Spring Sprung…

That is so unusual, since we have an abundant blessing of blooms year round, which of course I absolutely love, since it gives me a reason to go outside, and make my picks of the day. I blame November. There was a brutish cold snap followed immediately by a deluge of biblical proportions and then another bit of nasty cold weather.

fried egg flower…

Those absurdly sweet harbingers of winter flowers, the Romneya, Tree Poppies, or Matilija Poppy, and the Camellia Sasanqua, the Christmas Camellia, the Yuletide Camellia, said “see ya, outta here, done”.

or yuletide camellia..

or matilija poppy…

And so we were, that is until Christmas Day, when miracle of miracles the Camellia Japonicas, which had been promising, burst forth in all their single, semi-double, irregular semi-double, formal double, elegans, and informal double glory. Spectacular stuff, kid you not, simply one of the best Christmas presents ever.

camellia japonica…

more camellia japonica…

camellia japonica once again…

penultimate camellia japonica…

the final camellia japonica

Now as I type this out, Winter Storm Gorgon has come and is now slowly leaving the scene. Before I go any further, can I ask when we started naming winter weather patterns, honestly, what is up with that? Is this a Weather Channel conspiracy, a new way for marketers and t-shirt makers to sell “I survived Gorgon” kitsch?

Anyway, the damage to my precious winter blooms was extensive, all the flowers freezer burned, and, as for the buds, time will tell. Thankfully, the camellia is a hearty plant and our winters mild, so I fully expect to enjoy bringing flowers into the home sometime later this winter.

From the Old English writha…

01 Saturday Nov 2014

Posted by thegentlemanfarmer in Living, Nature, Passages, Seasons, Totem Hall

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

crowns, daydreaming, doorways, entries, etruscans, fieldwork, greeks, harvest, old, olympics, owls, power, romans, tractor, wealth, wikipedia, wise, wreaths

harvest wreath…

I came back from the Woodberry Parents Weekend to find the front door of Totem Hall all decked out with a brand new wreath, courtesy of my mother in law, celebrating the best of fall.

one view up close…

Later on my tractor, working a field, I started thinking about wreaths, the whole who, what, when, and where.

another view up close…

So I turned to Wikipedia; I mean, after all, who doesn’t? Did you know that wreaths appeared during the Etruscan era, worn as crowns? After that, the Greeks and Romans appropriated the wreath concept, wearing them to celebrate, for instance, Olympic achievement, or to designate wealth and power.

wise old owl up close…

Of course, wreaths on the head are all good and wonderful, but how does one get from the dome to the door? Well, by way of Wikipedia, one again turns to the ancient Greeks. It turns out the Greeks enjoyed hanging a harvest wreath by their door, just like mine.