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.

Wisp Of A Summer Morn ...

“Many a forenoon have I stolen away, preferring to spend thus the most valued part of the day; for I was rich, if not in money, in sunny hours and summer days, and spent them lavishly; nor do I regret that I did not waste more of them in the workshop or the teacher’s desk.”

                       ~ Henry David Thoreau

                                  ~ 1817-1862

                            ~ “Walden”

                 ~originally published August 9, 1854

To me, there’s nothing so beautiful in nature as a summer morning, and Thoreau’s words seamlessly flow through this image of milkweed basking in the morning sun that I shot on a brilliant August day at Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania.

If we all had more sunny hours and summer days, how much richer – and happier – we’d all be.

We'll Have Manhattan ...

"...I've a cozy little flat in 
What is known as old Manhattan,
We'll settle down
Right here in town.


... We'll have Manhattan,
the Bronx and Staten Island too ...

The great big city's a wondrous toy
Just made for a girl and boy -
We'll turn Manhattan
Into an isle of joy."
                          ~ "Manhattan"
               ~Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart, 1925
~ A popular song and part of the 
Great American Songbook, often known as
"We'll Have Manhattan" 

An artistic view of beautiful tulips in full
bloom in Lower Manhattan on a gorgeous April day in New York City, settled down in town to turn Manhattan into an isle of joy.   
               

       

Waiting For You ...

"There's nothing half so sweet in life
As love's young dream."
                          ~ Thomas Moore,
                                    Irish poet
                                        ~ 1779-1852

A spring sunset beckons as a bud brushes a
beautiful blossom while it waits for the bud to bloom on my favorite magnolia tree at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania. 

Hope Springs Eternal ...

"Hope springs eternal ..."
                          ~ Alexander Pope
                                ~ 1688-1744

Hope springs eternal, just as surely as
the daffodils bloom in the early spring.

I always fill with happiness like a child
when I see spring's first blooms.

This is the first daffodil bud I've seen this season, 
captured in mid-March a little more than 
a week before the official beginning of
spring, a time of hope, beauty and fresh possibilities.

Daffodil, Jonquil, Narcissus ... whatever 
name you choose, this bud says spring
is awakening at Trexler Memorial Park,
Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Hope, like spring, is ever near.     
                                    

Butterfly And Company ...

"Butterflies are self-propelled flowers."
                   ~ Robert Heinlein
                            ~ 1907-1988

Beautiful Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly alights on the thistle as a bee is already enjoying the nectar on a sweet summer day at Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania. 

Dallying In Summer ...

"Teaching a child not to step
on a caterpillar is as valuable
to the child as it is to the caterpillar."
                             ~ Bradley Millar

The first Hickory Tussock Moth Caterpillar I've ever seen dallies on on August afternoon along the Plainfield Township Recreation Trail near the Stockertown (Belfast Junction), Pennsylvania portion of this rail trail.