"She had only to stand in the orchard, to put her hand on a little crab tree and look up at the apples, to make you feel the goodness of planting and tending and harvesting at last. All the strong things of her heart came out in her body, that had been so tireless in serving good emotions." -  Willa Cather from My Antonia I just realized I didn't link back to Carolyn Gail at Sweet Home and Garden Chicago, who makes Muse Day possible. Please visit her for more poetry (and prose) on the beginning of Autumn.

As it states in its brochure, Iseli Nursery sits at the bottom of Mount Hood in Boring, Oregon.  The views surrounding the nursery are inspiring, and in the clouded light of midday,  the effect was magical.  However, I wish I could bring you "smell-a-vision."  The scent of pines, cypress, and cedars hung in the air. The staff at Iseli were friendly and helpful.  As we disembarked from the buses, they were all standing with signs for different areas or zones.  Oklahoma was part of the Lower Plains. You could wander and take photos or you could follow your designated employee and learn more about which trees were best for your area. You can guess which I did.  I tried to follow.  I really did, but there was so much to see, and I didn't want to miss anything.  I soon found myself wandering off on my own. Iseli is the...

A perfect, early fall day bathed in blue.  The sun is shining.  Only a few marshmallow clouds gliding across the sky.  Standing in the middle of the garden, feet firmly planted on solid ground, turn your face toward the sun with your arms flung out at your sides.  Palms turned upward.  Eyes closed in reverence for all the simple miracles we're afforded everyday.  The autumn sun, no longer angry and hot like its summer counterpart, is warm upon your face and shoulders. If you've never done this, go outside and give it a try.  If you were to stay out there all day without fear of sunburn, and rotated slowly always following the sun's rays, you would resemble a young sunflower.  Borrowing slightly from that famous yoga pose, the Sun Salutation, let's call ours a Sunflower Salutation. Both are about gratitude.  I'm a few days back from the Garden Writers...

A misty fog sweeps in from Puget Sound enshrouding plants with a cool fall blanket.  Established shrubs and perennials rarely need watering even at the height of the summer season. Sounds like garden paradise doesn't it?  It is. Regular visitors to this blog know my dear friend, Wanda F., as my second garden mentor.  When she told me over a year ago that she'd bought a house in Washington State, I broke down and cried, knowing that there was no one else locally who loved plants as much as I did.  I've missed her terribly. So . . . . Because we were already traveling to the Garden Writers Symposium in Portland, Oregon, only one state away from Washington, HH and I decided to make a stop at her house along the way.  I thought Anacortes was near Seattle, but, instead, it was like driving from Tulsa to Oklahoma City...