Gardens at Bayonne

The Word of the Day (WOTD) How powerful! A single word. That single word is borne out of a single thought. How appropriate that the first word selected for this maiden effort is: ephemeral e·phem·er·al /əˈfem(ə)rəl/ adjective 1. lasting for a very short time. "fashions are ephemeral" synonyms: transitory, transient, fleeting, passing, short-lived, momentary, brief, short, cursory, te mporary, impermanent, short-term; More noun 1. an ephemeral plant. The idea that a solitary word invokes, subtly, an effort to understand what is meant at the moment the word is presented. Communication at an elementary level; transmission, initially presented in written form, reception by another, often gently coaxing an attempt to pronounce the lone word. The real magic in this exercise, occurs when both the transmitter and the receiver endeavor to define the word! The embryonic word offers an explosion of the thought connected with what began as a single uttera...

About eight years ago, I planted a four-foot tall kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa) in the rear of the center garden at the rear of the property at Ciel sur terre.  Then life happened!  First, I got busy with foster parent training, then with fostering three beautiful young children.  If, that wasn’t enough distractions to cause me to neglect all gardening tasks, I underwent a quad-bypass heart surgery in the spring of 2015!  The weeds were relentless and soon all evidence of the small ornamental tree had succumbed to the more hardy English ivy and wild blackberries.  I had accepted the notion that many gardeners realize many times in their artistic experience—some things you plant will not survive, no matter how resilient they are—face it! As with most gardeners facing the death of a favorite plant, I mourned briefly and swore off planting another one of these lovely gems.  But to my surprise, last week I glanced out of the dining room window, west through th...