Have you ever noticed how the twelve months of the year line up with the first twelve hours on a clock?
Midnight to one a.m. is January with its quiet darkness followed by two a.m. the equally dark month of February; these are the restful months of deepening as roots do into the soil.
New life begins to appear in March, the 3rd month of the year; the quiet hour of three a.m. This is the time of sprouting and breaking free from the soil. The slight rays of the sun begin to lighten the sky around 4 a.m. just as April, the 4th month of the year, carries us into the dawning of spring bringing with it Snow Drops, shy little Crocuses and tiny new leaves on each tree.
By May we arrive to the celebration of Tulips, Daffodils, and the highly perfumed Hyacinths followed by the brilliance of June which explodes with colour from the top of each tree down to the tiniest wild flower among the grasses.
The monthly pace of each hour occurred to me this past week as the Tiger Lilies filled the gardens and waved from alongside the roadways. The Lilacs, Bleeding Hearts and Peonies have come and gone signaling the early summer’s passing and now we are in the time of Daisies, Delphiniums, and Columbines; which means we are at half past July already!
Before we know it, the hour of the Poppies, Black-Eyed Susans and Foxgloves will arrive filling the garden with whimsy while quietly drawing us closer to “a quarter to autumn” and, without much fanfare the Chrysanthemums, Sunflowers and Purple Fountain Grass will usher in the tenth hour and we will find ourselves in the roar of autumn colours.
Each month is part of a whole; a bouquet of beauty. May we all pause long enough and often enough to capture the beauty of each hour.
