Attending the Grand Illumination on Martha’s Vineyard should be on everyone’s bucket list. In fact, don’t put it on the “must do before I die” list, put it on your “must go in 2015” list. Seriously. It is a magical event that incorporates the best of small town America, U.S. history, gardens, and charm, charm, charm.
But while it should be on your have-to-attend events in the future, there is no reason you need to wait for illumination in your own garden. The Weekend Project on Coffee for Roses today is an inspiration for you to get some paper lanterns and hang them around your house and garden before the good weather ends. Celebrate your garden. Celebrate color. Celebrate how plants, flowers, and the comforts of home illuminate our lives, no matter where we are.
At Illumination in Oak Bluffs the already charming Victorian cottages are decked out in all manners of paper lanterns and parasols. Some are new and others quite old. They are as colorful and magical in the daytime, before they are lit, as they are in the darkness once the signal is given to illuminate!
Lanterns don’t have to be hung on porches. Consider stringing them in the garden, hanging them from trees or arbors, or piling them into a hammock!
What do YOU have to celebrate and illuminate? Let me know if you’ve lit up your gardens this year.
