Far From the Maddening Crowd

The crowds at the Flower and Garden Festival this past Saturday.

That's me gearing up in my booth for the crowds early Saturday morning.

The 18th Century English poet and author, Mary Howitt, put it so aptly when it comes to describing spring, even in this up and down weather, here in Northern Virginia, when she wrote, "Buttercups and daisies, oh, the pretty flowers; coming ere the Spring-time, to tell of sunny hours." After a busy and blustery weekend spent at the Leesburg Flower and Garden Festival, her poem made me want to stop rushing through my days filled with weeding, planting, housework and store work, and take in the serene beauty that is unfolding all around me even as the cool days and chilly nights of the past week can't seem to stop the bursting forth of spring.  In the words of Martha Stewart, "It's a good thing!"

Tulips!

Virginia Bluebells!

One of the venues on the Waterford House and Garden Tour.

Yesterday, my friend, Linda, and I spent the better part of the day walking through the gardens of Waterford, Virginia as part of the 80th Annual Historic Virginia Garden Week.  I don't get to Waterford very much except for in the fall when they have a large craft fair that draws visitors from all over to enjoy the historic homes and the autumn  leaves. However, I do believe this quiet village is even prettier in the spring when the cherry blossoms, dogwoods, forsythia, wisteria, tulips and irises come to life.  And, while the homes are beautiful by themselves, they are almost no competition for the spring blossoms and the greening landscape.

An old pump house.

A garden trellis made out of tree branches

The day was a chance for me to take a step back and enjoy the simple yet elegant and colorful vignettes highlighted by sun and springtime in a hamlet reminiscent of colonial days when life could certainly be harsh, but not on this day.  This day was all about the peace and beauty Mother Nature offers up for us to enjoy, coupled with good old American garden ingenuity.

More tulips!

One of the many stairways to heaven???

Early spring herb garden.

Simple steps lined with flowers leading to patches of perfectly coiffed green carpets under blue skies helped create welcoming outdoor rooms and tidy parterres filled with herbs and edibles.  And the tulips--ohhhh, the tulips were the reigning queens in gardens and borders that lined the streets as we walked along and took in the sites.

Sheep in repose, enjoying the weather.

Creeping phlox spilling over a rock wall and surrounding a dogwood tree in bloom.

Candy-tufted stone steps.

It was a wonderful day spent touring and savoring the gifts of nature, cared for by Waterford's fortunate residents, both past and present, whose love of history and gardening is so evident in this colonial-style village.

Redbud in full bloom

Hellebore's bowing their heads in the sun.

Stone paths through a parterre.