Just now the wild heather and gorse are blooming in the surrounding hills. They nestle between rocks and ferns, always perfectly placed. I study them and think about ways of re-creating this, but again, nature is the superior garden designer every time....
These are the "dingly dell" places that remind me of childhood fantasies. Do you remember looking into wooded places or long grassy hedgerows and imagining faeries and mythical creatures living in there? I used to leave gifts for them, a few seeds, placed in a conker shell, or a spare ribbon from my hair which I would deny having lost...yet again.
Days later, if I could wait that long, I would return to see if the little gifts had been taken away. When they were I would be convinced of the presence of elves or leprechauns...... then I knew for sure that they were there! What little faerie dens did you imagine?
PS I know that's not how you are supposed to spell faery, but I like it!
Beautiful as usual :) And yes when I'm away from the hustle and bustle of the city I often wonder whether I'll find something extraordinary just around the next corner x
ReplyDeleteWell, I spell faerie almost the same way you do (especially after I've been talking to them LOL). I have tried to grow heather so many times. I just can't seem to get it to thrive for me. It will do well for a year or two and then it dies. My lavender thrives and then some, and I thought they enjoyed the same environment. I'll just have to sit here and drool over your pictures!
ReplyDeleteoh my your images leave me spell bound by fairies!
ReplyDeletesuch beauty and detail- you capture such beautiful lights and colours ;0)
i used to find secondary school quite hard and would often be sitting in the quiet room doodling fairies and mermaids- I used to believe my pictures were real...i still do! hehe x
Well thanks for those thoughts. Lavender is more a mediteranean plant and I think needs more heat and sun. Heather is an acid loving plant thriving on air and I think that's why it craves rocks! Am no expert but I kill off lavender myself, and I adore it too. Lets hope there will be more extraordinary things around every corner and yes faeries too!
ReplyDeleteMost people kill their lavender with kindness. It thrives on benign neglect, does not like wet feet and doesn't like to be fed. (We never feed outs - we mulch with healthy compost twice a year and that's all the food it gets... we have extensive hedges of Munstead lavender plus a lavender varieties bed.
ReplyDeleteI think I did the same thing with my heathers... killed them with kindness LOL. I put them with the herbs. I should have put them with the acid loving blueberries near the pines. Thanks for that info. I may be a glutton for punishment but I feel like I need to try again! They are such beautiful shrubs!
Yes that's a good plan! This year my lavender is doing better, out in the middle of a gravel area in full light. Go for it with the heather:~)
ReplyDeleteI agree... spell fairy, faery, fairie any way you choose. They don't mind. LOL
ReplyDeleteP.S. Come join my giveaway!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theblueridgegal.com/2011/09/yesterday-and-today.html
Only yesterday, I was wishing I had the right kind of soil for heather.
ReplyDeleteMy grandaughter and i look for signs of faries when walking in the woods. Eva has taken her imagination one step further, i heard her thanking the apple tree for her rosy red apples! The child is a dream. love your pictures x
ReplyDeleteMange skønne billeder.
ReplyDeleteTak for kigget.
Very poetic and nice. I love that post ! :)
ReplyDelete:-X
Those lovely scenes remind me of a land in which faeries would reside...so beautiful! I love your idea of leaving 'gifts' for the faeries...and checking to see if they were still there a few days later. I think I have a few 'gifts' to take to the faeries...
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos, heather is such a beautiful plant and of course butterflies are just so magical; it's hard not to love them!
Beautiful pics...such gorgeous colours
ReplyDeleteSuch a riot of colour, gorgeous photos, especially the butterfly :) I've always loved heather too, it always makes me think of wild, wide open spaces, you know the kind of space where you can take a breath and relax in a way that the city will never allow! And I love your words, I think you & I must have been very alike as children. I didn't leave gifts in the sweet way that you did, but I firmly believed they were there and always hoped for a little peek into their world.
ReplyDeleteI spell faerie the same way and I still look for them too! Never too old for some things.
ReplyDeleteThat heather is gorgeous, I wonder if it would do well in my zone--I certainly have lots of rock wall areas for it to grow!
I was born raised in South Wales ,mineing country ,I lived on a housing estate that had its back on a common .I looked for toads to play with.I now realise that there was a tradition of faerie in Wales ,called the Tylwth Teg (fair people )and a phrase associated was ' Bendith y Mamau,it is a Blessing meaning 'The Blessing of the Mothers'. always a blessing and comfort'Being'outside especially in the Wild...Barra Menyn means bread and butter and were /are the first young leaves of the Hawthorn tree we would eat as a snack.when young i made/grew a moss garden on a wooden tray with lots of different mosses,a tiny miniture land i visited and played with.The first flowers i remember,on a walk with my Nana and Mam were yellow and red spotted mimulus and 'bouncing bess' growing near a little stream 'up the mountain 'where there are houses built on top now.I Love your blog and photos .Thank you.
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