A Sensitive Plant in a garden grew,
And the young winds fed it with silver dew,
And it opened its fan-like leaves to the light,
And closed them beneath the kisses of night.
And the Spring arose on the garden fair,
Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;
And each flower and herb on Earth’s dark breast
Rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.
From Part 1 of “The Sensitive Plant”
By Percy Bysshe Shelley (1820)
I travel back to this exact time of year in 1968 in this memory piece. I was 17 and a junior in high school. It’s been 58 years and what’s fascinating as I think I make clear in what follows, is that my love of Nature and beauty goes back a long, long time and has only deepened over the years.
What triggers this memory has been the annual arrival of the azaleas in bloom, which will peak in about a week or so. In combination with the white dogwood blossoms and the pale, watercolor-pastel greens of new growth on our many live oaks and other trees, the total effect is one of wonder and amazement for me. It’s the same dazzling display every year, but my ardor never wanes, and the world is even more beautiful in Spring this year than it was the previous year.
We had several huge azaleas shrubs in our back yard in suburban New Orleans. In early to late March, they would begin to bloom, and before I knew it there was a veritable wall of pink, purple and white blooms in our yard. I remember going up to the azaleas and closely examining first one, then another flower, marveling at the almost transparent color and the purple and red veins extending the length of the flowers. The texture when touched was like the finest, most delicate velvet.
I did the same thing yesterday and the day before at my favorite gardens here in Charleston, studying the complexity and beauty of the flowers and photographing many of them so I could go back and look at them again long after they had faded and dropped to the ground, another season of rebirth and renewal accomplished and the miracle of life affirmed once again.
The cool winds in March and April, the delightful skies and weather — all these sensations create what I can best describe as simple joy at being alive.
Magnolia Gardens
Early Spring 2026
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