Original Garden Haiku

For National Poetry Month I made a personal challenge to write a haiku a day based on my California Native Plant garden. After rereading them tonight I thought I would share a few of my favorites for Poetry Friday.

Catalina Ironwood
beneath feathered bark
alligator lizards hide
blue jays go hungry

Woolly Blue Curls
royal fuzzy blue
ballarina Arabesque
dancing with the bees

Mountain Mahogany
from exploding seeds
sparkling feathers light the sky
somewhere a child smiles

Western Redbud
spring unleashed, it blooms
pink kisses flirt with the sun
Kool-Aid explosion

Flannel Bush
careful where you plant
giant sunshine on a stick
where did that house go?

23 Comments

Anonymous May 1, 2009 at 10:30 am - Reply

from Laura at Author Amok

Susan — I love the flannel bush haiku. How did the plant get that strange name?
- testcase May 2, 2009 at 4:59 pm - Reply
  
  Re: from Laura at Author Amok
  
  Isn’t that the oddest name for a plant you shouldn’t touch?
jamarattigan May 1, 2009 at 12:34 pm - Reply

Love all of these. Perfect pictures, perfect poems. Woolly blue curls makes me smile. I learned a lot about different plants last month, too. Thank you!
- testcase May 2, 2009 at 4:59 pm - Reply
  
  Thanks for reading along with me, Jama. Your support and comments always brighten my day.
Anonymous May 1, 2009 at 1:19 pm - Reply

I remember Mountain Mahogany. I think I commented to the original post. Thanks for posting the others as well.
- testcase May 2, 2009 at 5:00 pm - Reply
  
  Thanks for reading along with me. It was a fun project.
beckylevine May 1, 2009 at 1:46 pm - Reply

I’m glad the redbud made it into the top five! 🙂
- testcase May 2, 2009 at 5:00 pm - Reply
  
  I thought of you when I picked that one.
Anonymous May 1, 2009 at 3:08 pm - Reply

These are lovely!! Thanks. Jone
- testcase May 2, 2009 at 5:00 pm - Reply
  
  Thank you for reading, Jone.
newport2newport May 1, 2009 at 4:41 pm - Reply

Here’s a little something on your cyber-porch. Happy May Day, Susan!!
- testcase May 2, 2009 at 5:01 pm - Reply
  
  What a beautiful May basket! Thank you so much. I have never had a May basket left on my porch in my entire life. That makes this one extra special.
kellypolark May 1, 2009 at 7:16 pm - Reply

Gorgeous photos and poetry! Love the Western Redbud the best!
- testcase May 2, 2009 at 5:02 pm - Reply
  
  Thanks, Kelly! It’s one of my favorites too.
mlyearofreading May 2, 2009 at 11:45 am - Reply

Wow! Congrats on sticking with the haiku project all the way through. And another wow and congrats on your native plant garden. Are alll 30 of your haikus about plants in your very own garden? If so, another wow!
- testcase May 2, 2009 at 4:48 pm - Reply
  
  All but 2 plants are in my yard and they will be soon. Purple Needlegrass isn’t there yet because I kept forgetting to pick it up and Wooly Blue Curls wasn’t available once I found a space for it. I’m hoping to get them both this weekend.
  
  I have a very small standard yard but taking out both lawns gave me room enough for all these goodies.
cloudscome May 3, 2009 at 12:59 pm - Reply

Congratulations on such a wonderful month of garden haiku! I have enjoyed them all. The flannel bush one here is my favorite for today. Great photos too!
- testcase May 3, 2009 at 9:20 pm - Reply
  
  Thank you. I think the flannel bush is one of my favorites too. 🙂
irenelatham May 4, 2009 at 2:50 am - Reply

These are really wonderful — I especially love the Kool-aid explosion. Great pics too!
- testcase May 5, 2009 at 4:35 am - Reply
  
  Thank you!
Anonymous May 5, 2009 at 12:06 am - Reply

From Poe

What beautiful pics. Where did you get them?
- testcase May 5, 2009 at 4:34 am - Reply
  
  Re: From Poe
  
  Thanks Poe. Some are from friends. Some I took.
Anonymous July 9, 2009 at 7:54 pm - Reply

Lovely

I am from Michigan and have never seen this flannel bush…wow, how pretty!
GartenGrl

Original Garden Haiku