Rhododendrons

 

I saw Spring arrive today

In the hearts of mountains deep,

Where one by one the rhododendrons

Wake up from their sleep

 

Pink and red, carmine and white

The blossoms hue these hills

Yes, spring arrives in a million shades

While the courting magpie trills

 

In Blackheath’s shade, for five decades

These blooms have sprung anew

Outlanders from cold faraways

That with the natives grew

 

Wherefrom they come I do not know

But they remind me of my home

In the eastern hills of alabaster snow

Where often I would roam

 

The Singba, Varsey sanctuaries

As if magicked here this far

My eyes well up in this galaxy

As I see a familiar star

 

In the warmth of spring, my heart is healed

What more can I ask of You

Where trails the mighty ‘bode of snow

Starts the mountains Blue

 

The rhodos, azaleas nod in peace -

Some chapters do not end,

In between, the waratahs smile

In a newfound beauty's blend…

 

17^th September, 2023

 

The Campbell Rhododendron Gardens at Blackheath in the Blue Mountains have been a sanctuary to rhododendrons since the start of the garden in the early 1970s. Renamed after the Campbells who contributed to the garden’s prosperity for over two decades, these gardens are deluged with colours of the rhododendrons at the start of spring.  The cool climes of these mountains have helped these blossoms thrive over 45 acres of native bushland, the uniqueness of the garden lying in blending local flowers such as waratahs and banksias along with the rhododendrons and azaleas, shipped from Britain, and in turn from the Asian highlands.