A-Z Challenge 2013 - 'H' = Honeysuckle

My A-Z posts this year are based on my garden – flowers, animals, the birds and the bees, butterflies - with a bit of poetry thrown in. For some letters I am expecting to cheat somewhat – a sort of wish they were here.

H – Honeysuckle, Horse Chestnut, Hyacinth, Hydrangea, Heron

Good Lord, how sweetly smells the honeysuckle

In the hush’d night, as if the world were one

Of utter peace, and love, and gentleness.

Honeysuckle

  Now it’s time to cheat a bit and leave the village to visit a nearby wood

Horse Chestnuts (early stage of development)

  Under a spreading chestnut tree

The village smithy stands

Our hyacinths began, not in a wood but in a garden centre pot; they always turn out to be a different colour than we thought. Nevertheless -

Hyacinths blooming in the wood
Fragrantly they are bringing
A primal essence of spring

Hyacinths

And when we were given this plant its flowers were blue, they are different now as you can see

Hydrangeas

Several houses in the neighbourhood have ponds in their grounds which are visited by herons for a take-away. We often see them flying overhead – but not these from Portrack Nature Reserve,

Herons

 Mourn, sooty coots, and speckled teals,

Ye fisher herons, watching eels;

Poems:

• Honeysuckle – From Gareth and Lynette – Alfred Lord Tennyson
• The Village Blacksmith – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
• Spring Flowers –Hyacinths – Mary Havran
• Herons – Elegy on Captain Matthew Henderson – Robert Burns