Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Poppy's Garden

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My father has the most fantastic Bonsai Tree Garden in his front yard. At any given moment, my parents will get a knock on the door and it will be a group of people who want a tour of his garden. It is so cute to watch my dad out the front window, giving the neighbors a guided tour of his trees that he spends so much time tending to. He loves telling people about when he was a child and his dad was stationed in Japan with the United States Marines. While living there, my dad met a Bonsai Master that taught him the art of clipping the miniature trees. These tourists stand in the driveway and listen intently to every word he says, it's amazing.

He loves trees of all kinds but in particular, he loves Japanese Maples. He loves them so much in fact, that he gives them away to strangers in our small town. He picks a route that he drives often and will take Japanese Maples to various houses along the way. He even helps these strangers plant them in their yard. All so that when he drives to go workout or to the grocery store, he can see beautiful trees along the way. Sometimes, I try to scout out trees that my dad has given as gifts as I drive around neighborhoods in my town. I'll say "Dad, did you plant a tree in Five points?" Nine times out of ten, he has.

I love this about him.

His birthday is coming up and he told me that all he wants me to give him as a gift is a photograph of something that I love. So, I went through his garden gate and took some photos of his beloved trees. The Maples don't have leaves yet but some of his Bonsai Trees have blossoms on them.

I just had to share them with you.
I think that the love that he puts
into these trees translates in these photos.

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I just adore my father's garden.

37 comments:

Unknown said...

Thank you for sharing such pretty photos and story...your dad is an extraordinary man!

Unknown said...

how amazing...what a wonderful tribute. Have a great Wednesday!

w said...

he sounds like a wonderful man.

also. he could be mr. miyagi.

Leanne said...

Such a absolutely wonderful post . . .I wish I could see your fathers garden. He sounds like a really great man, and it looks like you have many of his characteristics. I just stubbled upon your blog - and I'm so glad I did!

Wax On! Wax Off! ; ) unfortunatley, that's the closest I am to Bonsailand!

Debbie said...

Love your post and your photos. Your Dad will LOVE his gift!

June said...

What beautiful photographs!
I am going to look into these trees.. Ward wants to plant a few trees this spring.

Wish your Dad was my neighbor!!

CaneWife said...

Beautiful. I wish I had a green thumb. I really, really do.

Kearsie said...

Wow. These are some fantastic pictures! What a precious gift this will be to your Dad.

Yankee Girl said...

What a great story!

The garden is absolutely beautiful!

Sarah RDH said...

Sounds like a good man! You make a collage of all the pics!

heather@actingbalanced.com said...

beautiful pics and beautiful story! It would be great to give him a photo book of all four seasons for a birthday or Christmas gift in the future...

Kimberly said...

Oh how I wish my garden looked like his!!!!! I'm so envious!

How beautiful!!

Andrea said...

Awesome garden. Thank you for sharing these pictures with us.
Hugs, andrea

Bossy Betty said...

Your dad will love these! (I did!)

Caroline said...

Leigh, this was so beautiful. Your dad sounds so cool, and I would definitely be one of those tourists in his yard asking him questions.
You know, I went to Clemson University where I got a degree in Ornamental Horticulture.The Athens area has a very special place in my heart because we'd travel there a lot as students in class or on our own to visit this awesome town with such a great horticulture vibe. Your dad's garden is BEAUTIFUL and your pictures are perfect. I know he'll love them...

Katherine said...

What a wonderful story. The pictures of the trees are beautiful.

Aleta said...

How beautiful! And wow, what a story about your Dad. He sounds awesome :) I love that he wants to have his surroundings beautiful, things to make him happy. I totally get that :) That he takes action to make it happen ~ speaks volumes about him!

My Mercurial Nature said...

The photos are brilliant, as is the garden (and the story).

foxy said...

The TLC totally translates! Absolutely beautiful photos!

Tami G said...

OH MY - those pictures are sooooo beautiful!!!!!!
Wow - you go girl!!!!
and your dad's garden is AWESOME!

PS - I linked to you in my post today! ;-)
I'm still in LOVE with that post I linked to and just wanted to say thanks again for giving me the courage to open up about it :)

Susan Anderson said...

And I just adore your father! What a neat guy...and a tribute worthy of him.

Thanks for sharing.

=)

PS. I, too, love Japanese maples, and the fact that he has planted them all over town is delightful.

MamaOtwins+1 said...

I love your father! ANd those pictures are perfect - he'll love them!

Marla said...

What an awesome post!! The photos are wonderful and Happy Birthday to your dad.

MommyLovesStilettos said...

The pictures are awesome. And your dad sounds like he's pretty awesome as well :) I love this post :)

Leiah said...

I love this post! What a wonderful tribute to your daddy, through your words and photographs. He will love your gift I'm sure.

Ziva said...

That was absolutely beautiful.

SPEAKING FROM THE CRIB said...

beautiful as always. i love what your blog has become :) as beautiful as you are.

Rosy Revolver said...

Love this post, Leigh. Your father is an amazing man. The pics were priceless- I'm a total Daddy's girl so this got me a bit welled up. :)

Tracie said...

These pictures are beautiful! Your dad has a cool hobby.

Danielle said...

Beautiful! Love your dad!

Elizabeth said...

Gorgeous! I so miss the change of seasons, especially the little buds of spring. So this was a treat.
Thanks for sharing!

Frugal Vicki said...

Those are beautiful, he obviously puts a lot of work into them!

See Mom Smile said...

That is sugary sweet and just yummy. Thanks for sharing.

Beth said...

Incredible pictures. Incredible gesture. Thanks for sharing with the rest of us. Cheers!

Meg said...

Beautiful!

Vanessa said...

My heart just about exploded reading this -- SEEING your dad's love for his trees and 'HEARING' your love for him. You are so blessed to have each other!

Anonymous said...

Absolutely beautiful...the words, the pictures.
Makes me yearn for spring to finally break and hit the gardens. I could only hope mine were 1/2 as lovely.