The Solstice Garden

I was originally saving these until they could become the New Year's Garden, but it seems like it's been such a hard season for so many... So this seems like a good time to warm things up with a few beautiful memories.

This wasn't actually my garden. My garden couldn't compare to the Solstice Garden. :D These shots are from the wild area just outside our property boundary on the south side of Hazel Run, and from our wild ditch out front along the road.

The Solstice Garden is dedicated to all those with troubled hearts. May it bring you some heart's ease and fill you with gentle peace this holiday season.

Fall Asters

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Biennial Gaura: a flower I'd never heard of before but was able to identify from a field guide. It started out with just one or two blossoms open a day, then it burst into bloom as the season progressed:

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The Black-eyed Susans were peeking out among White Asters and Dogwood berries all summer and fall:

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Blue Vervain was everywhere...we watched the spires bloom...

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...then go to seed:

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Another new flower for me: Boneset.

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By late summer, many of the bushes had berries to offer for the birds...and the birds came in droves and ate them quickly, so look fast before they disappear! :D

Dogwood berries:

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Elderberries:

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Hairy Wood Mint and Evening Primrose gone to seed:

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Thin-leaved coneflowers:

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Goldenrod, one of the many varieties that dazzled our eyes:

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Nestled in front of the hazelnuts and dogwood, grew the largest Wild Bergamot I've ever seen. It flowered early in summer...

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...then it, too, went to seed, ensuring another generation of beauty:

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Woodland Sunflowers:

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There is something soothing in the touch of the breeze. It sets up a rhythm in the branches and makes the Solstice Garden dance gracefully.

Finally, the wind catches a dream and breathes life into it...and the Dream sips lazily from the blossoms of the Solstice Garden before finding a home in your heart.

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However you celebrate the Solstice, may it bring you Happiness and Peace.

Interesting thing, the Winter Solstice. I'll be glad once it's gone, then that means more gradual light instead of gradual darkness. Sucks seeing sunset around 330 pm.

Wow green thumb there Hazel! Tired from digging?

Beautiful flowers. Nature is awesome! All the variety and colors. Thank you very much for sharing.

Thanks for the dedication. :thumbs up :o

Wildflowers are truly beautiful and are just one of the amazing things about nature. :cloud9:

Flowers and peacfulness on cold snowy days, what a beautiful thought and well wishes to brighten up the day..with the pictures here they can bloom even in the cold..they are truly beautiful...



I love the yellow flowers with the butterfly.....:cloud9:

I keep coming back to look at the flowers...:lovestruck:

pretty flowers:D

and not half eaten either :eek::laughing::laughing:

Cool flowers Hazel , I like the butterfly.

Beautiful Hazel! I have a guara in my big flower bed. I love the way the flowers seem to dance over the leaves. Very peaceful. Mine blooms every year.
Thanks for sharing.

I had to go back and read,I thought at first this was your garden,but you've said you do not have a green thumb,or too many dogs:laughing:
I just cannot wait for spring when everything comes alive again:)

Loved all the wildflowers Hazel, and that flying flower is also beautiful:cloud9:

However you celebrate the Solstice, may it bring you Happiness and Peace.

Thank you Hazelrunpack. Truly a heart-warming, spirit-lifting thread. Happiness and peace to you and your loved ones too.

:laughing: No, chico--I do have a green thumb...but it's cuz it's moldy! :D Plants always do better if hazel leaves them be, so it was a real treat to watch these flowers bloom so beautifully :cloud9:...just outside the yard, out of reach of inquisitive doggies :dog:

:thumbs up Very pretty flowers

I'm glad you're all enjoying them, too. I know they gave me so much pleasure this growing season! :cloud9:

Very nice pics. There are alot of the same species here. I always enjoy a good hike with my field guides and a pair of hand pruners so I can bring some home to press. I think parts of Wisconsin are on the same latitude and climate zones as parts of Ontario.

I think parts of Wisconsin are on the same latitude and climate zones as parts of Ontario.

:D Yep, that would be us... It's amazing how widespread some species are, isn't it? And they spread that way in large part by dropping seed to the wind...absolutely amazing!

Hazelrunpack, thank you for the wonderful piece of nature. It truly does bring some peace to the heart.

DH and i have a vacation trailer parked at a lake close to where we live, 45 mun drive, when I really need some peace i recall a time when I was sitting in the backyard of the propety and the wind was blowing throught he trees, it was so beautiful it reminded me of a symphoy orchestra. thanks:angel: patti

You're welcome patti. :grouphug: I love the sound of wind in trees. In the winter we hear mostly the singing of the pines. But the oaks always keep a few leaves until spring and they tap along in time to the music... :cloud9:

Thanks for the garden Hazel----Awesome pics :thumbs up

Spectacular pictures Hazel :lovestruck:. I love how mother nature really does seem to know how to do it the best without our help.

Ah, yes. My Hero, Mother Nature. :thumbs up Without Her we'd have precious few blooms around here, as pathetic as hazel's gardening skills are. :D

There's just something so soothing in the way the flowers all bloom in sequence and/or together...the evolving pattern is so intricate...almost mesmerizing. Intellectually, you know there's fierce competition among plants that results in that final arrangement; but aesthetically and emotionally, you forget about the 'how' and just focus on the marvel of it all when you see that beautiful collection of wildflowers.

I stood out there for 10 minutes with the camera photographing that monarch and came in so relaxed on an otherwise hectic day.... :cloud9:

I get the same effect from birdwatching. :o

Ah, yes. My Hero, Mother Nature. :thumbs up Without Her we'd have precious few blooms around here, as pathetic as hazel's gardening skills are. :D

There's just something so soothing in the way the flowers all bloom in sequence and/or together...the evolving pattern is so intricate...almost mesmerizing. Intellectually, you know there's fierce competition among plants that results in that final arrangement; but aesthetically and emotionally, you forget about the 'how' and just focus on the marvel of it all when you see that beautiful collection of wildflowers.

I stood out there for 10 minutes with the camera photographing that monarch and came in so relaxed on an otherwise hectic day.... :cloud9:

I get the same effect from birdwatching. :o

Then you definately need to make a trip to beautiful British Columbia, you will love the amazing wildflowers and animal life. The wild rhododendran displays in the spring are simply spectacular :cloud9:.

Wow I love these pictures and the wonderful prose you put with it. Very soothing ona cold dreary wintery day... Thank you. :cloud9: :angel:

You're welcome, Brandy--I was happy to share!

Teri, I love rhododendrons! :lovestruck: Sigh...now I have yet another section of Canada to visit. I'm gonna need a year or better to see everything I want to see! :laughing:

I just had to resurrect this post of HRH's flowers she gave us last December on the winter Soltice.

This is giving me every hope that Spring is on its way and these lovlies will bloom again for our pleasure.

Thanks again HRH for the great photos. Patti Happy Spring Everyone:lovestruck:

pbpatti,yes,it is on it's way:thumbs upmy tulips and daffodils are peaking out through the ground:pray: