The Town In The Window ...

“There are always flowers for those who want to see them.”

                    ~ Henri Matisse

                              ~ 1869-1954

 Beautiful flowers pop with color in the window of Fragrant Designs Florist, Belvidere, New Jersey, greeting the town reflected in the window on a rare warm February afternoon just after Valentine’s Day.

Belvidere, one of my very favorite places, is a charming Victorian town on the banks of the Pequest and Delaware Rivers.

Confederate Rose ...

“Memory believes before knowing remembers. Believes longer than recollects, longer than knowing even wonders.”

                     ~ William Faulkner

                           ~ 1897-1962

     ~ Southern American author,

                  Nobel Prize Laureate

The grace, beauty and memory of The Old South dreamily bloom in this beautiful pink Confederate Rose on an October morning in the Lowcountry of Beaufort County, South Carolina.

The Legend Of The Confederate Rose

Once the Confederate Rose was pure white. During the Civil War, a soldier was fatally wounded in battle. He fell upon the rose as he lay dying. During the course of the two days he took to die, he bled more and more on the flower, till at last bloom was covered with his blood. When he died, the flower died with him. Thereafter, the Confederate Rose (or Cotton Rose), opens white, and over the course of the two days the bloom lasts, they turn gradually from white to pink to almost red, when the flower finally falls from the bush.

The Confederate Rose or hibiscus mutablis is actually a Chinese import. Brought into English gardens in the 1600’s, it is said to have gained favor in the South due to its ease of cultivation during the hard financial times after the Civil War. The hibiscus mutablis is a member of the hibiscus family which includes both the tropical hibiscus and the hardier Rose of Sharon. It is considered a large bush or a small multi-stemmed tree. The plant roots easily from cuttings and grows vigorously during the summer. Once established it is drought resistant. The blooms appear in the fall.

Sunshine On The Water ...

“Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy, sunshine in my eyes can make me cry.

Sunshine on the water looks so lovely, sunshine almost always makes me high.

If I had a day that I could give you, I’d give to you the day just like today.

If I had a song that I could sing for you, I’d sing a song to make you feel this way …

If I had a tale that I could tell you, I’d tell a tale sure to make you smile.

If I had a wish that I could wish for you, I’d make a wish for sunshine all the while …

Sunshine on the water looks so lovely, sunshine almost always makes me high.”

                 ~ “Sunshine On My Shoulders”

             ~ recorded & co-written by John Denver
                            ~ 1973

The summer was waning but its special beauty still shone through on an early September afternoon when I saw this sunflower bloom gently floating and reflecting in the creek at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Two other sunflower blooms were floating nearby, and John Denver's beautiful  “Sunshine On My Shoulders” immediately sprang to my thoughts, with its wonderful lyrics – isn’t this what we’d all want to give those we love?

Indeed, sunshine on the water looks so lovely.