The North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville posted these wonderful photos of Mountain Laurel on Facebook last week
I'm thinking about how much of my life is awareness of my own participation in my environment...and learning still about how I can help keep the place healthy as well as myself. The symbiotic relationship is the key, I think.
Sharing with Thankful Thursday and Floral Friday Fotos!
Our peonies before the rain and their own weight made them lie their heads on the ground.
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Robert Louis Stevenson said, “There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.” And, “Our business in life is not to succeed, but to continue to fail in good spirits.”
Peonies always seem to want to lie down on the job.
ReplyDeleteJust creating such beauty seems to tire them out.
DeleteMy peonies have buds. I have supports around them so they don't flop, but it will be weeks before they bloom here.
ReplyDeleteI could have tried to put up supports, but we've been asked to refrain from changing anything in the landscaping at this time. Of course a resident was the one who planted these in the first place, but our current manager sort of ignores that fact. So nobody is supposed to cut flowers either, of curse (er, course.) Do you hear some resentment here?
DeleteI don't think I've ever seen mountain laurel and now I feel I must!
ReplyDeleteIt just occurred to me that between Jane Goodall and David Attenborough, our planet is just that much better off.
That quote from RLS is perfect. And true. I've never thought of it that way.
Keep up the good spirits is certainly the important part, but whether it's our business in life to fail or not, I'm not as sure. Definitely the great guidance of environmentalists is out there!
DeleteWhat a beautiful post, Barb. I especially like all of the quotes.
ReplyDeleteThanks, our beautiful blue ball comes back down to each of us making choices.
DeleteI remember staking peonies because the heads are so heavy they lie down. I love them.
ReplyDeleteIt's true, every little action either works with or against the planet.
I think of these as manufactured flowers...nature didn't intend for them to fall into the dirt, man had to have had a hand in that. But they are certainly beautiful. And I like their symbiotic relationship with ants. That is where nature does come through!
Delete...you indeed live in Mountain Laurel country!!!
ReplyDeleteThat's true...the mountains around here support so much beauty!
DeleteAnd speaking of Robert Louis Stevenson -- "The world is so full of a number of things, / I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings" (I read a lot of his books and poetry as a kid).
ReplyDeleteThat's a good quote. I think living a life as happy as kings would be an interesting goal, especially from his times. At least King Charles III does have an environmental interest.
DeleteI don't have any Peonies, but I think I need some. David A., is such a wonderful environmentalist/nature lover. Too many don't appreciate our planet and its delicate balance. Thank you for linking up. I do appreciate it!!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful mountain laurels! I have a few peonies and have meant, for the past forty years or so, to stake them up so they don't flop. That are still flopping.
ReplyDeleteSpring here is further behind.
ReplyDelete