DECEMBER'S BARENESS EVERYWHERE

 "How like a winter hath my absence been From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year! What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen!

What old December’s bareness every where!
And yet this time remov’d was summer’s time;
The teeming autumn, big with rich increase,
Bearing the wanton burden of the prime,
Like widow’d wombs after their lords’ decease:
Yet this abundant issue seem’d to me
But hope of orphans and unfather’d fruit;
For summer and his pleasures wait on thee,
And, thou away, the very birds are mute:   
Or, if they sing, ’tis with so dull a cheer,   
That leaves look pale, dreading the winter’s near."
- William Shakespeare, How Like a Winter Hath my Absence Been

Despite the bareness of December there is still joy to be found in the garden -the fat buds of the Chinese Paper Bush, the Camellias and the Hellebores.  The sedges are still green with life as are the hollies and the ferns.  

                         Edgeworthia chrysantha

                      A most welcome sight in the deep of                                     December

My boulder garden is still filled with textures from the Evergreens and other hardy perennials.

                        Lots of green in December.  The Autumn Sage still has blooms on it .

This last month of the year is time to reflect on the terrible pandemic that affected not only our country but the entire world.   My garden and art have kept me sane and occupied and I am grateful for my children living nearby.

I hope that the New year will bring peace and prosperity for everyone.