Mrs. Whaley's Charleston Garden

Yesterday while the Fisherman was at meetings all morning I decided to go out for myself and lose my soul in the old cobblestone streets of Charleston.  I cannot love this city anymore I already do, for I have been forevermore enchanted, and my heart sits under the spells of courtyard gardens, historical churches and haunted cemeteries.  Detailed iron ornamentation wrought by hand or cast graces each home and gate, grilles, shutter guards and foot scrapes and window boxes and potted plants graces each entrance, each window, each wall.  I needed to go back to Mrs. Whaley's old house on Church St.  And so I did, and this time I was graciously invited to go into the walled garden where Mrs. Emily Whaley spent so many hours of her days embellishing the world for whoever wanted to see... Even in winter time, the garden holds an enchantment to it that draws you to God and Nature inevitably.  Azaleas carpeting mossy walls are already putting up buds, and camellias bushes as tall as trees bend with flowers in beauty I had never seen.  Green, wet mossy charm encompasses every spot, every statuary coming to life under a perpetual sleepiness and peaceful quietness that make you walk as if soaring low.   Here are some images I hope you'll enjoy!  Come on... let's go in!

If you are intrigued enough to look this book up on Amazon, here is the link.

 

I only had to read a couple of sentences about it before I put it in my basket.  I can only tell you what an absolute delight it is.  Yes, it is mostly about the garden, but it is also full of anecdotes and recipes and general advice.  It is a small book and would make the most excellent gift to any person who enjoys anything to do with gardens.

I'll talk about the most eccentric, yet beautiful cemetery I discovered while on my walk in another post... See you soon!

Charleston, SC

I'm writing from our beautiful hotel room

where we'll be staying for a few days,
in Charleston, SC... 

The haunting sensation of walking on another skin in another era.  The evocative melody of cathedral bells ringing the early morning.  Those ghosts of yesterday roaming ancient cemeteries under the fragrance of camellia canopies.  Bermudian limestone ancient dwellings.  The sound of hoods of gentle beasts, and horse drawn carriages traveling on flagstone century old streets.  Courtyards and secret gardens.  Exotic blooms and fragrant trees.  Camellias, azaleas, tea olives and the crepe myrtle.  I have been enchanted by the oldest city in South Carolina—Charleston.   

Enchanting courtyard gardens... 

   

Ivy covered walls...

The old St. Philips Cemetery in Charleston's historic downtown, where camellias petals cover century old tombs...  an enchanting place to visit. 

It is said that this graveyard is visited by the apparition of a woman crying over a grave. Others have heard a small child, almost a baby, crying here.  Perhaps it is something to do with baby Julia?

On June 10, 1987, local amateur photographer, Harry Reynolds, was snapping pictures around the cemetery at St. Philip’s Church.  Harry is a native Charlestonian who grew up just down the street from St. Philip’s Church Cemetery.  So, even though the main gate to the cemetery was locked, he knew that he could still get a shot of most of the cemetery by poking his camera through the bars on the rear gate.  Harry took several photos and sent them for development.  He noticed nothing unusual about any of them…until he got to one very particular...  you can read and see the photograph HERE.

I've been enchanted by the exotic beauty of camellias and now I need to have one or two trees growing in my garden...

Huge potted plants go hand in hand with beautiful wrought iron work, and every house is embellished by a lovely, walled garden... 

Can you hear the whispers, a few giggles and the soft swooshing of the silk gowns and dresses?

This lovely home here is for sale.  If you have 2 millions to spare, it could be yours...

When my husband asked me last week if I wanted to go with him to SC to some meetings he was holding there, I could barely believe my luck... why, I've been reading Emily Whaley's book about her garden on Church Street in Charleston, South Carolina for a few months now (slow reader), and her ageless and captivating gardens had me dreaming with it and wishing for a deeper connection with my own creations in my little plot, which for too long now, is been bared of blooms and under the spell of winter.  How could I'd said no to that!  We didn't get to go inside Emily's lovely gardens because it was closed to the public, but we were able to take a peek of it from a neighboring home that was being renovated and whose workers let us go through...

You can find Emily Whaley's book HERE.  And you can see some photographs of her garden here HERE...

Hope you enjoyed the little tour... see you soon!

Spring dreams

The garden is calling my name, spring has started stirring within my soul... I run outside, turn to the sunlight and shout to the quietness contained within the woods:  "Where are you... oh where are you precious, lovely 'Spring' where are you?"

That’s sort of how the end of winter feels to me.  You see, I can sense the seasonal change coming, the sun is out, I yearn to start working the soil, but spring isn't really here yet. Nature is not giving in, and it is so frustrating.  Do you feel like that sometimes too?

Around here in these parts of my little world, the end of our winters starts right around February. Which is a most marvelous thing to me, considering that up North where the house in the roses sits, the beginning of February it actually is the worst part of winter.  You are still pretty much immersed in it by then, and I remember how sad and anxious I used to feel, my heart already long past its endurance towards winter. There wasn't a day then in wish I didn't yearn for warmth and flowers and my precious garden to come alive again.  Can you imagine how I felt then?  I'm definitely not a winter bird.  

Ah yes I want my magic back... back in my garden and my little world.  So alas, I'm banishing Winter from my heart... "Awake! arise, ye flowers!" ;)

As it is, I'm already spending longer spells of time in the garden during the warmer hours of day; removing dead leaves and annual climbers that were left behind and making a mental count of all the bulbs and flowers I need to fill pots and such, whilst the thought of spring brings a warm glow to my vision, and thaw my mind and muscles from their endless time spent inside winterizing.  The heart can get really cold if all you know is winter, does it not?  Oh I'm sure the Winter Witch had something to do with this... the saddest thing found yesterday in one of the birdbath.  What do birds die of?  I have to wonder. Perhaps his little heart was frozen to death by the Winter Witch for something he did, or didn't?   

I'm spending my days working on various projects in the house, which I usually leave for those months when there's nothing I can do outside... like working on embellishing these old beauties I found at our local thrift store yesterday...

These lamps are so pretty, is hard to believe they were only $14.00 each.  I have big plans for them thought, so they will not stay as they are for too long... ;)  Or this lovely vintage dresser I'm envisioning painting in cobalt or navy blue and gold.  Only thing is I don't have a place to put it... ;)

I really think anyone can redo her home only using items purchased from thrift stores. 80% of mine is...  I am such a thrifting junkie!

In the morning when sunshine permeates our little white cottage in golden dust, magical things transpire... furry creatures would come over for a comfy snooze, new boughs start to steep, young buds gets tinted and leaves swell...  I am so in love with this little white cottage of ours... so in love and thankful for it!... there's nothing about it I don't appreciate... the quiet glories of the early mornings when the sun sits in its center and all the entire front part of the house doze in sunshine, mid-afternoon birds, the woods twinkling under the rays of the last sun and the darkest dark of nights... I so love it all!

Isn't he ever so cute!  Ferals... not fair that he gets to soil my settee, but won't let me pet him!

       

Is your heart yearning for spring too?  There is one thing which gives radiance to everything:  it is the idea of something good around the corner... We're almost there!  ;)

See you soon!