“I’m glad I am alive, to see and feel
The full deliciousness of this bright day,
That’s like a heart with nothing to conceal;
The young leaves scarcely trembling; the blue-grey
Rimming the cloudless ether far away;
Briars, hedges, shadows; mountains that reveal
Soft sapphire. . . .
O hark how with the season’s laureate
Joy culminates in song! If such a song were mine!”
– William Allingham (Irish poet; 1824-1889)

Gladly shared by Betty Hanselman
Gardener’s wife (& spring celebrant)

Japanese-inspired nobedan patio, beach pebble drain and stone stairway are softened by plantings resplendent in spring sunshine (Lancaster County, PA).