This is California's true gold. Tidy tips, Goldfields, Owl's Clover, and larkspur beside Soda Lake
Yesterday was a gift. Jeff and I worked until 3, then headed out the back roads to explore the offerings of spring. Am I ever glad we did. The recent rains have strewn the hillsides and meadows with carpets of wildflowers and scents that are sweeter than honey. Meadowlarks perched on the roadside fences, like clothespins on a line. Their songs are SO amazing and joyous. Thanks to all of you who wrote e-mails and comments and told me to take some time off for fun.
Gilia
Bush poppy
A floral gypsy
Delphinium in Owl's Clover
Prickly phlox
Chia sage
It's easy to see why the common name is Larkspur
Scarlet Bugler
I thought our day was perfect, but had to amend it to beyond perfect when I opened my mail and found this lovely letter. Who could ever hope for a better compliment?
Leaving for Napa where I will give a talk at The Playful Garden at 11 a.m. on Saturday and at 4 p.m. on Sunday at Mrs. Dalloway's in Berkeley. Our house sitters might as well move in here.
Remember to follow your joy.
21 comments:
Ah, this is so lovely! My favorite flowers are wild flowers, growing on meadows and hill sides. My dream is to own a small cottage one day, where my garden will be left wild and free.
What a lovely post and lovely note in the end of it.
Have a great weekend,
xo
So beautiful! I can´t remember seeing anything like that over here in all my life. Perhaps because our rainy climate allowes the flowers to keep going on all summer? I´m a bit jealous to be honest :-)
What a nice lettre! It must feel wonderful to get lettres like that!
Have a great day now!
Christer.
Beautiful. I'm walking around in a daze admiring Spring flowers here in Ireland too. Thanks for sharing the gold of California.
Beautiful flowers! I love to drive in the countryside this time of year.
Hi Sharon, this is my first visit, I love your blog and we obviously share an aesthetic sensibility. Thanks for your warm comment to my bird post. I also do not stick to native plants but have a special fondness for Australian natives. Your natives are stunningly beautiful, even more so in the wild than in gardens. Particularly love the photo of delphinuims in clover. Cheers, catmint
beautiful images! Ahh, how they make me all dreamy!
What beautiful pics Sharon! Love those wildflowers! We are enjoying petunias and daffodils right now and the rest is coming!
Cindy
It's amazing to see what we think of as our garden plants growing in their native place! Wow! love, Beth
Beautiful! Beautiful! Beautiful! The notecard is soooo darling too! Hapy Trails! ;)Alyssa
if you've ever read The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, she suggests artist dates. Your wonderful afternoon is a gardener's version! I loved that letter you received. I tutor 1st and 3rd graders in reading and nothing beats the letters or drawings they gift me with. Don't you just feel lucky???
that is soooo sweet!!!
Oh yes Thea,
I adore their artwork and their writings. I've been teaching poetry to 4th graders, week after next it will be 3rd graders, which will be a challenge. I am thinking short Ogden Nash type things.
What do you think?
S
Hello Sharon,
What a wonderful way to spend the afternoon. I especially love to get out to view the wildflowers after a particularly heavy rainy season :-) Have a great trip.
SO beautiful! What a lovely escape! :-)
What absolutely beautiful plants... would love to see them in person some day! Wow, just wow!
That note is adorable- I bet it made your day ♥
Dear Sharon,
I'm SO glad you got to go! I hope it did the trick to rejuvenate your spirits(having such a fast paced schedule!) it is truely the place to slow down and smell the flowers.
your photos are lovely too, makes me want to go back, thank you for sharing!
love,
lori
*siiiiigh* I felt like I was right there with you, sniffing the sweet air and brushing my palm over wildflower tops. AMAZING! What a place of beauty. I am so glad we still have such places on this earth in these modern times. May it always be so!
That letter was so sweet. What an awesome job-perk, to get cute fan mail like that!
Have a wonderful time in Napa, and of course, Berkeley :) my mom is really looking forward.
Love, Daw
last year my third graders were fascinated with Shakespeare. So I would pull snippets from his sonnets, then explain/translate for them. i find they like a challenge but in a fun environment. I tell them the secret to reading Shakespeare is two-fold - in order to understand it we circle every third word. in order to read it aloud, it should be whispered. they love that! i'm not following any sort of curriculm, this is just my way of getting them excited about WS. Another favorite poet who is quite whimiscal and humorous and easy to memorize is e.e.cummings. one of my favorite poems of his is:
springtime is your time is my time is our time for springtime is love time and viva sweet love.
i approached the school principal about maybe starting a forensics club after school for third and maybe fourth graders, esp geared for second language learners, where fluency has been challenging for them. i'm just in brainstorming mode right now. how do you present your poetry class?
congrats on your new book...I love Land's End... and those fields of wildflowers are magnificent! Wish I could just have a little warmth here in NH...! soon... I so enjoyed your pics and writing, thank you for the visit too.
I love Blair's note, Sharon. What a treasure trove of notes you must have from children you have inspired! I treasure every thank you or note I have received as well.
Hello Sharon, what an outrageously beautiful photo (the first one)! This is a place I could stand for hours in an attempt to take it all in. Thank you for showing these photos to us.
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