"My Garden" poem by T.E. Brown

My Garden
A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot!
Rose plot,
Fringed pool,
Fern'd grot -
The veriest school
of peace; and yet the fool
Contends that God is not -
Not God! in gardens! when the eve is cool?
Nay, but I have a sign;
'Tis very sure God walks in mine."

Written by Thomas Edward Brown. 1830-1897. Victorian scholar, teacher, poet, and theologian, from the Isle of Man.
For my dear blog friends with different beliefs, please don't mind this poem, I wanted to share this because it is beautiful. Some poets from Victorian times have a mystical way with words.
The flowers are Canterbury bells and nasturtiums in my garden.

Delightful, graceful Canterbury Bells

The Canterbury Bells I grew are in the glass vase, with some sweet peas of a similar color.
I adore Canterbury Bells, and planted two small plants in 4 inch size containers two years ago. The first year they form a low clump, and the second year they grow 2 feet to 3 feet tall and are loaded with the violet blue flowers. The flowers are 1 to 2 inches long.
Canterbury Bells can be grown readily from seed (I read this), and come in white, pink, blue and purple. Their Latin name is Campanula medium, also called Bell Flowers.
I took the first photo below on May 30 when they are in full bloom. The next two photos were taken as they began to bloom in mid-May. I have seen a few bees go inside them and fly away happy.

More Canterbury Bells from my garden

I wanted to show you that this Canterbury Bells plant is giving prodigious numbers of belled flowers, from a tiny and hopeful beginning in a four inch pot. It amazingly survived a harsh attack, just before the flowers opened, as the stem was half way broken through. It looked like someone or something heavy stomped it, a raccoon? Anyway it survived the harsh attack and is flourishing.
Also I picked a bouquet for our kitchen table and took a photo of it also. Enjoy.
A few of you, my blog friends, say your climate won't allow Canterbury Bells, and I share that frustration when I see your own photos of your gardens with peonies and lilacs and forsythia, garden friends from my childhood in Wisconsin. I haven't grown those here in California, so must get by with enjoying your blog photos and with dreaming.

Beauty of Canterbury Bells

A year ago I planted a small "Deep Blue" Canterbury Bells in a four inch pot, and gave it minimal attention. It has developed in to a huge and stunning plant with perhaps 200 large bell flowers.
I promise to take more photos today to show you more clearly in a future post how bountiful and stunning this plant is.
It is kind of wild how the Canterbury Bells clash with the orange nasturtiums, wild yet pleasing.
I would call the flowers purple rather than blue. The plant is from Annie's Annuals and Perennials and I put some in a bouquet for our Father's Day BBQ at our house. I love the rich colors and any flowers with the bell shape.