Dreaming big - if you’re a rhododendron

A few posts ago, I mentioned the small, struggling rhododendron bush down towards the end of my garden. At that stage, it had just one open bloom, shining bravely in the shadows under the nearby mature trees.

Having seen that post, someone who lives locally to me sent me a picture of rhododendrons in full fabulous flower in a nearby woods. Once socially-distanced walks were allowed, I suggested to a friend that we find the route to the woods and explore. Well, it turned out that her partner owns that particular bit of woodland, and she knows it well. So I had just the right guide to help me make the most of the visit.

And lo and behold, there was the most spectacular display of rhododendrons, hidden away in the middle of this small piece of woodland. We all sometimes need a glimpse of what we can become, or what the future might hold for us, our loved ones, our communities, at times when we struggle. We need something to help us see beyond our current limitations, to help us imagine what just might be possible. We need to be given hope; and here was hope, glorious hope, rhododendron-style.

And setting aside any high and lofty thoughts, they were in and of themselves simply stunning.

The first picture below is of my rhododendron now; it has actually done quite well in terms of flowers, although overall you wouldn’t call it a shrub of great beauty (shh, don’t tell it I said that). The following pictures are of the dramatic display in the woods. (Guess what: I even found a little den in the midst of them!)

The bonus pic is of the meadow next to the woods, and if you are following this because you are local to me here in Halstead, Essex, your task is to look closely and spot the church

tower, visible from beyond the far end of town.

I hope that you find hope, somehow, somewhere, this week.