IF DECEMBER ICE

 

If December ice will bear a duck

Thereafter will be slush and muck

But grab the duck off the ice

And Christmas lunch be very nice

IT’S SUCH A MILD CHRISTMAS

 

It’s such a mild Christmas

All the birds are singing noisily

Normally in December

They’re all frozen to a tree

HONEYSUCKLE HEDGES

 

Honeysuckle hedges

Line the fence

Banks of Purple columbine

Catch the morning sun

Beds of scented roses

Beside a manicured lawn

Herbaceous borders trimmed

By neat rows of annuals

Clematis climbs the trellis

Amidst the well groomed shrubbery

There’s so much more

Than stocks and hollyhocks

In an English country garden

THE ROSE LIKE BLOOM

 

The rose like bloom

Fresh and vivid as a blush

On a maiden’s cheek

The star of the firmament

Of an English garden 

 

THE BEES ARE BUSY ON THE MOOR

 

The bees are busy on the moor

Among the purple heather

The birds are on the wing

Enjoying the clement weather

The most perfect place

For we two birds of a feather

But it holds no pleasure

Now we are no longer together

HOW SINGS THE SAVAGE BEAST

 

How Sings the savage beast

With a heart full of misery

When held within the narrow

Bounds of his captivity

 

How Sings the savage beast

With a heart full of joy

When his confines evaporate

And he is as free as a boy

THEY CLIMB WITH STRENGTH AND GRACE

 

They climb with strength and grace

And ramble wide and free

They stand alone as Floribunda

Standard or Hybrid Tea

The glorious English rose

Beautiful flower of history