Today's Walk from My Garden to Susie's

Gardeners are a funny lot. Real funny and real quirky. Passionate. Eccentric. Sometimes crazy. I am completely tickled to be one among such company. And I absolutely love hanging out in gardens- mine and those of fellow plant lovers. I have a small handful of people whose gardens really inspire me. Their gardens are like the most natural extention of themselves and just being there inspires soulful observation, meaningful conversation, and heightened sensitivity to the elemental beauty which is our world. Without a doubt, Susie M is one of my top most favorite and inspiring gardener friends, and I now have the incredible fortune of my new garden (and home) being a glorious 10 minute walk through field and forest to her garden. I jumped at the chance to walk down there today when she called me to invite me over for hot stew at lunch. This day being the cold, misty May day that it was, it was extra extra green and gorgeous and lush as a rainforest, so I grabbed my camara and made the commute to warmth, food and friends into a sight-seeing mosey of a thing. And oh- boy oh- boy oh- big big boy was that walk ever gorgeous. I was in my brand new garden when Susie called, and I just so happen to have photo-documentation of the walk, starting from my garden, down the fields and through the forest to her garden. I can't wait until my garden is years old and lived in like hers.
Pictures from my walk:

My bloody butcher corn patch- string tying technique suggested to me by some good ole- gardening neighbors for crow deterring action...:



My house in progress from the large garden (by the way, those little patches of tiny green in the garden are not weeds, but rather white clover I sowed between rows of crops):



Ancient Chinese ginko with modern Appalachian rain on it:



Verbascum blooms- I am utterly in love with these colors:



Cheapy $5 rose from Roses, but check out the sweetness of this yellow:




My little path down to the big spring- slippery elm on the left was given to me by my former neighbor:



Black raspberry from Ruth, another favorite gardener friend:



Path to Susie's through the Gebhart pasture:




Ruby, Susie's little orange friend, is very excited to walk down the path with me:




Final path through the woods to Susie's:


Choice images from Susie's many gardens...
City of York, a most elegant old rose:



Todd found these complimentary-colored bugs doin it on some elder:







Susie style:




Susie has a soft spot for succulents and cacti:



Susie's heavenly scented fuschia roses, which I now have some of and which we think were planted by Pat, a previous gardener at Susie and Todd's place:



Some allium:



Todd admiring a flame azalea (which was given by me and before that by Jean S, another gardener friend off Spillcorn):