HI THERE! I'M BRIANNE TURCZYNSKI, FREELANCE WRITER, HISTORICAL RESEARCHER, & PERPETUAL SEEKER OF THE HUMAN CONDITION. WELCOME TO MY SPACE WHERE I SHARE THE BOOKS I'M READING, MY SPIRITUAL FINDINGS, FLOWERS IN MY GARDEN, AND LOST STORIES. ALL ARE WELCOME HERE.
My liking for gardens to be lavish is an inherent part of my garden philosophy. I like generosity wherever I find it, whether in gardens or elsewhere. -Vita Sackville-West March 26, 1950 In the quote above she speaks of pruning. From her books I gather that Vita thought pruning in the Spring a foolish way … Continue reading Life After Deadheading
People often ask what plants are suitable for a shady situation, by which they mean either the north side of a walk or house, or in the shadow cast by trees. There are so many plants that no one need despair. -Vita Sackville-West A Joy of Gardening; 1958 Astilbe and the Romanovs, perhaps that will … Continue reading Astilbe & The Romanovs
Within minutes of arriving Vita was 'flat in love with Sissinghurst'. 'The place, when I first saw it on a spring day... caught instantly at my heart and my imagination. I fell in love at first sight...It was Sleeping Beauty's Garden: but a garden crying out for rescue.' Standing in the middle of the vegetable … Continue reading Fresh Eyes
The bees think that I have laid it for their especial benefit. It really is a lovely sight; I do not want to boast, but I cannot help being pleased with it; it is so seldom that one's experiments in gardening are wholly successful. -Vita Sackville-West In Your Garden June 18, 1950 A couple years … Continue reading Survival of the Fittest: Milkweed
Travelers between Calais and Paris must surely have noticed the lumps and clumps darkening like magpies' nests the many neglected-looking strips of trees along the railway line in the North of France. Perhaps the neglect is deliberate; perhaps they pay a good dividend. -Vita Sackville-West A Joy of Gardening; 1958 The one and only catalpa … Continue reading Under The Catalpa Tree…
...Poison has done its work only too well. In what agony, during the dark hours, have these miserable members of God's Creation perished? -Vita Sackville-West In Your Garden; 1958 I panicked when I saw the caterpillar damage on my rose bushes. Easily distinguished by the large chucks of green taken from the leaves. They came … Continue reading The Art of Conversation…
It is sufficiently remarkable that a great and powerful noble should have accepted so frank a criticism from a peasant, little more than a child. He was more accustomed to see such people tremble in his presence. Such impertinence must have taken his breath away. Besides, it attacked him in his most private feelings. -Vita … Continue reading Spiderwort or The Unfortunately Named
They used to be regarded as a common old plant, almost a weed, when we grew the type which spread everywhere and was only a pale orange thing, not worth having... Now there are many fine hybrids, which may come as a revelation to those who have not yet seen them. They will grow in … Continue reading The Daylily: “The Lord Loves A Working Man”
I loathe bees myself, one single sting sufficing to send me to bed, quite seriously ill, for nearly a week. Yet I must admit to a romantic feeling for this self-contained world of little creatures, with their extraordinary arrangement of a life entirely their own, but at the same time, dependent upon what we elect to … Continue reading Of Honey Bees And Red Clover
A Dedication To The Innocent Ones Of The Orlando Tragedy.
BRIANNE TURCZYNSKI 