Beating the Blues

weeds invade, lawn ruined

rifts to mend, woes to tend to

mind in muddy mess

(For Sensational Haiku Wednesday)

I'm feeling a little down, and my garden reflects my frame of mind. Or could it be that the state of my garden affects my frame of mind? It is an issue of which comes first, the chicken or the egg, but what is certain is that garden-lovers and their gardens co-exist in a symbiosis. 


What is one to do when things are not all right with the world? Is there an elixir to cure the blues? What matters now is to address the issues and to find joy in small doses. So I go in search of small doses of joy...if I can find them, in the garden.


Small dose #1
I go out to my backyard to photograph some lantana, and what do I see? Some butterflies I have never seen in my garden before, fluttering  about. And wonder of wonders, two of the butterflies allowed me to take their photographs. This is a first for me, getting a shot of a butterfly in my own garden! 

Wonder#1...she didn't move for so long!

Wonder #2...don't know her name yet!

Small dose #2
Then, my cattleya plant decides to cheer me up by surprising me with some blooms. This plant is largely similar to my other compact cattleya plant named  Pot. Thi Ti 'Chanchai Gold'  which I posted about last month. 


This is Chanchai Gold.



This is my other plant. Do they look identical to you? The one below has slightly smaller blooms, and there are only three flowers on a stalk. Might be a mini cattleya of the same Chanchai Gold, I guess. Whatever its name might be, I'm glad to see the lovely blooms. I'm beginning to feel more alive now, fresh interest aroused.






Small dose #3
This week is the first time my two jasmine bushes bloomed in full force. Usually one bush might make an attempt to flower - in spurts - and then it decides to abort the mission (sigh). Then the other bush might make a pretence of beginning to bloom - and of course it also decides to call off all operations. However, this time, in perfect synchronised timing, both bushes launched their execution of their assignment, codenamed: Burst of Blooms. This is a sight to remember! The flowers are like white sparklers in the night. Their fragrance is overwhelming...in a good sense (pun intended). Hey, what do you know, I feel more like my old self already.

I love the light 'snow' on the ground.

Small dose #4
I walk on to my flower beds, and see new faces of old friends: my hibiscus flowers keep on blooming...they don't let the weather get them down. The red ginger flowers are now thriving...I count seven of them. The two ginger plants had looked sickly just a month ago. Oh, and my Dendrobium orchids which had been in my plant hospital for the past six months has now produced three sprays! They've been discharged from the hospital of course. The lantana plants may be straggly, but their blooms still do the job of attracting butterflies...and they're doing fine. Even my garlic vines which are sharing the same pergola with my Passiflora Soi Fah are blooming after a spate of petulant indignation that they had to share their digs with strangers. And my  bauhinia kockiana are coming back and beautifying the arch with new, bright orange  flowers. 


So, have I found the answer - is there an elixir to cure the blues?

joy in small doses

in the simple things in life

elixir for woe

(For Height of Haiku Challenge Prompt: Elixir)

Linking to:

GBBD

Share the joy Thursday
Poets Rally

Haiku heights

Sensational Haiku Wednesday

Fertilizer Friday
Macro Friday
Weekend Flowers
Macro Flowers Saturday
Today's Flowers
Mosaic Monday
Macro Monday
Mellow Yellow Monday

Thank you Poets Rally for the The Perfect Poet Award!

the next best cure-all
sweet aromatic solution
to lift your depression
to drown your sorrows
your sadness
your listlessness.

a pick-me-upper
saying "I hear you
I know you're feeling blue
I share your pain"
there is relief
there is reprieve.


the alchemist has turned
base metal into gold


RosieGan Sept. 2011

I nominate fiveloaf for his poem entitled Lines