Category Archives: Nature

A peaceful woodland garden

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There is always music amongst the trees in the garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~Minnie Aumonier

It was only last year that I created my woodland garden yet it is the first place where Pixie and I walk at dawn . . .and the last place where we linger at dusk. The quiet green heart of it draws us in many times a day to meander and explore. The cool shade of the woods has become a refreshing place to escape the intense heat of the sun at midday.Woodland walk after rain

There are so many details to notice, like the red croziers of a lady fern

and the green and black pinwheels of the maidenhair ferns.

Weeks of heavy rains and hot weather triggered lush growth in this young garden, making it look mature beyond its years.

A sturdy copper birdbath added in June has become a centerpiece to the ferns and sedges that flow around it while its water reflects the trees above. All of the plants in this woodland garden are native to our southwest Pennsylvania area, giving me a challenge and an opportunity to play with form, texture and multiple shades of green in an eco-friendly setting.

We moved here over twenty years ago because of the tall trees that surrounded the house – creating a garden at their feet has made them even more treasured. This short video is an effort to capture the atmosphere and beauty that this little woodland garden offers.

I wish you a peaceful place in which to relax and reflect in quiet moments, and if you are a gardener, encouragement to plant a tree and play in its shade.

Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. ~John Muir

All text, images, and videos ©2025 Lynn Purse, All Rights Reserved except where noted.

 

Let it snow

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The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found? ~J. B. Priestley

For the first time in several years, snow has returned to our region (south west Pennsylvania, US) in November and December. For the last few years we were lucky to get one or two snowfalls a year; we’ve already had several inches of snow in December and one gorgeous deep fluffy snowfall right before Christmas. Not only is it beautiful but it provides protection in the garden from deep freezes (known here as “white mulch”) and fixes nitrogen in the soil. After a difficult drought in late summer through early autumn, this is heaven sent moisture for the garden and also provided an enchanting snowy Christmas this year.

Various health issues prevented me from posting much this summer – it was all I could do to keep the garden going in the drought – but now I can relax and reflect on the garden year while enjoying the fun of decorating the house for the holidays. Dear friends spent a few days with us for Christmas, much to the delight and endless fascination of Pixie who is unaccustomed to having unrestricted access to visitors!

As I write, Christmas music is playing quietly in the background and the low winter sun is softly lighting the room. A time for reflection and hopes for a peaceful year-  in our hearts at least – to come. Here is a short video of the decorations of the season and the beautiful snowfalls that we enjoyed, with my song “Christmas in My Heart” playing underneath.  Enjoy!

Pixie and I wish everyone everywhere a beautiful season of joy, light and celebration and hope you are able to “keep Christmas” in your hearts.

The green deep woods

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It has been a year for green so far – weekly wild storms have brought incessant rain, turning the garden and woods lush and green.
Earlier this spring, we were having a tree trimmed away from the roof of the house when the arborists found that it was completely hollow – “like a straw” they said – and needed to come down. They did a magnificent job of bringing down the trunk and refitting it together so that I could make it a garden feature as part of the new woodland walk.

They leveled the stump, which was ready-filled with soft compost, and I used it as a fern planter.

The smaller branches were chipped and then used to line the path. Although the trunk landed where the mayapples grow, they found their way around it. You can see the hollow where the rain came in and disintegrated the inside of the tree over time.

I’ve continued filling the new beds along then fence with plants native to our area and it is beginning to resemble a garden. Now the woodland walk is a lush green place for Pixie and I to wander each morning, rain or shine.

Come to the woods, for here is rest. There is no repose like that of the green deep woods. ~John Muir

Here’s the story of the woodland walk in video as a part of the Garden Dreams series that I’m sharing with 4 other collaborators.

Days of rain alternating with very hot sunny days spurred plant growth and spawned violent thunderstorms and tornados more typical of July than May. Last weekend, after days of rain and very warm weather, everything changed. The temperatures cooled and the rain turned to mist. I filmed the mist outside the door that night and the next day I rose before dawn to film what I was sure would be fog. Here’s a short film of that magical misty morning in the garden.

I hope you enjoyed walking through my garden with me; I wish you beautiful days now and to come.

 

Season of light

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We are just past the Winter Solstice here in the northern hemisphere – each day will now grow longer, bringing more light into our daily lives. It is not surprising that many holidays in December celebrate a season of light with candles, Yule logs, Christmas lights and many other traditions.

Without leaves on the trees, the bright winter sun shines through the seedpods of plants and create patterns of shadow and light in the quiet garden.

Milkweed pod
Patterns on the bench
Hardy begonia seedpod

After a brisk run through the cold morning garden, Pixie enjoys a nap in the afternoon light, raising a sleepy head every so often.

I had the energy this year to fully decorate the house for the holidays, inside and out. The front porch got special treatment to welcome visitors with a rustic green and white theme. (click on any photo to see a full size image)

Inside the house, I managed to get two trees decorated – the one in the front hall is full of musical angels and instruments, birds, magical creatures and the sun, moon, and stars.

The tree looking out over the woods and garden has a rustic woodland theme, filled with birds, furry creatures, nature Santas, and gardening tools.

I had so much fun decorating that I made a short video of the Christmas trees including a few cameos by Pixie and a soundtrack of Christmas music that I arranged for a CD years ago. Betty, a YouTube friend of mine, also included my video in a montage of Christmas trees on her channel. Enjoy!

As much as I miss spending my summer days in the garden, I look forward to the winter evenings as the sunlight fades and the candles and Christmas tree lights glow in the dark. I often light a fire in the music room fireplace and play Christmas carols with Pixie at my feet, a lovely way to end the evening. Whatever you may celebrate this time of year, may the light shine on your path and brighten the new year ahead.

So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing. ~T. S. Eliot

All text and images ©2023 Lynn Emberg Purse, All Rights Reserved, except where noted.

A garden for all seasons

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The seasons are what a symphony ought to be: four perfect movements in harmony with each other. ~Arthur Rubinstein (unverified)

Slowly, the leaves are beginning to don their autumn cloaks of gold and red. The weeping cherry in the center of the circle garden is the first to turn,

followed by the red leaves of our native oak leaf hydrangea.

Much of the garden has barely begun to change color – the oaks are the last to turn as if they are reluctant to leave summer behind.

The white blossoms of Hydrangea ‘Limelight’ have softened to a rose-tinged hue

while other flowers and foliage carry on as if autumn was still a distant dream.

Snapdragon ‘Black Prince’
Red coleus
Orange coneflower
Ipomea ‘Blackie’

This summer, a former student came to visit us at home and we spent a splendid afternoon together. In the midst of his technology filled life, he had become interested in gardening and asked for a tour of my garden. Bill tagged along and as we strolled through the rose arbor into the lower garden, Bill exclaimed “walking through the arbor, now I understand!”

As I turned to him in puzzlement, he went on to say that he hadn’t walked through the arbor into that part of the garden in a long time, having been content to admire it from the deck while playing his guitar. Walking into the garden gave him a completely different perspective of what it meant to stand in the space and be enveloped by it. I was deeply moved by his reaction yet it confirmed what I’ve always believed about a garden – to truly experience it, you need to walk through it, not just look at it. Those of you who garden or who hike in nature surely know this difference.

By bringing a soulful consciousness to gardening, sacred space can be created outdoors. ~S. Kelley Harrell

My garden has developed its own sense of place over the years – while I made the design decisions, tilled the soil, and filled it with plants, it was in partnership with nature. The garden and I evolved and grew together – I learned its many secrets, it responded to my care and now we are deeply intertwined in this long standing friendship.

This is where I’ve walked every day for the past 22 years, listening, paying attention, and finding delight.  Joined in this quiet endeavor, our efforts have yielded both beauty and bounty in every season. Each time I step through an arbor, walk along a path, cradle a flower, or watch a spider weave an intricate web, I feel a part of the magic.

. . . the ideal space must contain elements of magic, serenity, sorcery and mystery. ~Luis Barragan, Mexican architect

A few weeks ago, I taught a garden design class and decided that the best way to teach the value of structure in a garden was to make a short video of the entrances of my garden through every season. As I was putting it together, I realized these entrances are really the invitation to enter into the garden. 

A garden must combine the poetic and the mysterious with a feeling of serenity and joy. ~Luis Barragan

As the seasons change, I hope each of you finds serenity and joy in the nuances and beauty of nature.