Something New, is it Spring?

Going away can be the first step

 towards coming home 

Where have I been you might ask, 

or maybe you didn't even miss me? 

I have been working on something.

I have been hanging out with girls like this. 

Girls gone, but not forgotten. 

Neither are their white dresses. 

More about that later

The completion of a book can feel like 

a kind of spring, the end of one long season 

and the beautiful beginning of another.

Did someone say Spring? 

Great news of course, but is it really Spring yet? Well, no, not quite. But it is January, and it is a new year. 

 

The 2026 catalogs, with their brilliant and colorful offerings for my garden, are already stacked high next to my chair.

So ...looking forward to Spring is allowed.

I did see a few snowdrops peeking through, 

until the snow came and covered them up. And then, the cold, and I do mean cold, came and now I fear for their survival. Someone said they are surely sleeping under their frosty blanket waiting for their second chance. I hope so.

If the snowdrops get a second chance, 

then so do I.

Coming back to this blog after a long absence, my suitcase stuffed with excuses, please allow me to sit down, open it up, and show you. 

 . . . .A  New Book Is Born, 

Girls In White Dresses

It's where I have been and 

what I have been up to. 

Writing and illustrating.

If you love vintage fashion, women's history, and compelling stories, this book is for you.

As I scroll through the years I have been writing this blog, there is one obvious and undeniable fact that appears . . .  a real lack of consistency. 

Full disclosure, my limited social media skills don't make it any easier. I'm working on it.

 

Happy New Year - It feels good to be back, I hope you'll stick around, I will!

Girls in White Dresses is available on 

my Etsy shop, stonewellgardensart.etsy.com

and from me directly. Contact me at stonewellgardens@gmail.com

ROSES

A Memory of Roses

The roses of June that bloomed profusely in my garden 

are only a memory as July arrives, but their scent remains.

 

It's been gathered, distilled, and bottled into rose water!

One touch of this fragrant liquid, sprinkled into the bath or misted on the skin, is guaranteed to bring all those rosy memories to life again.

The petals are harvested when the plants 

reach their blooming best. 

Only those rose varieties with 

the sweetest perfume

 are used.

Time to check my Garden Library for some how-to tips

After a short rinsing off and a long steep

 in hot water, 

the petals are strained out,

 and a beautiful blush pink tint remains.

The addition of essential rose oil follows, 

and then the rose water is ready to be put into bottles.

The finished rose water must be stored in 

the fridge to keep it fresh, 

so be sure to label each bottle, as it is not edible!

This "Bring Me Sunshine" 

rose has found a place in my garden 

and on my art table. 

Now, if I were a bumble bee I could just burrow

 inside this all of the deliciously fragrant roses

 and enjoy myself.

But I can make rose water, and I can paint roses, 

so I'll let the bees take their pleasure their way,

and I will be grateful for mine.

 

 May is Madness

Madness of the best kind!

Yes, you're mad, bonkers...but I'll tell you a secret, all the best people are - said Alice.

Yay for May, the best month of the year.

A wreath of  May flowers adorns the top of this pretty head. . . 

 all the flowers I could pick and weave into it in 

just one day in May. Madness at its best. 

The perfect accessory for dancing with the garden fairies.

Madness, Magic, Miracle, there are not nearly enough ways or words to describe the month of May, and the bounty of blooms that fill it from the beginning to the end.  

Can we talk about fragrance! 

Yes, there is color everywhere you look, 

up, down, all around,

 but close your eyes and just breathe!

The air is saturated with May's perfume.

Lily of The Valley

Fragrant Trees and Shrubs

Spice Bush

Mock Orange

Bridal Wreath

Viburnum

Lilac

Flowering Crabapple

The Woodlands

Bloodroot

Trillium

                                              

Lady's Slipper

                                              

Jack-in-the-Pulpit

The Tulips

The Early Birds

Hellebore

Bleeding Heart

Pink Dogwood

Pagoda Dogwood

The Peonies

The Violets

The Iris

                                            

The First Rose

Every garden has its best month, for mine it is always May.

The month of May is my favorite, even though it passes by in such fast motion that I can hardly contain all the joy. 

Living and gardening in the Midwest I have learned to treasure the seasons, the months, the constant changing of the guard.

And now it's on to June.........