Readers, Welcome to my blog (formerly Birds, Blooms, Books, etc). I'm entering a new decade taking on the challenge of moving from Maryland after living there 46 years and learning about my new home here in New England in the Live Free or Die state - New Hampshire. Join me as a write this new chapter of my life.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Those Little Bells

A spring time favorite flower for me is the Lily of the Valley.  These are special for their fragrance so I make sure to pick them to bring in, and

they are special because of where they came from: friends and family.  When we moved out of our house in Columbia in 2003 I told the new owners I would be back to dig up some of my perennials once I had a garden to move them into.  Well, it took longer than we expected to build this new house but when we moved in in Fall 2005 I knew that the spring of 2006 would be time to return for the plants I'd left behind.

Lilies of the valley were one of those plants.  These had come from the garden of Dan's grandfather Huffman in Franconia, Virginia.  There was no way I was leaving them behind when we moved.  When I dug them up finally that spring I got black eyed susans too so now this bed of lilies of the valley is also a very large bed of black eyed susans.  I planted them on the north side of the house because that's where they were at the old house. They are not as lush as they once were in their old location so I've since taken some transplants to the pond garden and know they will spread there.

My other clump of lilies of the valley came from our former pastor.  She offered these after we had moved in.  These bloom first and seem to be growing better on the west side of the house outside Dan's study.  They bloom first so I pick from them to bring the fragrance into the house.

 

Finally the trees are almost fully in leaf.  The last are the beech which have lost the brown fall leaves and are now opening new ones.  This is the view from Dan's study door with the last blooms of the dogwood against the new green of the woods.  It's a blue sky day after many days of much needed rain!
 

8 comments:

Jenny Rottinger said...

I LOVE lily of the valley and they're all around my front porch, but I can't cut them and bring to the house because they're extremely poisonous to animals and my 3 cats like to take a bite out of any flowers that are in the house. Small bite of these beauties will kill them so I can only admire them outside.

jeanlivingsimple said...

I love your arrangement of those Lily of the Valleys!

HolleyGarden said...

How wonderful to have such sentimental attachment to your lilies of the valley. They look so pretty, both outside and in your vases. That dogwood is beautiful! It's so nice to see these trees light up the forest in spring. Thanks for your vote, too!

Mylise said...

The french name is "muguet" and I love it !
Your arrangement is very nice...
Have a nice weekend,
A bientôt !

Unknown said...

I love my Lily of the Valley and my hubby wants to pull them all out. I told him if he did that I would cry. So he has adapted to living with them. Mine are almost ready to harvest. I will bring them in and enjoy the beauty.
Enjoy the weekend...

Unknown said...

Your Lily of the Valley are so precious. I tried to find some but you can't even buy them here in the Southwest. So I'm kinda jealous. :) Thank so much for joining in for Fresh-Cut Friday. I hope you have a lovely weekend!

~Liz

Zinnia said...

I love your cute vases with lilies of the valley in small bottles. I wish you a nice sunday! Zinnia

Marcia said...

I purchased those vases at Longwood Gardens in PA. They are fun to fill with flowers. I have some small plants rooting in a green set.