Musings on Mock Orange

This Summer had been slated as THE Summer my front garden would be put to rights. I hired someone who knows plants & is well versed in garden plans to help me as I am hopelessly still a Californian & all my plants in Portland die. The plan was drawn, the stage was set...and then inertia set in. We dug up loads of old bedraggled plants, we weeded, raked, pruned limbs, and worked...still, no sign of my vision came together. It's really about practicing patience & being okay with a process. I like product. Well, maybe by Fall these things will be planted & I can take advantage of the Autumn rains. I am currently at odds with several large, ungainly rhododendrons that, while gorgeous in bloom, just don't work in this yard. Once they go on to the next home, mock orange trees are in my future. I am promised a lovely fragrance with beautiful blossoms to carpet my garden. In the meantime I will till the soil, and be patient. I never heard of this poet before, but apparently, she has another take on mock oranges & is having her own Summer of Practicing Patience...

Mock Orange

Watching, as the waxy flowers fall
into the scattered gravel of the summer 
garden; it seems the world, the weather and
a clouded view conspire to damp
the spirits. Her fingers leave the glass.

She turns into the room to work
another minor, tepid miracle.

Suzie Grogan 2012