"When Spring unfolds the beechen leaf"

[Birdland]

When Spring unfolds the beechen leaf, and
sap is in the bough;
When light is on the wild-wood stream,
and wind is on the brow;
When stride is long, and breath is deep, and
keen the mountain-air,
Come back to me! Come back to me! and
say my land is fair!

Well, the Scouring of Winter has just about ended, and the Sun is making Her way back from the Southlands.

So how will you make this a Tolkienish Spring? Are you tidying up the flower beds and planting taters by the light of the full moon? Throwing off your winter rags and dancing in the sunlight in front of an overthrown barrow? Or maybe walkin' in the willow-meads of Tasarinan?

Let's hear your thoughts as coirë turns to tuilë.

[Hirilaelin]

I am taking long walks and contemplating mysteries of Arda in the peaceful setting of grey sidewalks. smilies/biggrin.gif

[Lush]

I'm looking forward to playing Venus to a young Botticelli. smilies/wink.gif

Oh, wait, you mean Tolkien-related?

I'm wearing flowers in my hair, drinking, dancing, and singing a lá the Rivendell Elves, though I fear I do not have their stamina, and am I somewhat knackered, actually.

[Birdland]

Careful there, Lush. Elves may be able to party hardy into their 1000s, but we mere mortals, by the time we're 30, start waking up in the morning groaning "What was I thinking!?"

But a little "spring flingin'" is always good.

[mark12_30]

Personally, I am watching the beechen twigs and waiting for the beechen leaf to unfold. Hoping to make it a more numerous event, I am also looking hard at the various oaks that crowd my lovely beech grove, and daydreaming about a chainsaw.

If I have my way, all but a few of the oaks will be cleared back to about eighty feet, leaving room for the beeches, the three witchHazels, the Rose of Sharon, the lilacs, a maple, and a few struggling pines.

I do love my beech trees. I have three little groves of them. One such grove my friend Gayle nicknamed Lothlorien. Following suit, I named the next one Fangorn. The one mentioned above that is struggling next to the gardens by the house, still has no name; I am pondering such possibilities as The Old Forest, Withywindle (but no river alas), or Green Hill Country or Woody End. Woody End may win (although I have not yet sighted Gildor there.)

If there were fountains of water, I'd consider the name "Rivendell", but alas... there are only two birdbaths.

[Birdland]

Helen - You've got groves? Wow! I have all of three trees (front, back, and side yards).

But the one just outside my living room window is a redbud tree, and I can't wait for it to burst forth. Admittedly though, it would look far better in a grove. I hope it's not lonely.

I've been peeping and prodding my gardens, checking to see who made it through the long winter, who's being the harbringers, and who's holding back. The croci, alas, have succumbed to the squirrel armies.

Sadly, my good 14-year-old hound became seriously ill, and though she is recovering, she has suddenly become an "old dog". I fear this will be her last spring, and instead of renewal, I will be forced to watch her fade.

[Lush]

I feel your pain, Birdie, my dog of eleven and a half years had to be put to sleep in the end of January, and this spring for me is bittersweet without her (no wonder I'm boozing up a storm).

I shall heed your advice, but until I am 30, all bets will continue to be off. smilies/wink.gif

The inherently good thing about the warm weather is the fact that I am no longer looking for anyone to keep me warm.

[mark12_30]

Squirrels? Poor Bird... Our here it's voles. I finally sank a 1/2 inch-mesh wire cage into the ground and planted my crocuses in that. Those have survived. But before I did so, I lost a lot of crocuses...

After having raked out some of the beds, and suspecting that the voles have been quite busy, I find myself wondering what sorts of hobbity annuals I'd like to plant. Tolkien mentions nasturtiums, but I've never been an orange fan.

[Raefindel]

Good Spring to you, my fellow gardeners!

Well, some of my tulips have survived the mole(or moles). This is the third year they have been ravaging my garden and I'm about out of options for dealing with them. I've used traps, garlic,prayers, noise makers & commercial mole repellents, and have moved on to gasoline and explosives. But the tulips made it through.

Birdland, I'm sorry to hear about your dog. I hope she doesn't suffer.

Helen I LOVE lilacs! I think they are my favorite flower! Can't wait to see if mine will bloom this year. It's a baby and someone told me it needed limed so I've been treating it for a year now and am now holding my breath.

And to satisfy my "Elven tendencies", I dressed in my cloak and went foraging in the woods for deer droppings which I mixed into the soil around my delphiniums. Yes, I admit to being strange, but somehow the marriage seems to last through it all. smilies/rolleyes.gif

[ March 17, 2003: Message edited by: Raefindel ]

[Ithaeliel]

Happy spring to all! I have to say it is already gorgeous in this part of the world. The tulips and the daffodils are young, the sun smiling down between a new abundance of rainstorms. I can even look out the basement window (of quite limited view!) and feel a bit of the cheer of the blue sky, where normally I look out and give a disdainful moan. Our grass needs cutting again! Oh, how I love spring. New life is everywhere, joy is abound again.

This spring (between the many music competitions and festivals that I have to attend), I plan to get out a bit more; maybe darken my kitchen-cabinet-white complexion. Read a bit of poetry, and take in the beauty of Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" and a few of Poe's lighter works. Write a book, get a kitten, name it Fernando Smudge II (after my two friends' recently deceased felines smilies/frown.gif), take off these accursed braces, the source of six years of misery, forever!

What about Tolkien? Well, I'll be reading a few more of the History of Middle-earth books, re-read the Silmarillion, and finish Unfinished Tales ( smilies/wink.gif)... and perhaps The Book of Lost Tales if I can bear it (sorry, I just don't find much point in reading the early stories and getting them all confused with the published final drafts). As part of my aspired poetry 'project,' I might find a copy of Beowulf and try to absorb some of that.

The sad thing is, I might not have half the time to do all this as I wish I could... I'll probably same some for the summer.

[Lush]

Ithaeliel, I have never worn braces, but I believe I had the same feeling of triumph when I got rid of the accursed glasses, and started wearing contact lenses. Read Whitman alongside of a bit of Dickinson, the dichotomy is rather strange. Good luck on your book as well.

As for the rest of you gardeners, you, I can't really be bothered with the strain of weeding, watering, carting around fertilizer, and so on, but I admire in you the skills that I myself lack.

I have never felt the need to cultivate the growth of spring myself. I let it grow wildly around me; it does as it pleases, and so do I. And, on occasions, I also have to do what pleases my blood-thirsty professors, such as doing homework, when I really want to be writing Helen or Squatter(or even the bawdy Mr. Rimbaud) a long PM instead.

[Gorwingel]

Rae, your flowers could not have done that badly. It wasn't like we had a terribly harsh winter this year (Maybe that is why you are still having the mole problems?). Not a single day with snow! We usually have at least one day, or sometimes two.
Oh well! time to look towards the next season, and the upcoming summer. It is certantly feeling a little more like spring now. Kind of like Hobbiton on a nice sunny day (though it is still a tad bit frigid)

[ March 18, 2003: Message edited by: Gorwingel ]

[Birdland]

I have never felt the need to cultivate the growth of spring myself. I let it grow wildly around me...
Well, duh, Lush. You live in South Carolina. What else would nature do there? smilies/biggrin.gif

Oh, and skip the booze; get yourself another dog. (Average "Birdie" relationship with man - 2 years. Average "Birdie" relationship with dog - 10 years. You do the math.)

Rae - Walkin' in the woods gathering deer dropping? Steer manure isn't that expensive! smilies/biggrin.gif

Helen - Hobbity annuals? Why, Nicotiana, of course!

The killdeer have returned to Ohio! Legolas may have loved the sound of the gulls, but as for me? The cry of the killdeer stirs longings in me.

[ March 18, 2003: Message edited by: Birdland ]

[Lush]

I actually live in North Carolina, for that is where Charlotte and Duke (YEAH BLUE DEVILS!) are conveniently located.

As for the boozing, what can I say? "I drink to make other people interesting."

[mark12_30]

Bird, your point about dogs and men makes me smile. Once I would have hollered amen... however, I have at last found a man who outlasted a dog. Once you find a good one...

Nicotania? Well, yes, I know... the problem with that idea is, my husband quit smoking in order to marry me; he's stayed clean for lo these fourteen years; and in honor of his dedication, I told myself that nicotania would never grow in my gardens. So I'm afraid that I must find other hobbitty flowers to plant.

Besides-- Bolco doesn't smoke; neither does Lindo. I suppose given the opportunity, Gamba would. Rascal!

Rae, don't let the peanut gallery get you down. Bring your elvish bow and arrow next time (I'm sure CJ has one that he'll let you borrow!) and bring home dinner in addition to fertilizer. Go Rae! And if you wear your green cloak inside out it's perfect camo.

About your tulips: I've become a real fan of wire mesh cages around the bulbs. It seems strange, I'll admit, to imprison your bulbs underground. However, the absence of chemicals is very pleasant indeed. And I have a lovely display of crocuses this year. Last year I had NONE (down from nearly a thousand.) So wire mesh is good. Works for any varmint except deer (and they have the above-ground, black plastic mesh for that. I use that too.)

Lush, gardeners who live in the woods like I do, can have their cake and eat it too; I have several little orderly gardens, and just beyond them, the wilderness takes over. No brambles, thank God; but such an abundance of blueberry and huckleberry (that's whortleberry to you brits) and wild mountain laurel-- and yes, little tiny groves of young beech-- as to sooth the soul and cheer the heart, and invigorate the lungs, and set the feet to wandering-- my feet, and, unfortunately, my dogs'...
(Back on the ties you go, you vagrants, before I get the "what happened to my catfood" phonecalls from all the neighbors...)

I think this year I will start taking pictures of the gardens again.

[ March 18, 2003: Message edited by: mark12_30 ]

[Alatáriël Lossëhelin]

Well, the Scouring of Winter has just about ended, and the Sun is making Her way back from the Southlands.

Well, here in central Texas, the Sun never went too far away. All the trees are blossoming and the roadsides begin to be carpeted with bluebonnets. Unfortunately, I don't have any nice trees at my house, only yucky cedar, but my irises and cannas have already come up and I've had to mow the grass twice.

Birdland: I'm sorry about your dog. I had to put my 14 year old Schnauser to sleep 3 years ago. I still miss him.

[Kalimac]

Thank goodness! I hope it's staying away permanently, though here in Illinois the weather is being annoyingly flirtatious. A few days ago I was wearing shorts and today it was raining and very, very cold.

I celebrate by taking all the walks that would have frozen me to death a month ago. We live not far a large pond (or small lake) which has a lot of geese and ducks, and is about three miles around. It's right by a forest preserve and is a gorgeous walk, when it's not cold. And of course, that also means that it's time to break out the grill and do some open-air cooking on the balcony...mmmm... smilies/smile.gif.

I would like to plant something, but don't have a garden, and the apt. complex isn't too keen on our tearing up the landscaper's efforts smilies/frown.gif . Ah well - some day, some way.

Birdland and Lush - I'm really sorry about your dogs. One of my friends from my old workplace just had to have her dog put down as well, and she was in tears about it. She has a new puppy now, named Arwen. She says the puppy doesn't make up for the old one, but it's growing on her.

Rae - tulips are great. I remember being little and fascinated by our tulips in the front yard, since the bulbs would split every year. I'm sure they'll make it through OK - they're sort of like dandelions, you can never quite get rid of them (not, of course, that anyone sane would *want* to).

[ March 22, 2003: Message edited by: Kalimac ]

[Birdland]

Alatáriël - Bluebonnets! I had scads of them growing at my old house, and regret not thinking to transplant some to my new place.

Tulips are busting out all over, and I smile to think that such hardy, reliable bulbs used to be sold for a king's ransom back in the 18th century.

Hostas are starting to peep out of the ground, and I wonder if the woody groves of the Shire would have been a suitable place for hostas, or if they were reserved for the forest floor of wild Mirkwood.

I spent a fortune on an array of Allium giganteum bulbs, and am scanning the ground for signs of them. I could picture them as a suitable subject for a Pauline Baynes cover illustration of The Hobbit.

Thanks to all that expressed concerns for my old dog. She is doing much better, and has taken up her duties of alerting me to invasions of Ring Wraiths in the guise of postal employees. (But she still can't negotiate stairs.)

[mark12_30]

and has taken up her duties of alerting me to invasions of Ring Wraiths in the guise of postal employees.

Attagirl! Attagirl! Good girl!!!

Many treats.

[Gandalf_theGrey]

Shaking the drenching March rain from my cloak, remnants of night mist trailing along behind mingled with pipeweed smoke, I entered Rivendell's Hall of Fire this evening ... in other words, a church meeting for planning a retreat / renewal weekend.

We sang, we read, we reflected.

Given the times we live in, we spoke of battle against an entrenched foe in Southron desert climes. How those not in the vanguard can support the ones more immediately in harm's way, and how each of us as individuals banded together in a Fellowship can make a difference.

http://www.torania.com/fellow/fr302rieniets.jpg

Towards the end of our council, we were advised of the need to select a theme song. Within minutes, we settled on a most encouraging one! "The Flame Passes On" by White Heart.

A sample of the lyrics:

From the heart of the people comes love for the people
Love that is burning strong
O from one to another
This dream of forever ...
The flame passes on
O the light of the ages illumines the pages
The words of the ancient song
O faith is the fire that burns ever higher
And the flame passes on.

Wonderful that I have the opportunity to spend time among Elves this spring, and on March 25th of all days! smilies/smile.gif

Gandalf the Grey

[Gorwingel]

*Stands up and bows to Gandalf*

That was very beautiful, that image is gorgious, thank you for something wonderful like that smilies/cool.gif

[mark12_30]

Gandalf,

"Renewal weekend" sounds really wonderful. I've never heard the song you quoted; what's the musical emotion in it? Is it energetic or meditative, etc?

I am glad you had a good weekend. It sounds refreshing and peaceful.

[ March 26, 2003: Message edited by: mark12_30 ]

[Raefindel]

I like White Heart Gandalf, and I really enjoyed that picture, too. Where ever did you find it?

[Gandalf_theGrey]

Gorwingel:

Hail and well met! * returns your bow * You have quite an eye for beauty, and kindred to my own, given that you yourself grant us all quite a nice view of Imladris. smilies/smile.gif Is that where you'll be spending your springtime, then?

mark12_30:

The musical emotion in "The Flame Passes On" is one of hopeful dedication, steadfastness, and inspirational courage of the sort that comes in handy when facing down a dragon, a balrog, or a difficult decision atop Mt. Doom. The "ancient song" being of course The Music.

Raefindel:

Happy to know you're a fellow fan of White Heart! smilies/smile.gif As for the finding of images, it's all a matter of search engines, key words, and a bit of hunting.

~~ Gandalf the Grey

[Envinyatar]

Raefindel

I believe the picture comes from this site:

Tolkien images (http://www.torania.com)

[Gorwingel]

Gandalf, I would love to spend my Springtime at a place like that, among the flowers and the elves, enjoying music and having a good time. Though like the members of the fellowship, I would have to make a long and perilous journey accross unknown lands to even reach a place similar to the last homely house.

[Raefindel]

Thank You, Envinyatar. I found it. Wow! that is an extensive site.

[mark12_30]

Dear Gandalf:

The musical emotion in "The Flame Passes On" is one of hopeful dedication, steadfastness, and inspirational courage of the sort that comes in handy when facing down a dragon, a balrog, or a difficult decision atop Mt. Doom

Sounds like something I should put in my library. Or better yet, in the cd drive in my car. I could use a few songs like that.

[mark12_30]

Crocuses everywhere, and daffodils waiting in the wings... and the woods are glorious. Glorious. The streams are rushing and full, and even the muddy tracks are a joy.

Ithilien is a good place to be.

[Tigerlily Gamgee]

Ahhhh Spring... the perfect time for a Gamgee to come out to the downs once again!
I don't know how I will be making it Tolkien-ish, but I will try to be outdoors a lot. I am going to try and take nice long walks, perhaps help my mother with the flowers and gardening... since I'll be there this spring/summer.
It will be full of Tolkien no matter what, though. I can't seem to get away from it! smilies/smile.gif But that's a good thing!

[mark12_30]

Tigerlily, since you mention outdoors, walking, and making it Tolkienish, have you checked out the "Walk To Rivendell" thread? We'd love to have you!

...and what's the garden like? Do tell; you've got an audience here...

[ April 03, 2003: Message edited by: mark12_30 ]

[Kalimac]

Gandalf...mmm, very nice smilies/smile.gif. Are there any more? (Lyrics).

[Raefindel]

Elf ears on a Stick

I wanted to share this with you; It's a picture of a flower we use often in the shop called "Bells of Ireland" but I think they look like Elf ears on a stick.

http://fusionanomaly.net/bellsofireland.jpg

[Birdland]

LOL Rae! "Elf Ears on a Stick"? Sounds like something you'd deep-fry and serve at the Mordor County Fair.

Spring storms have hit Ohio. It's times like these that a cozy hobbit hole would feel alot safer then a drafty ol' 100-year-old house.

"Ho-Ho-Ho to the bottle we go
To heal our hearts and drown our woes.
Rain may fall and wind may blow
But we'll just huddle down below.
For thunderstorms we don't give a lick.
We've beer and Elf-Ears-On-A-Stick!"

[Raefindel]

LOL! I love it Birdie!

[Samwise]

Hm. Well, my two gardens are fairing 'fairly well', so to speak. smilies/wink.gif This spring I hope to have the strength to tend them, what with dealing with more children at work than all of the hobbit I take my screen name from's descendants combined, trying to do "spring cleaning" (which for me mostly means cleaning my teddy bear collection), the likes of which hasn't been seen since Mr. Frodo moved out of Bag End! smilies/wink.gif
An' then there's tendin' to my other li'l LOTR home,#3 Bagshot Row (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Number_3_Bagshot_Row/?yguid=39722730)(which I still return to even though Mr. Frodo's left me Bag End.....)

Speakin' of flowers, there are the most gorgeous fringed tulips growin' in the garden plot at th' church.... smilies/wink.gif

[ April 09, 2003: Message edited by: Samwise ]

[mark12_30]

My gardens are buried under several inches of cold, drippy, white stuff. *glower*

I wish this snow would go off to Hobbiton, where folks might enjoy it.

[Raefindel]

It didn't rain today! and I planted more stuff! WooHoo! It's not been cold but it's been extremely wet and even the staunchest hobbit-gardener or the most botanical elf would have been discouraged.

[Lush]

I come roll around in yours flower patches? smilies/wink.gif

[Raefindel]

If you don't mind getting wet, Have at it!

[Birdland]

I just had a flash of Lush tiptoeing through the tulips, playing a ukelele. There's a scary thought. smilies/smile.gif

It's muddy. Be sure and wear your yellow boots.

[Lush]

Fear getting dirty? Moi?


Carry on with the gardening, my Hobbits. I promise to take care of the smoking, Herr Tolkien be eternally proud.

[GaladrieloftheOlden]

I will be spending this spring hoping that my orthodontist will be so kind as to get off these **** braces. How is that Tolkien-related? Hmm, I don't know actually. Maybe my teeth will look like Elvish teeth when these are off? smilies/rolleyes.gif
I can't garden: but my dad will, I think. Does that count? The only real Tolkien things I can think of that I'll be doing will be reading the works over...and over...and over again, drawing horrible illustrations for them, and seeing the movies too many times for my own good. Oh and the Downs of course smilies/smile.gif Also, I will be converting as many people to the Downs as possible, through those terrible public LotR chatrooms. I still can't understand why people go in there... smilies/rolleyes.gif but I've gotten people to come here through there, so I'll have to go in again *sigh* smilies/wink.gif

[tifo_gcs]

Some things for my spring...
Guiness with friends (I refuse to believe the Inklings met at 'the Bird and the Babe' and didn't have a drop of the black stuff).
Music in the backyard with friends as much as this Danish weather will let us.It's been snowing today so I'm envying Lush her stay in North Carolina smilies/mad.gif .
Spending easter in Holland visiting old friends (including Amsterdam, just to try and make Lush envy me).
Quit smoking (not in the Tolkien spirit but at the request of my friends and my lungs).
Await arrival of new mandolin, to better facilitate making music with friends.
Watch my favorite soccer team crush all before them with my friends.
Did I mention my friends? That's probably because a full time job doesn't let me see enough of them (my one complaint about my job is that I have no spring break)

[mark12_30]

tifo_gcs, Now that sounds like a spring. Music in the garden... why was that easier in march than in april?? But it'll happen again soon. The last time, we brought out the amps and extension cords. Fun!!

[Raefindel]

Now that sounds fun!Music in the garden!

Ya know how a mechanic's hands are always black? Mine are beginning to look that way. I come home from work with dry GREEN hands and then I garden till they turn black. I have no nails left (well, OK I admit I never really had any anyway) and I carry super glue in my apron pocket for the inevitable cuts I get at work.

[Samwise]

I fear my garden's far too small for any rolling, Lush. smilies/wink.gif

Miss Rae, you be careful! smilies/frown.gif
http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/groups/g_9167699/Flowers/Sam%27s+Garden/Church+Garden/__tn_Fringed+Tulip+1.jpg?bcMVjl.Ammg51v8Y
Fringed Tulip

[Alatáriël Lossëhelin]

March was beautiful here in central Texas, but April has been somewhat chilly. Just as most flowers were beginning to bloom and many people were planting gardens, we had a mild freeze. I haven't been gardening myself, just admiring the work of others as I walk to Rivendell. If the rain holds off, I'll watch my grandson play t-ball Saturday afternoon. But rain or shine, I'll treat myself to another viewing of TTT Saturday night. smilies/smile.gif

[tifo_gcs]

I will be spending this spring hoping that my orthodontist will be so kind as to get off these **** braces
I can't believe I missed that the first time around... look forward to it Galadrieloftheolden, it's a wonderful day when they come off smilies/biggrin.gif
The last time, we brought out the amps and extension cords. Fun!!
Yikes!!! I think my neighbors would have a cow if we did that. In the shade with a jug of lemonade, music has to be acoustic, but chances are our accordion player will get the nieghbors steaming anyway... smilies/rolleyes.gif
I carry super glue in my apron pocket for the inevitable cuts I get at work.

That sounds about as helpful as the black glob the orcs used on Merry, do you have a special technique?

Alatáriël: I wish I had time for all of that.. This morning all I could do was admire the snow on the ground (and try not to slip on it) as I ran to catch my train.

[Raefindel]

Superglue is a must for a floral designer. I've glued more cuts closed...

[mark12_30]

Lush M'Babe, my garden includes fairly large expanses of lawn between the beds. You are more than welcome to come and roll there, with your nose as close to whatever flowers you prefer as you'd like. Just don't be surprised if Trace and Chonea (http://members.cox.net/hrwright61/trachon.JPG) join you. Oh, and Pepper, if you look cuddly enough.

You might want to wait a few days til the daffs open; I choose them for their fragrance, and the carltons are delicious. I think Sam and Frodo would like them. (Vanilla, if I recall.)

Rae, I have a friend who plays bass, and swears by that liquid-band-aid stuff. He uses it to repair cuts and tears on his FINGERTIPS and then plays happily for hours with no pain.

(All bass and guitar players: "Oooooh, I gotta get me some.")

Elvish medicine?

[ April 22, 2003: Message edited by: mark12_30 ]

[Raefindel]

Yes, It's what they use to close incisions after surgery. Definitely Elven Medicine. I couldn't work without it!

[mark12_30]

At last. Spring is here. Today I followed a little trout stream through the woods, and saw some emerging skunk cabbage...

[Samwise]

Well, the other day I plucked a rose off of the HUMONGOUS rose bushes in front of the church parsonage.... smilies/wink.gif

Skunk cabbage......?

I know I should know, but what exactly is that?

[Raefindel]

The skunk Cabbage is 2 1/2 feet tall here now! http://glacier.visitmt.com/images/flowers/stuckey/Yellow-Skunk-Cabbage.jpg

[GaladrieloftheOlden]

Why skunk...? Out of simple curiousity, what do they smell like? smilies/wink.gif

[Raefindel]

Yes, that's exactly why. They smell.

[Gandalf_theGrey]

Kalimac:

You ask for more seasonal lyrics? This time, naught but the lyrics of white foam splashing down a stoney course at Rivendell framed under an arched bridge between gentle cliffs, my friend!

Saturday it was, that the feeling of spring finally matched the calendar's page. Bilbo looked up from his books and convinced me to "come see the waterfall, Gandalf!" Out onto the smooth pavement of the patio we went.

As glinting sunshine cascaded warmth generously downwards to encompass us as if in harmony with the water, I draped my bulky outer cloak upon a bench and moved to stand at the edge of a railing. But it was no good turning back to retrieve the cloak when my ears grew nippy from the wind, for Bilbo's idea of "seeing the waterfall" had quickly become "taking a nap with a waterfall comfortably in the background!" smilies/smile.gif He had curled up to take slumberous residence on both bench and cloak.

The waterfall bubbled over like glad tidings in a winding rush to pour forth its spirit, dodging pebbles as it tumbled down long shale steps. Dark slate wetted to almost black up top, draining to drab tints about the middle, lightening to a lively blue-tinged shale in a pool that turned roundabout in curious river bends. Throughout the causeway were bright streaked trails of orange painted by rusty leaves, their artistry left over from last fall, newly skittling down the cliffs to join the water's chattering splash and dance of anticipation.

By turns I took in these surroundings and tried not to think about the returning coldness as day ebbed and the breeze picked up, glanced at Bilbo, wondered how long he might sleep, wondered what time it was, remembered that time here melded into timelessness if only you let it. Finally estimated it by the sun to be between 2:23 and 2:26 in the afternoon. I was proved right when a few minutes later, two other visitors approached. Fortunately, our mere presence and shared silent greetings were enough to waken Bilbo before anyone spoke.

Shortly after, I walked to a point overlooking the Ford of Bruinen, which offered a vista of new red maple buds over the water among the far more plentiful branches still in waiting shades of brown.

Gandalf the Grey

[mark12_30]

The buds on my beech trees are just starting to lengthen.

[Sophia the Thunder Mistress]

I never heard of an elf with allergies, but I'll likely be spending my spring wishing I enjoyed the smell of the hyacinths on campus and taking claritin by the jar. It's so flowery around here...

[mark12_30]

Weeeeellll, I did it.

I am hereby guilty of Quercusicide or Quercicide or Quercide, I'm not sure which. But the oak trees that were towering over my struggling little beeches and covering them with their overpowering canopy, are still towering, but they will canopy no more...


I girdled them. smilies/frown.gif smilies/evil.gif smilies/rolleyes.gif smilies/eek.gif

Especially one tall, beautiful, straight oak that might have been one of the nicest on our property. Definitely in the top ten. If only it hadn't been smack in the middle of five little struggling beech trees, it would have lived. But-- wrong place wrong time.

So I guess Treebeard and the rest of the ents will hate me. And I'll probably be exiled from Lorien forever and ever.

My one defense is that I was trying to make room for the beeches. But I can look out my window, still, and see how tall and straight that oak is standing. Oh well.

It'll be well seasoned by next winter, anyway...

[Birdland]

I girdled them.
Oh, the horror! Where's George Pope Morris when you need him? Somewhere an Ent is crying "Life's a beech, and then you die."

But seriously, folks: couldn't you have just moved the beeches?

[mark12_30]

A nice idea, Birdie, but-- alas, no. There are six beeches just behind my gardens, and they are well ensconced, and I want them right where they are; they are (ahem) precious, and I don't want them disturbed. These lovely young beeches vary in height from ten to perhaps thirty feet tall. However, the (bleeping) oak was about fifty feet tall, and towering over the beeches. Not nice neighbors, these oakses. Not nice.

Saving oaks is not a high priority in general, here. They don't call my neighborhood "Thousand Oaks" for nothing. I never bothered to count how many oaks we actually have on our own property. However, I can estimate that we only have twenty (lovely, delicate, beautiful, slender, graceful) beeches. Hence, the beeches stay.

Overall, if we are now reduced to nine-hundred, eighty-eight oak trees instead of a thousand oaks, I shall not weep. But that one particular specimen was unusual in that it was very straight and shapely. Too bad.

In the meantime, if I don't get really busy and remove all the (bleeping) sprouting acorns from my garden, there will be another thousand oaks just in my garden alone!!!!! smilies/mad.gif Yet another reason to let the beeches thrive behind the garden, and press back the oaken canopy...

Bleeding heart season is here, and late (white, fragrant ) daffodils. How about the rest of you? What's blooming, everyone?

[Samwise]

I planted some scarlet Morning glories the other day, and I want to plant the MoonFlowers I have, but I want to make a support, first, and I've got nothing really suitable. smilies/frown.gif

[Birdland]

They don't call my neighborhood "Thousand Oaks" for nothing
But I read that the California Live Oak was suffering from some kind of horrible blight. I can just hear all those Oak Ents now: "When we're all blighted and dead, then you'll be sorry!"

Sorry, Mark, I can pull a weed with the best of them, but killing a tree just seems like such a BIG DEAL. Like Treeacide. Although I do have a pesky peach tree that I have thought bad thoughts about.

[Gorwingel]

Oh yes the Skunk cabbage, though personally I have not seen one yet (I have not spent much time in the woods) they are an annoying little plant that grows in marshy areas, and smells like...well...Skunk! they stink!

[mark12_30]

Sam, I LOVE moonflowers and morning glories. Mine will be climbing some ultra-cheap trellises that I bought at the local el-cheapo store: twenty bucks! made in china... Do you think hobbits had trellises? Or did they just let the vines ramble up and over their doorway??

Gorwingel, the skunk cabbage is fourishing over here, all around Bywater. Lots of it.

Birdie: I understand how you feel about trees, I do. But last year in the drought, we lost two pretty young trees that I dearly loved: one was a "pin oak" (NOT your garden-variety oakMonster, this was a lovely and delicate thing) and another was Unknown but lovely, but now dead. I am convinced that if the oaks hadn't been hogging the ground water they would have had more of a chance.

Know what drives me crazy? The two best trees on our lot-- a lovely maple and a towering white pine-- are RIGHT next to each other. Read: If either one was an oak, I would have cut it down to make room for the precious maple or the precious pine. But no-- there they stand, shoulder to shoulder, each cutting into the other's growing terriroty! ARGH!

I was hiking today and went through a beech forest. Mmmmmmmmmmm. No wonder the elves (and TOlkien) loved them. Lovely, lovely, great silver trunks and golden leaves. Mallorns!! It only made me more resolved to treat mine well. Sorry, oak. You're OUTTA THERE.

[Samwise]

Sam, I LOVE moonflowers and morning glories. Mine will be climbing some ultra-cheap trellises that I bought at the local el-cheapo store: twenty bucks! made in china... Do you think hobbits had trellises? Or did they just let the vines ramble up and over their doorway??

Hm...Tolkien wrote that they were good with their hands craft-wise, so I suppose it's possible they made trellisses.
My father said he'd make something for me for the Moonflowers to climb, but he hasn't gotten around to it yet, so I'll remind him, and if he dosen't get to it by this weekend, I think I'll be using an unused tomato cage in the backyard. smilies/wink.gif

[Raefindel]

Well, Hello fellow gardeners! I have missed you as I tarried in the flower shop. But thankfully, I have left cut flowers behind and have returned to growing things.


It seems their delight to trample growing things that are not even in their way!

What's blooming, you ask? Why, mostly purple things. the Lilacs are in bloom and they are Far and away my favorite.

Also my Bearded Irises are about to bloom. they are very prolific. Last year I added a 40-foot garden along the driveway and filled it with irises and still gave enough away to supply a small army of Elven and Hobbit gardeners. Irises anyone? I'll be digging them up again in the fall.

[Samwise]

Ooh, purple things...you know I like purple things, Miss Rae. smilies/biggrin.gif

Well, today I got a rusty ol' tomato cage from the backyard an' planted my Moonflowers.
I'm hopin' they grow as pretty as on th' package. smilies/wink.gif

PS: To anyone in this "room" who had ANYTHING whatsoever to do with that humourously named but nonetheless sweet and touching and downright NICE Award (http://forum.barrowdowns.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=21&t=000015&p=7#000255), thankyou. smilies/redface.gif

[ May 11, 2003: Message edited by: Samwise ]

[Birdland]

Rae, I'll see your irises and raise you with some daylilies...lots and lots of daylilies, or as the old folk call them: "railroad lilies". Of course, the Old Folk also call peonies "PI-onies", so what do they know?

I bought out all the specimen perennials in the Horticulture lab in our school, and have been trying to get them all in the ground between storms - which have been fierce and frequent in the central U.S. this month. Our local Brandywine is almost ready to leap its banks, but my hobbit hole on the hill is staying nice and dry.

[Liriodendron]

It is the time of purple isn't it! smilies/smile.gif My main garden is all purple/blue this week. ajuga, forget-me-not, groundcover phlox, the big drumstick alliums, purple tulips, dames rocket, chives and iris. I never would have planted a mono-color garden, but it looks beautiful just the same. In other gardens, the huge bright orange oriental poppies are waving in the wind, johnny jumps and lily of the valley have sprung up everywhere, and the bridal wreath spirea, and other bushes are doing their thing! Too bad we've gotton about 5 inches of rain this week! smilies/eek.gif

[Raefindel]

I spent a lovely Mother's Day Planting and trans-planting. It was the most fun this elf has had in a long while. smilies/biggrin.gif

[Yavanna228]

I think I'll make this a Tolkien-ish spring/summer by haunting the used book stores to find some Tolkien I haven't read yet. smilies/smile.gif Sounds good to me...
Peace

[GaladrieloftheOlden]

Wow... purple... smilies/rolleyes.gif
I don't actually spend much (any) time in the garden, and probably won't till the hammock is up again, but I go out there once in a while for flowers to braid into my hair (not garden flowers smilies/wink.gif ), and it seems purple there too... smilies/eek.gif

~Menelien

[Alatáriël Lossëhelin]

What's blooming, everyone?

The roadside bluebonnets have pretty much disappeared and my bearded irises have come and gone. However, my roses and cannas are beginning to bloom. Fortunately, the grasshoppers have not descended on me like the perverbial plague yet. The past couple of years they have pretty much decimated my flower beds, and I'm too discouraged to replant. Maybe next spring...

[mark12_30]

Grasshoppers? Eeeww! (Ghastly Neekerbreekers!) Poor Alatáriël!

For us it's (shudder) Japanese beetles (retch, convulse) and the ever-present, ever-ravenous Bambi (glower; reaches for compound bow...) My poor hobbit-gardens are at their very worst in late July and early August. So this year it's cosmos, by the envelope... just like Sam's movie-garden.

This morning my hobbit-buddy failed to show up. Lonely walk!

[Samwise]

MRI today....ugh.....wonder if the technician saw flowers and Hobbits in my head?

After my MRI, my mother and I did some shopping, and one of my purchases was a Beanie Baby Bear named "Blossom" (Hmmm...what was I thinking of?) smilies/biggrin.gif As far as purple, my irises are still growing, and I have some lighter purple Pincushion flowers...which are practically buried under the daylilies, daisies, Johnny-jumpups (latter also a bit of purple), and Gladiolus.

No Moonflowers or Morning Glories yet, but I'm a tad impatient. smilies/wink.gif

(LOL--I just realized the green hand icon has-- smilies/wink.gif smilies/tongue.gif A GREEN THUMB!!)

Be nice to me...I had a needle stuck in my arm today..... smilies/eek.gif

We HATES needles, yes we does..... smilies/frown.gif

[Raefindel]

You've never gardened, GaladrieloftheOlden ?
I think I was gardening when I was 8! I remember going into the woods to find things to dig up and transplant at home.

[GaladrieloftheOlden]

Yes, I have gardened, but I don’t really enjoy it. Except the actual putting in of the seeds. I love doing that, but we haven’t bought them yet. And I couldn’t have gardened when I was 8, because I lived in an apartment. Anyhow, I’m still a kid/teenager, so I may yet have my gardening times smilies/biggrin.gif

~Menelien

[Annalaliath]

I will be spending my spring hoping that we get rain and smelling the Russian Olive trees bloom. I will also be in school and I hope to be outside a lot. It is already getting hot out here. But Tolkien related things putting on my Galdriel dress, going to Daniel Fernandez park and standing by the water fountain I will ask ," Will you look into the Mirror..."

[Birdland]

Grasshoppers? Eeeww! (Ghastly Neekerbreekers!)
I like Grasshoppers. And Katy-Dids, and Praying Mantis. Acutally, I like funny bugs, period. I always thought the Good Professor was much too hard on bugs, (and fauna in general, actually.)

Anyhow, I’m still a kid/teenager, so I may yet have my gardening times.
Hmmmmmm. Ladies; methinks Galadriel - when she says "gardening times" - is actually saying "when I get OLD!

Hmmmph! Whipper-Snapper...

[mark12_30]

Birdie darling, I will happily keep all my bees, wasps, hornets, and Bumblebees (yes, even those big big "carpenter" bumblebees.) Oh, and Ladybugs.

But if you would care to rent a large conveyance and drive over here, I will cheerfully allow you-- Nay! Encourage vehemently!-- to play your pied piper pipe and lure ALL those japanese beet;es, katydids, grashoppers, and Big Old Black Beetle Thingys into your lovely Pied Piper Van and take them all away.

Please?

[Liriodendron]

I remember when I took my daughter for an MRI last year. She let out a blood curdling scream when the "snippy" technician tried to get the needle in. Then she blubbered and cried (She was 17! ) so hard, that the snippy tech lady felt pretty bad. It was one of those priceless moments where I got a little revenge! smilies/biggrin.gif (then I got the bill! smilies/eek.gif )
Anyway, Japanese beetles and grasshoppers are surely from Mordor! My gardens are so lovely right now, they could grace the front and back of Bag End! smilies/redface.gif smilies/wink.gif Peonies coming soon!

[ May 15, 2003: Message edited by: Liriodendron ]

[Samwise]

I remember when I took my daughter for an MRI last year. She let out a blood curdling scream when the "snippy" technician tried to get the needle in. Then she blubbered and cried (She was 17! )

Oh, dear.... smilies/frown.gif I had an MRI yesterday for the first time in about 21 years. As many needles as I've had stuck into me, I still hyperventilate. smilies/tongue.gif smilies/eek.gif What I could never stand was that the technicians would always say, "Now, you're just going to feel a little pinch." and looking back I think, "HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT I'M GOING TO FEEL!?!?!?" Thank the Lord, the technician yesterday was wonderful. Kept telling me I had "good veins" and to "just think of something else...." I'm 32 and I still don't like needles. smilies/eek.gif smilies/tongue.gif smilies/eek.gif

On a gardening note, I went to water this afternoon, and there are little sproutlets where I planted my Moonflowers and Morning glories!!!! WHOOHOOOOOOO!!! smilies/biggrin.gif

[Gandalf_theGrey]

This would have been most appropriate yesterday, for it happened a year ago then. Of course, yesterday I was out walking yet another nature trail and so was not around to tell the tale!

Microburst Lightning Survival

5/14/02
5:00 p.m. by the Shire clocks

The violet-ash cloud thundered a warning growl, lowering like a loping warg. I picked my way through muddy clumps of grass and close strands of horsetail weeds to see the tree again, determined not to give up this close to my goal after coming so far. For the Old Forest hid within itself a tree so wonderous as to rival Telperion and Laurelin! (So said Old Tom.) smilies/smile.gif

The tree was unrecognizeable at first. In April, it was covered all over with multi-tiered flowers of white, pink, and fuchsia. Now, all the bloom was gone. Only tattered green remained. Leaves weaved distress signals in the wind.

Glancing upwards from the curving river Withywindle towards churning, curling clouds, I turned around and slipped into a runner's stance. The first drops of rain fell like practice drumbeats. The wind drew in its breath before its forceful song of storm. I broke into a full run when I saw the violet-ash cloud sprout tiny funnels. In among scattered trees, I tried persuading myself that if only I made it to the field, the trees I left behind would make a much more attractive target than I would.

Entering the field, I slowed down to save my strength for the roughly two-mile trek separating me from shelter. Recognized the wind's song as it deepened and strengthened into an eerie voice I'd heard before at the fringes of tornados. Wondered if I'd know enough to lie down in time as a survival move, or whether I'd stoically keep going, overlong.

The rain thickened, slanted horizontally, coated me into its watercolor world, blended me into its greyness.

There was no hiding from the cracking electrical SNAP !!! I jumped. Looked directly overhead as lightning exploded, close. Lightning and thunder together all rolled into one. There was no counting after the thunder "one one hundred, two one hundred, three one hundred" to determine how far away the lightning was ... the lightning, simply, immediately, WAS !!!

I ran again, until I reached what I told myself was the safety of the main gravel trail for Ira Road. It was raining back in the field, but not on the trail. The trail, in fact, was bone dry. This four-way crossroads was a boundary. In one direction, the official trail perpendicularly met the little dirt trail I had taken. Another direction offered an official trail leading to Hale Farm. There was also an actual road with houses.

An intriguing house sat at the crossroads, with several birdfeeders and a sign with big letters: "PRIVATE PROPERTY -- PLEASE RESPECT." For a moment, I envisioned myself pounding on the door asking permission to be let in for a while in case the storm chased me in from the field. Embarrassed that I might not be believed, I decided instead to take the trail back and hope for the best.

A couple of men passed by, their clothes dry. I was sopping wet. I blurted out brief words about the storm. They listened, humored me with polite smiles, moved on. But how could they not believe this old Stormcrow? What ... did they think that I'd doused myself with a bucket of water?

Alone again, the storm caught up with me, as if it had waited until the skeptical people I'd warned had gone, as if it were in its own way laughing. I continued my struggling journey at a scrabbling run on and off, thoroughly enmeshed in a fowler's snare of wind and rain.

Having outpaced the lightning in the field, another eerie scene of danger awaited my arrival upon its stage. The boardwalk over
the beaver marsh. It was a wooden bridge completely exposed out in the middle of a pond. A pond that lightning would no doubt find especially attractive. The bridge was beaten slippery by slapping sideways rain
propelled by tornadic wind. Tree branches seethed lashing on the high horizon, like
sea-green serpents trying to escape being strangled by grey water. Stillness was drowning in motion. "Even if I cling to one of the wooden posts, if a funnel cloud comes down, I'll be blown into the pond." So I just crossed the bridge, step by step. Step, my heart is still beating. Step, my lungs have taken another breath.

Once more on the firmer footing of gravel, tall pine trees to the side of me offered what wall they could muster against the downpour. Finally I made it to a beckoning door. Just as I'd gotten inside, lumps of hail began pelting the world outside. And adventure contentedly buffered itself into the memory of adventure.

Gandalf the Grey

[ May 15, 2003: Message edited by: Gandalf_theGrey ]

[GaladrieloftheOlden]

Always happens like that, doesn't it? smilies/wink.gif
I had an MRI thingy too. This just seems to be a Barrow Downs thing to do in the Spring... smilies/rolleyes.gif Hmmmmmm. Ladies; methinks Galadriel - when she says "gardening times" - is actually saying "when I get OLD!
Hmmmph! Whipper-Snapper...
Not really. I meant when I get older smilies/tongue.gif smilies/wink.gif
As in, about 5 years older. And I merely meant I dislike gardening because somehow, when I get outside to try it, I end up raking leaves smilies/rolleyes.gif

~Menelien

Edit: Wow, overuse of smilies here smilies/rolleyes.gif

[ May 15, 2003: Message edited by: GaladrieloftheOlden ]

[mark12_30]

Swerving momentarily off-topic: CHECK OUT THE LUNAR ECLIPSE! (As in, right now.) Tolkien would love it. Elves would sing about it.

[Samwise]

Swerving momentarily off-topic: CHECK OUT THE LUNAR ECLIPSE!

*After coming in from outside*

OOOH. Very cool! smilies/eek.gif

[Raefindel]

Yikes, Gandalf! That sounds positively frightful!

I intended to check out the eclipse, but I doubt the weather will allow a glimpse, Helen. Of course, no self-respecting Elf would pass up the opportunity if it presents itself.

[Gandalf_theGrey]

* Enters cheerily enough with mud on his boots and the bottom fringes of his robes, and a small stray down-feather in his flowing beard from tramping around Magee Marsh and Sheldon Lake all day. Smiles a "hallo" to all conversationalists here in general, and to Raefindel in particular. *

Good greetings, Raefindel:

Verily, frightful at the time, but exhilarating to look back on! smilies/smile.gif Meanwhile, so many other spring journeys have inspired joy, wonderment, and awe ... only I hesitate to share them here, having not yet figured out how to phrase them in the commonly accepted speech of Middle Earth.

As for you, were you fortunate enough to see the lunar eclipse? Too cloudy where I was. But I'm already looking forward to the Perseid Meteor Shower in August.

Meanwhile, here's hoping you're enjoying the Midgewater Marshes as much as I'm enjoying such marshland as Magee/Crane Creek, Ira Rd., and the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge (affectionately called the Alabama Swamps by the locals and rumored to contain quicksand) when I travel farther afield. What do you see, or what sorts of adventures befall you, when you explore the Midgewater Marshes? (Or should my first question be, do you live 200 miles away from the marshes, or are you laying claim to 200 miles worth of marshland as your home?)

Gandalf the Grey

[ May 17, 2003: Message edited by: Gandalf_theGrey ]

[Raefindel]

Gandalf, I'm "Walking to Rivendell" with the Eowyn Challange and have walked 200 miles which is the distance from Bagshot Row to the Midgewater Marshes.

My spring adventures include another visit from Mark 12:30, Helen, next week. We will be going to Caradhras (Mt Rainier) to do some hiking, and perhaps some shopping in the Emerald City (Seattle). Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait...

Oh yes, and the Lunar Eclipse; The weather was fairly co-opreative, but I was only able to see it for a few minutes as It was behing some trees, and I didn't feel like taking the elflings in the car in their pajamas.

[ May 17, 2003: Message edited by: Raefindel ]

[Gandalf_theGrey]

Raefindel:

Aha! Now I can relate. Many thanks for the explanation of your walking tour and upcoming visit. smilies/smile.gif

Three weeks ago, I played host to an internet friend from way back named Argo, a fellow X-Files fan with a mild-to-moderate interest in Tolkien.

Picked Argo up from the hotel, telling her I would give her a guided tour through Amon Hen and Fangorn Forest (at a park called Happy Days) and The Old Forest (at Ira Rd., the scene of the tornado).

As we strode up the slope towards the Seat of Power, Argo smiled bemused when I told her she'd soon recognize the landscape as that of Amon Hen. Well, she smiled until she saw the Seat of Power at the top of the rise, looking so eerily similar to the one in Peter Jackson's "Fellowship of the Ring" movie that she literally stopped in her tracks, did a double-take, and exclaimed: "Wow! Looks like they transplanted New Zealand here!"

(Note about the Seat of Power at Happy Days: It's made of brick sides and concrete pavement on top, crumbling and slightly overgrown with grass and moss.)

"You mean Middle Earth," I replied.

Roughly a half-mile later, on loosely clutched boulders grasped by ancient tree-roots appearing about to spring forth and walk at any moment, against a backdrop of ledges 320 million years old from the Paleozoic era, Argo was similarly duly impressed by Fangorn. Especially before the sun came out from behind the clouds, the darkness of the day added to the dense, close atmosphere of the brooding old woods gone treeish.

What about Mt. Rainier reminds you or strikes you personally regarding Caradhras? And what IS Caradhras like in springtime without all that SNOW? * grins *

Gandalf the Grey

[ May 17, 2003: Message edited by: Gandalf_theGrey ]

[Raefindel]

Hmmm... I may have to leave Helen to answer your questions. smilies/evil.gif

[Gorwingel]

I am just simply surprised that the Spring has gone so fast (the seasons always seem to become shorter as the years go on, I need to slow down in my life). For next weekend is Memorial Day, the unofficial start of summer. After then I will definitely be in a summer state of mind, finsihing my last few days of school and my last few Chemistry projects (oh a class that is one I dislike). I am proud with what I have accomplished this spring, for I have done more and stepped out of my box (I did sports smilies/biggrin.gif). But summer is a season I enjoy immensely, and I plan to take full advantage of it this year smilies/cool.gif

[ May 18, 2003: Message edited by: Gorwingel ]

[Samwise]

I am just simply surprised that the Spring has gone so fast (the seasons always seem to become shorter as the years go on, I need to slow down in my life).

I know what you mean. smilies/frown.gif It also seems to me that we barely had Spring!!! smilies/eek.gif It seems that the older one gets, the flier time fasts....er...something like that.... smilies/tongue.gif

Something a little odd came for me in the mail the other day.

Anyone farmiliar with the Beacon (gas/oil?) company? They sent me a deal wanting me to get their credit card or something. I forget where the company is based...somewhere back east like New York (somebody correct me if they know better) Anyway, this "back East" company sends me a package, (along with their "get our credit card" letter) of California Poppy seeds that were packed in Texas. Just seemed odd to me.... smilies/tongue.gif smilies/rolleyes.gif

[mark12_30]

I think Bilbo had poppies. Lots of 'em.

EDIT: Well, okay, this begs a question. Hobbit Gardens: Formal or informal? Why or why not? And how do you support your thesis?

Maybe I should check if there's a thread on that already...

[ May 18, 2003: Message edited by: mark12_30 ]

[Samwise]

Nice to know I've got somethin' Mr. Bilbo would approve of, Miss Helen. Haven't planted the seeds I recieved, but I've already got second or third generation poppies growin' in the garden.

As to your "EDIT", what exactly do you mean by "formal" or "informal"? My garden, I would not think, is to "formal"--not bein' in neat little rows, that's for sure. smilies/wink.gif It's a mishmash of both things I've planted or things the local birds have planted, or, like my poppies, have come back from later generations.

I think that Hobbits might plant things according to their likes. I imagine the flowers in the Gamgee's yard may have been planted "informally" just like mine, for pure enjoyment rather than orginization, while the Bagginses---erm, say, particularly the Sackville-Bagginses---may have been to a "T", so to speak. smilies/wink.gif

That's my thought on the matter. I'll shut my big Hobbit trap now. smilies/wink.gif smilies/smile.gif smilies/biggrin.gif

[Nurumaiel]

I'm just going to jump right in and pretend I've been here the whole length of time that this thread has been going.

*jumps in*

All right, about my garden... Right now I'm 'digging it up.' There are two trees in it and over the years many leaves have fallen from those trees into the garden and there is a huge carpet of long dead leaves. I am also putting up the little stone wall that will be in the back. But as I do this I am pondering over what kind of flowers should be put in this hobbit-looking garden. There are already some wild roses springing up. Violets and poppies are probably definite. Most likely sunflowers, as well. What other flowers would hobbits have in their gardens?

[Birdland]

Don't know if Hobbits would like this flower (BTW - I always figured Hobbits would go for that jumbly English cottage garden look) - but it definitely has a Middle Earth connection

I purchased a plant called foam flower from the horticulture lab at my school. As I was "Googling" the plant to see what its requirements were, I noticed that the third listing was from the Encyclopedia of Arda.

Turns out that "Foam Flower" is the English translation for the name of Eärendil's ship. In Quenya it is Vingilot

So if anyone asks "What's that plant?" I can state: "That's Foam Flower. Tiarella cordifolia in Latin. Vingilot in Elvish".

[mark12_30]

That professor sure had some fun twists and turns and tricks up his sleeve!

Nuru, what I recall from Gandalf's compliment to Bilbo (Early on before Bilbo's departure) was, "How bright your garden looks!" And then TOlkien describes it a bit-- as I recall, nasturiums and snapdragons were on the list, and I think sunflowers?

I don't have my book here to look it up, they were fall-blooming annuals, I think.

And there's a Hildebrant picure that for some reason always sticks in my mind... very lush shady look... not what Tolkien drew, but heart-wrenching in its own way.

And then there is of course Tolkien's classic depiction of The Hill, which gives us the overall layout and was what inspired me to ask, Formal or Informal?

I'll be back with what links I can find.

Oh, boy. This is the inspiration I needed this spring...

(off she goes, hunting for pictures...)

EDIT

Rats. Can't find the one I was looking for. aybe it's just too old; it's from when I was a kid. If my memory serves, it was Sam cutting the "verge", surprised by Gandalf; but not yet being dragged up by an ear: he was listening. The foliage all over the ground was like wild lily of the valley.

But... that isn't mentioned in the books.

[ May 19, 2003: Message edited by: mark12_30 ]

[mark12_30]

Inside Bag End, Bilbo and Gandalf were sitting at the open window of a small room looking out west on to the garden. The late afternoon was bright and peaceful. The flowers glowed red and golden: snap-dragons and sun-flowers, and nasturtiums trailing all over the turf walls and peeping in at the round windows.

‘How bright your garden looks!’ said Gandalf.

[mark12_30]

They are amost unfolded, the lovely beechen leaves.

Shire violets, Bree myrtle, beorn-bears-breeches, wilderland lilacs, Eowyn's wysteria, Frodo's bleeding hearts, and a handful of lingering poet's narcissus. Overall a lot of purple.

What is spring doing in your Tolkienish garden?

I wonder... What flower do you associate with your favorite characters? Or to put it another way-- what character do you associate with your favorite flowers?

Luthien is associated with Niphredil (snowdrops), this we know. And Arwen and Aragorn, with Elanor (this we know.) Also with the White Tree blooms.

What kind of flower do I think Amroth would most enjoy?

How about you-- favorite flowers for favorite characters?

[Mithadan]

In honor of Birdland, who I dearly miss, I am bumping this up for further consideration.

[Lush]

I was able to spend a week in Kiev this month. There was an honest-to-God nightingale in the trees of the old cemetery across the road. The chestnuts and cherries were in bloom and you could smell the sticky new poplar leaves.

I remember stepping off the plane and smelling the rain and flowers and thinking that there isn't a place in the world that feels this way in May. Even the drunks in the park were cheerful. Even the stray dogs drinking from rain puddles were wagging their tails.

[Annunfuiniel]

So, the spring is virtually gone and summer is waiting just around the corner. I've been a bit lazy in my garden this spring though, so there's still much to be done. A whole lot indeed, for my garden is old and not that well kept (we have owned this place for just a year and a half)... So, instead of beautiful, even lawn we have a field of thousands of dandelions (if that weed didn't have those bright yellow flowers I’d be sure it’s the invention of Sauron himself!!). It seems hopeless...

But luckily there are other things blooming or coming into bloom: apple trees, some spirea, violets (the easiest flowers for someone not born with a green thumb, me thinks), daffodils... My lilies are growing fast, and so are the hosta and peonies. Got to love the springtime!

I must take part in this "for or against" oaks -discussion. Where I grew up oak didn’t survive very well the winters and was thus very rare. Now that I've moved to a somewhat milder climate (within the borders of this northern country) I truly am broud to be the owner of one (still quite young, but no matter) oak tree! Alas, beeches don't have much chance growing here, though now I'd really like to have some planted in my garden...


How about you-- favorite flowers for favorite characters?

Don't have favorite flower for one specific character in mind but must say I can't think of a more elvish flower than gladiolus... Can't wait them to bud in my own flowerbed. :)

[mark12_30]

I must take part in this "for or against" oaks -discussion. Where I grew up oak didn’t survive very well the winters and was thus very rare. Now that I've moved to a somewhat milder climate (within the borders of this northern country) I truly am broud to be the owner of one (still quite young, but no matter) oak tree! Alas, beeches don't have much chance growing here, though now I'd really like to have some planted in my garden...


We have taken down about ten oaks this year, ostensibly for the firewood and to make room for a veggie garden, but coincidentally the beech trees now have a great deal more room to stretch their limbs.

THis year we are definitely siding with the entwives... at least around the house. Back acre is still entish.

Don't have favorite flower for one specific character in mind but must say I can't think of a more elvish flower than gladiolus... Can't wait them to bud in my own flowerbed. :)

For some strange reason, at the moment, when I thought of Amroth I thought of Cosmos. I'm not sure why that makes emotional sense. I'll have to give it a lot more thought. Since his voice comes on the wind from the south-- but I'm not thinking of his voice, I'm thinking of his character... but I still don't get why I like the idea. Must ponder.

[mark12_30]

I was able to spend a week in Kiev this month. There was an honest-to-God nightingale in the trees of the old cemetery across the road. The chestnuts and cherries were in bloom and you could smell the sticky new poplar leaves.

I remember stepping off the plane and smelling the rain and flowers and thinking that there isn't a place in the world that feels this way in May. Even the drunks in the park were cheerful. Even the stray dogs drinking from rain puddles were wagging their tails.

I never knew Luthien lingered in Kiev.

[mark12_30]

When Spring unfolds the beechen leaf, and
sap is in the bough;
When light is on the wild-wood stream,
and wind is on the brow;
When stride is long, and breath is deep, and
keen the mountain-air,
Come back to me! Come back to me! and
say my land is fair!

So how will you make this a Tolkienish Spring? Are you tidying up the flower beds and planting taters by the light of the full moon? Throwing off your winter rags and dancing in the sunlight in front of an overthrown barrow? Or maybe walkin' in the willow-meads of Tasarinan?

Let's hear your thoughts as coirë turns to tuilë.

Breathing deep and striding long: yes.
Tidying up the flower beds: Yes.
Walking in willow-meads: Well, oak-hills.
Dancing in the sunlight: er, walking. Not dancing yet.

But overthrowing the barrow DOES sound like a great idea. Hmmm. How does that song go again???

[Loslote]

I'm digging my car out from the snow bank so I can practise driving (meh); finishing up the school year; and shoveling the mid-April snow off the driveway. Alaska doesn't really have a "spring" season. :rolleyes: We do have the overnight "greening" when suddenly everything changes from grey to green. It literally happens overnight. It's quite beautiful.

[Erendis]

I can't wait to go back to my village for Easter holidays.This time of the year,you cannot open the car's window when driving between the orchands.The scent of orange,lemon and mandarin bloosoms can duzzle you.

[mark12_30]

The daffodils are fading, and the bleeding hearts are stretching taller. The lilacs will be open in a few weeks or maybe even in a few days.

I await the Beechen Leaves. So far, no indication of swelling buds.

[mark12_30]

The groundlevel leaves (sprouting from the roots) are now open.

Bleeding hearts abound.

And.. the Poet's narcissus are beginning to open.

[Ibrîniðilpathânezel]

Spring didn't just spring here, nor did it do its usual creeping in at a snail's pace (no groundhog is an accurate predictor of spring, here, since six weeks from the second of February would be a remarkably early spring). No, this year it exploded. The trees that normally would just be budding already have leaves, the daffodils and tulips and forsythia are nearly spent, not just beginning. Our cherry trees have already blossomed and fallen (I hear that up in Door County, our state's cherry-growing region, they had their earliest blossoming ever this last week, something like three weeks ahead of schedule). Our lilac's buds are quite large, and if we have more warmth and sun later this week (as opposed to the cold rain we've been getting this weekend, which is normal for this time), they may open. It's not the first time things like this have happened, but it's pretty unusual. Even a lot of the oaks are already budding, and some even have small leaves. Just goes to show that in every wood in every spring there IS a different green. :)

[TheGreatElvenWarrior]

I'm digging my car out from the snow bank so I can practise driving (meh); finishing up the school year; and shoveling the mid-April snow off the driveway. Alaska doesn't really have a "spring" season. :rolleyes: We do have the overnight "greening" when suddenly everything changes from grey to green. It literally happens overnight. It's quite beautiful.
But the green that's on the trees just at that moment is the most beautiful green I've ever seen! It's worth the whole white winter just to see that colour!
We have this tree in our back garden where there are little yellow flowers that only flower in the spring. It is glorious!