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Tuesday 23 April 2013

A-Z Challenge 2013 - 'T' - Tulips



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 –wishing they were here.

T – Tulips, Thrush, Thistle, Treecreeper

Our tulips have no association with Amsterdam, unless the bulbs, at some time long in the past, came from there.

Tulips
 No longer shy, as days grow longer,
Raising their heads
They begin to flirt
Tulips dressed in many a color
Breezes swirling
Each floral skirt

The songsters’ battle has been joined between the blackbird and the thrush; this fellow is very melodious.
 
Song Thrush
Within a thick and spreading hawthorn bush
That overhung a mole-hill large and round,
I heard from morn to morn a merry thrush
Sing hymns to sunrise, and I drank the sound
With joy; …

When I see any form of thistle in the garden I must confess I root it out and dispatch it to the compost heap. In the country however I always admire one like these.
 
Spear Thistles
Against the rubber tongues of cows and the hoeing hands of men
Thistles spike the summer air
And crackle open under a blue-black pressure.

The spear thistle is famous as the emblem of Scottish Kings. 
Just before Easter I spent nearly an hour trying to photograph a rare visitor to our garden, last seen in December 2010. The verse that follows could not be more apt; I did not succeed.
 
Treecreeper
Shy woodland birds of humans they show respectful fear
They climb tree trunks in search of insects and when human to them venture near
Of the tree trunk they disappear to the other side
Of watchers eyes they'd much prefer to hide.
 

Poems:
  • Spring Flowers – Tulips – Mary Havran
  • The Thrush’s Nest – John Clare
  • Thistles – Ted Hughes
  • Treecreepers – Francis Duggan
Photo:
  • Common Treecreeper – Wikipedia Commons; CC BY-SA 3.0



 

4 comments:

Jo said...

Those thistles are so pretty. So are the tulips. Made me think of Dumas' the Black Tulip.

Cute bird too.

JO ON FOOD, MY TRAVELS AND A SCENT OF CHOCOLATE

Jo said...

Meant to say, the American Robin is of the thrush family and a good singer.

JO ON FOOD, MY TRAVELS AND A SCENT OF CHOCOLATE

viridian said...

Your tree creeper is so well camouflaged! Hope you are feeling better too.

Sharon said...

We were lucky enough to visit Netherlands in Spring. The colour of the Tulip fields was spectacular and an unforgettable sight.