{"id":3238,"date":"2017-12-24T12:43:42","date_gmt":"2017-12-24T20:43:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jannelsonlandscapedesign.com\/wordpress\/?p=3238"},"modified":"2017-12-24T12:43:42","modified_gmt":"2017-12-24T20:43:42","slug":"a-christmas-poem-for-gardeners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jannelsonlandscapedesign.com\/wordpress\/2017\/12\/24\/a-christmas-poem-for-gardeners\/","title":{"rendered":"A Christmas Poem for Gardeners"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_3239\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3239\" style=\"width: 180px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-3239 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jannelsonlandscapedesign.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/images\/2017\/12\/hydrangea-Christmas-tree-e1514148066592-180x240.jpg?resize=180%2C240&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"180\" height=\"240\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jannelsonlandscapedesign.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/images\/2017\/12\/hydrangea-Christmas-tree-e1514148066592.jpg?resize=180%2C240&amp;ssl=1 180w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jannelsonlandscapedesign.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/images\/2017\/12\/hydrangea-Christmas-tree-e1514148066592.jpg?resize=230%2C307&amp;ssl=1 230w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jannelsonlandscapedesign.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/images\/2017\/12\/hydrangea-Christmas-tree-e1514148066592.jpg?resize=300%2C400&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jannelsonlandscapedesign.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/images\/2017\/12\/hydrangea-Christmas-tree-e1514148066592.jpg?w=1536&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jannelsonlandscapedesign.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/images\/2017\/12\/hydrangea-Christmas-tree-e1514148066592.jpg?w=948&amp;ssl=1 948w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jannelsonlandscapedesign.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/images\/2017\/12\/hydrangea-Christmas-tree-e1514148066592.jpg?w=1422&amp;ssl=1 1422w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 180px) 100vw, 180px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3239\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hydrangea Christmas tree<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Twas the night before Christmas and all through the garden,<br \/>\nAll the creatures were stirring, the deer got a pardon.<br \/>\nThe hummingbird feeders were hung by the chimney with care,<br \/>\nIn hopes that the Anna&#8217;s soon would be there.<\/p>\n<p>The flowering cherries were nestled all snug in their beds,<br \/>\nWhile visions of spring glory danced in their heads.<br \/>\nThe summer vegetables were harvested and beds put to nap,<br \/>\nThe compost&#8217;s a brewing so next year&#8217;s a snap.<\/p>\n<p>When out on the native grass lawn there arose such a clatter,<br \/>\nI ran into the garden to see what was the matter.<br \/>\nAnd what to my wondering eyes should appear,<br \/>\nBut a big flock of chickadees and eight black-tailed deer.<\/p>\n<p>They spoke not a word, but went straight to their work,<br \/>\nThe chickadees devouring aphids with amazing teamwork.<br \/>\nAnd then, in a twinkling, I heard on the deck,<br \/>\nPrancing and pawing, the deer making a wreck.<\/p>\n<p>A hydrangea here, an abutilon there, this garden&#8217;s a feast,<br \/>\nFruit, vegetables and color: it must belong to an artiste.<br \/>\nWe love this garden, they whispered to themselves,<br \/>\nWith any luck, they&#8217;ll think we&#8217;re the elves !<\/p>\n<p>Beautiful flowers and nectar and fragrance abounds,<br \/>\nWe&#8217;ll include this forever on one of our rounds.<br \/>\nThe birds can sing and fly in the skies<br \/>\nBut we have the charm with huge brown doe-eyes.<\/p>\n<p>We get a bad rap, it&#8217;s not all our fault,<br \/>\nOur old feeding grounds are now covered with asphalt.<br \/>\nJust give us a sleigh and we&#8217;ll make you proud,<br \/>\nWe&#8217;re good for more than just eating roses, they vowed.<\/p>\n<p>Call us Dasher and Dancer and Comet and Vixen,<br \/>\nOr Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen,<br \/>\nThen maybe you&#8217;ll forgive us for our past mistakes,<br \/>\nWe can&#8217;t help that we eat plants, we just don&#8217;t eat steaks.<\/p>\n<p>Now if you&#8217;ve been good this year, go ahead and make a wish,<br \/>\nAnd each time you see one of us, think welcome, not banish.<br \/>\nAnd all of us creatures will give you our best shot,<br \/>\nTo feed and nourish your garden with nary a thought.<\/p>\n<p>So everybody listen carefully on Christmas Eve,<br \/>\nAnd maybe you&#8217;ll hear us and then you&#8217;ll believe.<br \/>\nYou may even hear us exclaim as we prance out of sight,<br \/>\n&#8221; Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night ! &#8221;<\/p>\n<p>My thanks to Clement Clark Moore who wrote this poem in 1822 in New York. I&#8217;d like to believe that he would enjoy my version for gardeners everywhere.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Twas the night before Christmas and all through the garden, All the creatures were stirring, the deer got a pardon. The hummingbird feeders were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that the Anna&#8217;s soon would be there. The flowering cherries were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of spring glory danced &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/jannelsonlandscapedesign.com\/wordpress\/2017\/12\/24\/a-christmas-poem-for-gardeners\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">A Christmas Poem for Gardeners<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[805],"tags":[911,523],"class_list":["post-3238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christmas-poem","tag-christmas-poem-for-gardeners","tag-the-mountain-gardener"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jannelsonlandscapedesign.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jannelsonlandscapedesign.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jannelsonlandscapedesign.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jannelsonlandscapedesign.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jannelsonlandscapedesign.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jannelsonlandscapedesign.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3238\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jannelsonlandscapedesign.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jannelsonlandscapedesign.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jannelsonlandscapedesign.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}