The Juneberries started blooming a week ago. They have such a short-lived but ethereal beauty that it just about breaks my heart even as it soars.
When you have acreage, as we do, you find yourself nicknaming certain parts of your property so you can refer others to it: the secret garden, the duck pond, the BB-shooting tree, the log bench. When the log bench was first set up just inside the woods, at the top of the mown field, you could easily see, through a scrim of saplings, the opposite hillside and our house nestled in the valley. The log bench disintegrated and was replaced by a wooden bench last year, and in the intervening years the undergrowth has gotten thicker and the saplings have gotten taller, to the point that once the trees leafed out, there wasn’t much of a view anymore.
A week ago I took a walk up the hill to see what was blooming (mostly trout lilies) and decided to linger at the bench a minute, to ponder the problem of the obscured view. Unexpectedly, it took my breath away:
Photo (c) Cadence Purdy
Is one week of enchantment worth a season’s worth of obscured view? Or can the “wall” of this room be pruned ever so judiciously to preserve the Juneberries and the view? I can see more visits to the bench are in order, to deliberate on this matter.
And the Log Bench now has a new name: the Juneberry Room.
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Juneberries are beautiful. They’re hard to find out here in California, but they do well. The birds often get the berries, I think, so people don’t know how good they are.
ryan’s last blog post..California Peony
Twitter: @suburbangarden
That’s an interesting dilemma. It is an enchanting spot the way it is. Whatever you decide to do, it will be beautiful.
Mr. McGregor’s Daughter’s last blog post..Beauty & the Barrel
I call those Serviceberry and I love them!! Blogged about them a lot. How is it that you don’t have deer nipping your plants to death??? Do you have big dogs? What is your secret? The deer here just love to nip, nip, nip at the tips and blossoms on all my Junies, it makes me so mad! I have some fenced off now, which seems so silly for tough native plants. Maybe it’s the relative novelty of them here. I’m surrounded by tree farms and the biodiversity is low-ish.
Bonnie Story’s last blog post..Variegated Salal!
We do have deer, Bonnie, but we also have coyotes and hunters. Also, living in a rural area, the deer have a lot more room to range. The Juneberries are all over the place. Why would deer come near to the house to nibble when there’s plenty to eat with more cover?
Lovely place to look out and in. I’m loving them around us, too. They were introduced to me as Serviceberry, but I like the sound of Juneberry more.
Lynn’s last blog post..not a fence-jumping Beagle
Why change the view? Enjoy it when nature lets you see it, distant in winter and nearer in summer. We try to bend nature too much to suit ourselves and should be grateful for what we have. Your views are especially magnificent – thank you for sharing them with us.
Lovely! Yes, more visits to the bench are in order.
Sue’s last blog post..Veggie Garden Update, Part 1
Beautiful little trees and they do look especially lovely in bloom, but the berries and then the fall foliage are nice, too! I like your Juneberry Room! gail
Gail’s last blog post..Finding The Joy In C&L Mudville*
Twitter: @mycornerofkaty
I agree, you must make more visits to the bench to ponder the matter. I can see why that view speaks to you.
Cindy, MCOK’s last blog post..A Special Tuesday Edition of TTGG
Lovely. Have you harvested any berries off them before? I am always looking for more edibles especially ones that provide some shade or cover.
Rick’s last blog post..Living Green Expo.
Twitter: @reddirtramblin
I’ve never heard of them either. Are they edible in June? Are there berries at all? I think I would do some judicious pruning. I like having a view. As you know, we improved our view of the lake last summer. The bench seems a wonderful place to read a book.~~Dee
Dee/reddirtramblings’s last blog post..Rain Music
The berries are edible to birds and people, and they do ripen in June.
That’s a great name.
The Amerlanchier species are a boon to wildlife, native and beautiful. What’s not to love?
Jenn’s last blog post..
What a wonderful view. Great name for such a perfect spot.
Michelle’s last blog post..Converting the Boy
How pretty! I have never heard of Juneberries.
Sheila’s last blog post..Spots