Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.
Now, of my three score years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.
And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.
I wish I were in the same age bracket as A.E. Housman
when he wrote these words but on the other hand he is gone
and I am here to see one more.
14 comments:
The photos are most encouraging, Charlotte, thanks for posting them - and the lovely poem from A. E. Housman. You are hereby designated as the Poet Laureate of the RHS58Blog, as you're the only one who has posted poems. At least so far. But I like this one, very much. Winter is gradually, very slowly and grudgingly releasing its icy grip on the Northeast. We still have snow on the ground, people are still ice skating on the ponds, but it's sugaring season, and up this way we like our fresh new maple syrup. It's our promise of eventual spring.
Charlotte - I love it that you supply appropriate poetry. How lovely. Even I can get a little poetic about Spring. Unfortunately we had snow (!) Thursday night. Yellow daffodils surrounded by white snow are quite a sight. My Bradford pears had been in full bloom, but I have been expecting those to be brown soon. My tulip magnolia is showing a lot of pink buds, and they don't appear damaged.
Keith - You'll be interested that the folks at Federal Grove in Auburn are tapping the sugar maple trees and making syrup. This is the first season, and they are contracting out the cooking, but do plan to do their own next year. Of course, our season is about over while yours is just beginning.
Fresh maple syrup - that sounds wonderful. Especially on some warm pancakes that have been covered in butter. Can you tell I am trying to diet?
I have two cherry trees in bloom and the hellebores, hardy camellias and Carolina jessamine are also showing off, but most of the garden looks pretty grim. All the bulbs got blasted by the last hard freeze so the snowdrops, early daffies and a couple of lilies that were starting to lift their heads are toast. I don't know if the lilies will make a comeback or if those earliest ones will just not have a turn this time. Every year some of the children do well and some do not but if you wait long enough there is always another spring.
The wisteria is starting to bud out so it is about time for our last hard freeze. I lose my wisteria bloom about every other year but when the timing is right - it rocks. The banana bush lost most of her leaves in the cold snap, but I do see buds here and there; the azaleas all have tiny buds and Duchesse de Brabant will likely have blooms by next week if I can keep the aphids at bay. It was eighty on Wednesday and is forty-five today which should not make life easy for aphids - small comfort.
Hi, Charlotte. I guess I'm the official stalker of the RHS58Blog. AKA Keith's little sister. Just peeking in to say how much I appreciate the Housman poem. Lovely, indeed. Even though we are spoiled brats out here in New Mexico, with very little winter to speak of; and even though spring traditionally sends me into fits of sneezing as the trees blossom, I'm still very happy to see it return.
Thanks, Charlotte, I agree that you are the official poet laureate of our group. What a treat! Greensboro has experienced yet another grip of winter with cold rain and dreary skies all weekend after, as you said, 70 degree days that made you want to skip and enjoy those flowers that were so recently nestled in the snow. The snow shovel still needs to be placed under the house.
Ann P.
I am also thrilled to know we have a stalker, Cathy. Interlopers are welcome, too. What a treat to hear from you.
Ann P.
Cathy, it is great to hear from you - and if I am to be the official poet laureate and you the official lurker, I suppose I will have to post a poem from time to time and you will have to check in from time to time or else we will not know you are lurking.
Ann, the day you had seventy we got to eighty-four. The weather here is even more erratic than what I remember from my childhood in Kentucky. My pictures were taken in the rain which is why the sky behind them is grey - but at least it is not freezing and perhaps by midweek we will see the sun again.
Cathy - This group needs watching, so good to know you're here for us.
In spite of all the fussing I do about Kentucky weather, I actually love the seasons, and there are surely more than four. Iris are probably my favorite flower, and the leaves are already up and appear undamaged by the cold snap.
Charlotte, maybe the rain that we need so much will stop soon and warm weather willl return. At least we didn't have the 3 inches of snow the Russellville had. KY's weather is much more severe in every season than North Carolina weather. I nearly freeze there in the winter and suffocate in the summer. Keep those poems coming for us who are not only mathematically challenged but poetically challenged as well. I do like poetry but cannot come up with the appropriate poem for the occasion or thought.
Ann P.
You, my friends, are so prolific, and I learn something everytime I tune in. Charlotte, loved the poem. Keith, on our recent visit to Lenox, we drove to the first of the syrup tapping at the Red Bucket. We enjoyed a pancake breakfast with last year's product and learned all about the syrup tapping. I guess I was expecting the picturesque bucket hanging from the maple tree in the backyard. We found 8,000 trees plugged into plastic tubing and syrup transported to a large stainless steel vat in a little log building. We really enjoyed our trip and visit with our Judith and her family: husband, David and daughters, Olivia and Anna Marie. Of course we took in the art class and basketball games but Earl and I drove one day to Equinox Mtn. in Manchester,Vermont and rode snowmobiles. I still like to speed and got the thing up to 65 mph across a frozen lake. Happy Spring to one and all. Our fruit trees are all in bloom; so we're hoping there will be no more freezing weather here in Tennessee.
Ann, my little corner of North Carolina is not as cold - or at least only infrequently so as Kentucky, but we did get some snow out of the last event although nothing to compare to Kentucky - the truth is that when it turns cold, snow is a good thing for plants as it provides insulation so I actually prefer to have it. It is also much hotter here than in Kentucky and more humid - I suspect that Greensboro being closer to the coast makes a difference.
My head is so stuffed with poetic nonsense and music that there is hardly any room for practical thought. I tend to find a literary reference for everything which can be painful for others - so I try to practice a little restraint.
Charlotte, Are you confusing Greensboro and Greenville? Greensboro is in the north central, and we are 4 hours from the ocean. We are still close enough to get storm bands from hurricanes but not close enough to get too many climate changes. I believe that Rocky Mount is farther east of here--east of Raleigh. I really enjoy your garden and your comments on your plants and flowers. I cannot add too much about the yard because I get out and work in it so little even though I enjoy everyone else's flowers and plantings.
Ann P.
Yes, Ann, I probably had my greens mixed up - I have been both places at different times, but only to pass through on my way to the shore or to attend the Diamond Addy awards.
I have not worked a lot so far in my garden although it calls me because I am trying not to cripple myself early on as I did last year - next weekend I will try to fertilize the roses - a little late but better late than never. THe past weekend was the target date, but a wash literally and it is still raining here today. If all goes well I will bore everyone with rose pictures in the not too distant future.
I look forward to those rose pictures, and the poetry to go along with them. This was a perfect spring day here, and everything is really beginning to "pop". Just hope we don't have another snow and that the "Easter Cold Snap" isn't too bad.
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