This weekend I said goodbye to the Vineyard home and garden. The house holds a lot of memories, but it's the garden that holds my heart. Scattered with rocks and shells my mother has collected over the years, and plants and shrubs we bought together on our many trips to the island nurseries, it's hard to survey the yard without thinking of of my mother.
Each time I would visit, my mother would be anxious to take me outside to walk the grounds and tell me what she just planted or moved to the right spot. Since it's still early spring on the Vineyard, the photos don't show the full beauty of the perennials – June is the best month for this garden!
A few years ago my mother planted a camellia plant in the backyard next to the porch/patio. Because it's sheltered from the wind, there would often be blooms nine months of the year. Though deer have stripped most of the flowers on the bottom half, this 8 ft. plant was in full bloom as early as March. I woke Sunday to find a large buck grazing outside the porch, just finishing his camellia breakfast.
I also wanted to plant something at the gravestone, but seeing as we're in a drought, and today was 90ยบ, I was afraid to plant something without being there to water it. There's something sad about plantings that die in a cemetery. Already the soil is struggling with the bulbs I planted last year – you can see some daffodils just about to bloom.
But then, I had another idea...
What a beautiful idea to put the shells and stones around the headstone. I love it.
ReplyDeleteThanks Joan. My mother had boxes and boxes of rocks and shells in the basement, so if they start to disappear, I have plenty of replacements!
DeleteSo sad to say goodbye to such a beautiful home that your family loved. But the shell idea is superb.
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