s a time of cucumbers, summer squash, and zucchini. Garden salads, strawberry shortcake, picnics, and summer vacation. Gardeners and farmers are perhaps tied to these cycles as much as any of us can be, living in the modern world. And as a gardener still crafting a life and livelihood from the land, I am touched and heartened by our human impulse to mark the seasons together with earthly and celestial rites and rituals that help us celebrate our circles around the Sun.

'Midsummer Eve' painting by Edward Robert Hughes

Excerpted from the essay “Seasonality” in my new book https://www.amazon.com/Heirloom-Gardener-Traditional-Plants-Skills/dp/1604699930/ref=sr_1_1?gclid=CjwKCAjws8yUBhA1EiwAi_tpEZQ5nEWVPFXZOKpqorM83PYy9RUaPlXWVXCPNF_JYbwWgWGV_MZHfhoCoA0QAvD_BwE&hvadid=511439330127&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9002311&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=10991291401524380729&hvtargid=kwd-1221706192511&hydadcr=8345_9904692&keywords=heirloom+gardener+john+forti&qid=1653869220&sr=8-1