Chasing the Sun

A civilian (defined here as a non-gardener) once asked me why I would bother to grow daylilies, whose flowers last a single day. To her it seemed like a lot of effort to go through for a bloom that had a 24 hour lifespan. 

How could I really respond? You can point out the beauty of a flower to someone, but you can't teach them to appreciate it.

Donna of Garden Walk, Garden Talk has started a regular Word for Wednesday linking party which is an "exploration of words through pictures, where a word relates to the story in photos." 

This week's word is "ephemeral" which is defined as "lasting for a short time, transitory, fleeting or momentary." 

When I sat down to think about how I might interpret the word "ephemeral" in pictures, daylilies and their fleeting blooms immediately sprang to mind. 

It would have been easy to expand this idea out to other flowers that make a fleeting appearance each summer. My peonies, for instance, only bloom for a little over a week.

I felt however, that I wanted to dig deeper into the meaning of the word "ephemeral" and look for something that that has a bigger impact on my garden than the brief appearance of its flowers. 

The seasons certainly come and go.

My garden in its seasonal transition as I write. The leaves are all turning color. Flowers are setting seed.

Still, I was not satisfied. I wanted to focus in on something more personal, something that was not only ephemeral, but was ironically a constant factor in each season and on every day of the year. 

So what did I come up with? 

Sunlight! 

Sunlight changes constantly throughout the day, as the sun rises in the sky. It can fade as the sun passes behind a cloud and it disappears altogether each night. 

In my open front garden, I can grow just about anything I want. In the backyard however, the amount of sunlight that passes through the tree tops severely limits what I can grow. 

Through trial and error, I have discovered which plants will tolerate the limited sunlight that passes through the dense leafy canopy.

Sunlight not only as an impact on my garden; it has a huge influence on my photography as well.

I court the sun with my camera.

I often wait impatiently, toe tapping, for the sun the pass out from behind a cloud.

The sun lights reds on fire...

and it sets yellows a glow.

It adds more drama than any actor ever could.

For me then, the sunlight perfectly defines the word ephemeral.

To see other interesting interpretations of the word "Ephemeral"

 hop on over to GardenWalk, Garden Talk by clicking the link.