Wild Honeysuckle
Fair flower, that dost so comely grow, Hid in this silent, dull retreat, Untouched thy honied blossoms blow, Unseen thy little branches greet: No roving foot shall crush thee here, No busy hand provoke a tear. -- Philip Freneau
Hummingbirds hover, long beaks seeking
Trumpets of nectar in a wild blooming hedge.
Honeysuckle, so sweet and fragrant,
Small, shy flowers, perfuming the air.
What magic allows you to bloom early and long,
Leaves first to green and last to wither?
Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham
Reference: http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/wild-honeysuckle
Why is honeysuckle so difficult to photograph? 🙂 At least, that’s my feeling. I keep trying, however. I’m enjoying your blog, very much, photos and words alike. You have a gift–thank you for sharing it so generously.
LikeLike
Yes, honeysuckle is elusive, it’s hard to get a well-composed shot that doesn’t flatten. Ah well, I keep trying as well. Thanks for your supportive words. I saw a lot of techniques you use on your site, modifying your pictures, but I don’t usually modify mine aside from cropping. I’m not very good at it. 🙂 I’m glad to meet another kindred spirit. 🙂 I’ll look forward to reading more of your posts down the road. 🙂 Warmly, Brenda
LikeLike
Pretty and so sweet-smelling 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks! Yes, the fragrance was sweet and like inhaling spring.
LikeLike
simply magnifique… I love these flowers and their unique scent! 🙂
LikeLike
Me, too! Love them.
LikeLike
Brenda, again a lovely picture, which reminded me as a kid we would suck the goodness from the flowers. Yes we were strange, but I do kinda remember a sweet taste. Take care, Bill
LikeLike
YEs, I’ve read that people did that. I should put it in a story. 🙂 You pull off the flower and suck from the end that was attached right?
LikeLike
I think you’ve just transported me to your beautiful part of the world – gorgeous!! 😀 My head is swimming with hummingbirds and honeysuckle – and all the other blossom too. It’s been an enjoyable visit!!!
LikeLike
I’m so glad you stopped by. The very air here smells sweet. 🙂
LikeLike
your words whisper of the beginnings of Spring, I love the elixir of honeysuckle…
the olde fashion is the best one for the hummingbirds and bees, even if it is a bit unruly LOLs
Wonderful photos Brenda, Thank you for sharing another great memory
Take care…You Matter…
)0(
maryrose
LikeLike
Native species are very important, but so is immigrant life, plant and human. We all matter, wherever we are from. We all contribute something unique to the world. I am going to let some milkweed grow this year, for the monarchs. 🙂
LikeLike
🙂
LikeLike
What pretty pictures you always seem to post!
LikeLike
Thanks! I take hundreds and only put up a few. I take a lot of mediocre ones. 🙂 Every so often, a good one comes through. 🙂
LikeLike
sweet and who knew honeysuckle with such a tender name, had so much grit?
LikeLike
Yes, unlike many tender, sweet things, it lasts and last. 🙂
LikeLike
So Sweet! 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks, bob! My grandmother was sweet.
LikeLike
What a sweet poem and such a delicate flower to go along with it. I love this, Brenda! I love the “old English” you used. xx Amy
LikeLike
The poem above the picture was a quote, and a sweet one. The poem under the picture was mine. I have this vague memory of reading about honeysuckle in a book when I was a kid. I thought it might have been a Louisa May Alcott, but I couldn’t figure it out. I found that poem instead. 🙂
LikeLike
I love honeysuckle; such a sweet fragrance. But mine was invasive so I had to remove it. It was taking over!
LikeLike
Yeah, I’ve read that some varieties are invasive. Not all of them, though, I think.
LikeLike
Not all, you are right.
LikeLike
I saw the honeysuckle were blooming yesterday here.
LikeLike
The air is fragrant and sweet here with lilacs, honeysuckle, lily of the valley and wisteria all in bloom. 🙂
LikeLike
Oh that thou doest know how lovely, captivating a poser doth dwell within your sweet sweet soul fair Brenda of Nottingham. My Pinkth Friend💗💓💘💖💕
Hehe I love that! Our honeysuckle is yellow I love that yours is Pink💗💗
LikeLike
P.s.i mentioned you in a post yesterday. I wanted to thank you for your friendship and kindness. I know you are swamped busy but I just wanted you to know
I’ll hold on to You~You hold on to Me | Tell me about it
https://michellemarieantellg.wordpress.com/2014/05/20/ill-hold-on-to-youyou-hold-on-to-me/
LikeLike
Oh, you are a sweetie. You mean a lot to me, and I won’t let go either!! I’ll come by and see your site now. Then it’s nose to the grindstone!! LOL Hugs, Brenda
LikeLike
Girl friend. I now it. I literally have a magazine to get out today only 28 pages but with Alex I’ve been distracted and I need to get my head together today and work my butt off. Have a super day. Hugs
LikeLike
You can do it! I have my class to teach, so I will do us both a favor and save these comments for after. Otherwise I will be late! hugs, Brenda
LikeLike
LOL You are funny!! I do seem to have an affinity for all things pink since my daughter came along. She is quite pink again this morning. I had to buy her blush to wear on stage for her ballet recital. I would apply some, it would disappear. I realized: she is already really rosy, naturally. She has such lucky coloring. I finally had to buy a pretty dark pink or it would not have shown up! I haven’t worn make up in years because I’m allergic to fragrance — red, itchy skin. I think I can manage to apply it, though. 🙂
LikeLike
Me too! I have super sensitive skin. I wear bare mineral but very lightly. Feels like I”m wearing a mask if I wear too much! 🙂 Yay for natural bluee. Hope she dances her little heart out. I love ballet! 🙂
LikeLike
She’s a sunflower. So cute!! She is so excited to have a fancy costume and makeup!! It’s an adorable age.
LikeLike
My favorite age! I love that happy little girl, can’t wait for tomorrow stage! It’s precious!
LikeLike
She has a friend over now, and they are upstairs whispering and trying on princess dresses. I expect a grand entrance any minute. They are adorable at his age.
LikeLike
How fortuitous – I have a plant in my back yard and wondered what it was. I think it is white honeysuckle growing through my front hedge and around the base of one of my silver maples. 🙂
LikeLike
It should have a sweet fragrance! Apparently honeysuckle are hardy and kind of take over. I read a lot about invasive species, but not all are bad. 🙂
LikeLike
I have some other crawly thing on the maple – I was told wasn’t ‘bad’. But regular ivy, well anything where you don’t want it can be called a weed.
I’m not sure of the smell… but (and sorry I can’t show it to you at the moment) the photo I took looks very much the same. I thought it was some kind of wild pear tree. But the flowers look very similar to your photo. It is raining once again…so ‘smellavision’ will have to wait. 🙂
LikeLike
Honeysuckle does come in a vine or a shrub, and I have heard that the vine can get out of control. Sounds likely to be the same. 🙂 I like that — smellavision.
LikeLike
I think my grandmother had yellow honeysuckle – as children, we would pick the flowers and attempt to drink the sap. I’ll have to look into the care and feeding of it. 🙂
LikeLike
I heard about people drinking the nectar. Just don’t eat the berries! 🙂
LikeLike
I wonder if the berries are like poison ivy berries. A related plant of poison ivy, the sap is used to make lacquer.
LikeLike
No idea, I just read that they aren’t good for you, not that they were poison in small quantities, but I learned as a kid not the eat the berries you hadn’t learned were okay. 🙂
LikeLike
Oh, so lovely Brenda! I remember the sweet fragrance of honeysuckle from Quito, Ecuador. We don’t have them in Norway, but in Quito they grew in abundance! 🙂 And what a lovely poem! Just as sweet as that fragrance of honeysuckle! 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks! Ecuador, you are a quite a traveler!
LikeLike
Hihi, yeah, I studied spanish there a few years ago 🙂 I was still a student in university then 🙂 Quito is a beautiful city!!
LikeLike
Maybe I should have compared you to thistledown, carried to the ends of the earth on the jet stream. 🙂 Pictures of Quito? 🙂
LikeLike
No, I like birch! 🙂 I have pictures, but they are in Norway, but I am planning to go there for summer holiday, so then I can show them to you! 🙂 I have a very magical tale from Quito as well that I am thinking of posting on my blog, but I am not sure yet….
LikeLike
You know best. I always like magical tales… I’ll look forward to seeing the pictures down the road. 🙂
LikeLike
I absolutely love this Brenda…especially in the “archaic” language 🙂 somehow it just makes it sound so much more poetic, I think.
LikeLike
Yes, I love the old fashioned language. I’m a sucker for anything with “doth” in it. 🙂
LikeLike
LOL I know what you mean 🙂 I think that is half the allure of Shakespeare!
LikeLike
LOL You my friend, are certainly a kindred spirit! 🙂
LikeLike