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IN FEBRUARY

The frozen ground is broken
Where snowdrops raise their heads
And nod their tiny greeting
In glades and garden beds.

The frozen stream is melted
The white brook turns to brown
And foaming through the coppice
Flows helter skelter down.

The frozen air is golden
With February sun
The winter days are over
Oh, has the Spring begun?

P A Ropes

o

my photos

WINTER JASMINE

A pretty shrub to brighten up the garden in the bleak of midwinter is Jasminum nudiflorum, commonly known as Winter Jasmine.

You may well think it ordinary, but do you know of the interesting history it has?



More often than not these days I find myself snapping away with the camera, when I really should be gardening!

I like the blurry effect these two photos have taken on.

You could compare the yellowness of the Jasmine to a Summer's day - William Shakespeare Sonnet 18.

Happy St Valentines Day!

o

my photos

THE DARKENING GARDEN

Where have all the colours gone?



Red of roses, green of grass
Brown of tree-trunk, gold of cowslip
Pink of poppy, blue of cornflower
Who among you saw them pass?







They have gone to make the sunset.







Broidered on the western sky
All the colours of our garden
Woven into a lovely curtain
O'er the bed where Day doth lie.



Anonymous

o

my photo

PAWS FOR THOUGHT

I found a dead female Blackbird in my garden today.

Mauled.

It's now in the dustbin, carefully wrapped up in newspaper.

It's upsetting.

It's just nature's way.

o