Lily

I have been watching my lily unfold over the past few days. It has 17 flowers of which 14 have already opened. The lily is gorgeous and although I have tried many times, in all lights, to capture its beauty, no photograph, as yet, has come close to how it looks in real life. The photos do look great but believe me, the lily is even more spectacular and with its heavy fragrance, is so much more than any photo can portray. I am crediting part of this display to the new fence, constructed just before Christmas. I am sure the lily's intentions would have been set well before then, but without the constant wind, the lily has been able to grow and perform to its optimum potential.

In another part of the garden, a wisteria has been growing crazily, fuelled on by the extra rain we got earlier. I had meant to keep an eye on it as I intended to train it so that it would grow on the outside of the post, rather than weaving its tendrils in and around the trellis rails, which it has already done. I spent half an hour this morning undoing these curls, with the result that some of the shoots broke off while others had to be cut, just to untangle them. The wisteria was looking good but it doesn't take long for the shoots to grow and destroy the trellis they have wound their way in and out of. We generally cut the wisteria back to ground-level each year, but this time I wanted to let it grow in the hope it would produce more of the heavily-scented white flowers that it had when I bought it, seven years ago. After untangling the shoots, I bound them to the post using strips of one of Stephen’s old shirts. The ends are looking a little sick after their unwinding, but the bottom is fine. I will have to make sure I check it every few days to stop any more tendrils getting out of hand and hopefully next year, I may have some of these lovely flowers joining the lily’s.

There is also a Jacaranda tree in the deck area, that gets a good trim after each summer. We do this to stop the leaves falling into the water supply and also to allow the sunshine in during the winter months. On our journey on Tuesday, we passed several Jacarandas in full flower, creating a stunning display. Unfortunately, because of its heavy pruning each year, our one no longer flowers, which is a shame as these really do look beautiful. I am just glad that the hibiscus trees like their pruning as I would hate to lose their flowers too, because I had cut them back. They are beautiful and another reason why I planted so many of them when I moved here.  

Nature produces so much beauty. I feel incredibly blessed, that in such poor soil and windy conditions, that I still get to experience some of the best that it has to offer. And I will keep trying to preserve its beauty with my camera. You never know, one day i might just create a photo that is even better than the subject I am shooting.