Carter's Water Garden


Sunday Reflections…

Good afternoon šŸ™šŸ» I always try to post a Sunday Reflections blog, and they have almost always been in the morning. The morning just got away from me šŸ˜‚ Coffee ā˜•ļø Chickens šŸ“ Breakfast šŸ³ Picking up, cutting back, composting, trash duty, etc. Preparations for the coming season… Plus Preparations for the coming week 😊 February is only a few days away and I already have Spring Fever šŸ€

The buds are swelling on my Saucer’ Magnolia! Spring is coming!

Thursday is Groundhog Day, the half-way point of Winter! Then it’s a downhill roll into Spring ā¤ļø

Have a great afternoon!

Mark C.

“Every gardener knows that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle … a seed waiting to sprout, a bulb opening to the light, a bud straining to unfurl. Ā And the anticipation nurtures our dream.”

~ Barbara Winkler



Sunday Reflection’s…

A new year and I have been busy planning for it! Business plan, events, pond tours, workshops, jobs, early buys, plant orders and more… I haven’t missed a sunrise or sunset in 2023 yet! No it’s not a resolution… But I do really enjoy watching both šŸŒžšŸŒ… Here’s a little collage of some of 2023’s best from the Beach!

Now is when the real work begins…

ā€œSunrise looks spectacular in nature; sunrise looks spectacular in the photos; sunrise looks spectacular in our dreams; sunrise looks spectacular in the paintings, because it really is spectacular!ā€

~ Mehmet Murat Ildan

Mark C.



Sunday Reflection’s…

Good Morning! ā˜€ļø What a storm we had last night! ā›ˆ āš”ļø šŸ’„ Here we are changing seasons… Bye bye Summer, Hello Fall šŸšŸ‚ We have literally been on a West TN weather seesaw… It was 100 degrees on the last day of summer, So Hot 🄵 Then the next day a 51 degree morning… Then back up close to 90 today, but guess what – down into the 40’s tonight😮

I recently saw a few Wooly Bear’s… Could be looking at a bad Winter ā„ļø

Oh well, again the old saying holds true, ā€œIf you don’t like the weather, just you waitā€ā€¦

Now it’s on to breakfast and then a little work in the Garden! I Love ā¤ļø Fall!

“In the garden, Autumn is, indeed the crowning glory of the year, bringing us the fruition of months of thought and care and toil.Ā Ā 
And at no season, safe perhaps in Daffodil time, do we get such superbĀ color effects as from August to November.”

~ Rose G. Kingsley

Watch this short for the cutest puppy ever šŸ‘‡šŸ»

Have a great Sunday!

~ Mark C.



Sunday Reflection’s…

Labor Day Weekend… It’s definitely nice to enjoy a few days off! There are still things that we have to do of course, but since we live at the Nursery & Gardens we also work for a living… It’s just another day in our routine…

Or is it?

This is my immediate family captured in an image.. by a very good photographer I might add šŸ˜‰

I was reflecting on my labor in life, and In many ways my labor is my life… I mean, I literally live at the Nursery/Farm that I work for a living… There are no days off when there are plants to water (or they die!) and animals to feed & water (or they suffer &/or die)! So I have done what anyone in my situation has to do, I have embraced it wholeheartedly! And I LOVE my Family! My ā€˜everyday’ Lifestyle! And I LOVE MY Job! ā¤ļø

ā€œHe who works with his hands is a laborer.

He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman.

He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist.ā€

   ~ Saint Francis of Assisi

Happy Labor Day šŸ‡ŗšŸ‡ø to everyone that Labor’s out there! I hope you love your job too! šŸ™šŸ»

Mark C.



Sunday Reflection’s…

This Summer has just flown by for me… I must be having fun right 😊 Most Sundays are family days. Eat breakfast together, spend time together, etc… Today is both different and the same šŸ’­ Today my wife and I are at a work conference that we attend yearly for training and CEU points for our certification as Pond/Water Garden Specialist. We have been working and training with some of these folks for well over 20 years… So many of these folks are like an extended family!

An extended family I haveĀ 
I am so gladĀ 
To have you allĀ 
I feel ten feet tallĀ 
And I give you my allĀ 

If you needĀ 
You will not have to pleadĀ 
I will feel gleeĀ 
If I can give you what you needĀ 
There is no needĀ 
For you pleadĀ 
My love for you all is a guaranteeĀ 

Let me know you are in needĀ 
And I will be there in lightning speedĀ 
To help you all in your time of needĀ 
So remember there is no needĀ 
To pleaĀ 
I will help you in time of needĀ 

~ Keith Wells

~ Mark C.



Sunday Reflection’s…

What a week… Work, rain, storms, heat, shipping delays, out of stock, yada yada… The ā€˜New Normal’ they call it… But, all in all a good week! Lots to be Thankful for šŸ™šŸ»
My reward was the weekend with my lovely wife on the river. Boat riding, swimming, photography, beautiful sunsets and then after dark… Bug Watching! (yes, we are both easily entertained 😊)

A prime spot to watch bugs… Look at that line buildup! You don’t get quality bug watching like this in town! Lights a bit harsh though…

There are so many opportunities to watch bugs at the river! I mean, it’s kinda the only show in town 😊 #bugwatchin

We rode around giggling like a couple of kids, eating ice cream, cracking jokes and yes, watching bugs… I got her laughing pretty good 😊

Then we found this one, and watched for quite some time. She is pretty cool šŸ•·

What can I say, I’m a cheap date 😊

ā€œStood on the ledge of my sleepy blue sorrow
back from the edge, guess I’ll see you tomorrow
can’t lie, not the first time I’m thinking of you
but the night bugs are out, life’s distractions will do

I looked to the west as the day slowly fadyded 
turned up the volume of cricket and katydid
rhythm rubs life in the darkness outside
steer clear of the blue light or get yourself fried

With the zapper you took out the skeeters and flies
while spiders and ants faced the raider’s demise
yellow jackets and wasps, you chased from their hives,
but these night bugs are here for the rest of our lives
bittersweet bugs for the rest of our lives

Back in the house now, I roll down the screen
protecting myself from the lurking unseen
from the critters, which drawn by the lure of the light
make feast in their famine on food, flesh and fright

we handle the things that intrude in our spaces
the bugs in the dark and the unwanted faces
we roll down the screens and we listen to voices
those sweet summer sounds, and this night bug rejoices

With the zapper you took out the skeeters and flies
while spiders and ants faced the raider’s demise
yellow jackets and wasps, you chased from their hives,
but these night bugs are here for the rest of our lives

too many months have passed without hearing
the music which blends with the night bugs I’m fearing
I nearly lost hope for those sounds in my life
but these night bugs revive good ol’ summertime strife
bittersweet bugs, for the rest of my life

Stood on the ledge of my sleepy blue sorrow
back from the edge, guess I’ll see you tomorrowā€

~ G Clair

Have a great Sunday!

Mark C. ā¤ļø



Sunday Reflections… Happy Mother’s Day!

Today started early… Straiten up the house, spray off the porch and food prep for lunch… Not just any lunch mind you – Its Mothers Day! šŸ’„

Four VIP Moms in my life! What would we do without Momma?

I’m gonna keep it short today, because lunch is coming quick! Happy Mothers Day to all the moms out there! I hope you all have a very special day!

“There ought to be a hall of fame for mamas

Creation’s most unique and precious pearls

And heaven help us always to remember

That the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.”

~ Glen Campbell & Steve Wariner

Happy Mother’s Day momma!

Mark C.



Sunday Reflections…

All I can say is ā€What a beautiful morningā€! I think every bird in the world is singing the song of Spring! Ive been up and out since early… Coffee ā˜•ļø āœ”ļø Breakfast āœ”ļø Watering āœ”ļø … We have moved pottery a bit and potted some things up as well. Its mid-morning break time, so I thought I would write this little blog and fix some homemade Lemonade šŸ‹ Nothing tastes as good as a fresh glass of sweet lemonade on a spring morning.

I just Love Spring!

ā€œIt’s lemonade in a cardboard cup between the legs of a freshly tanned, sunglass wearing, brown eyed girl. It’s a white Jeep, blaring Enrique loud.

It’s the sweat beneath the dark curls. It’s the country song that brings tears to your eyes. It’s the lessons learned, the mistakes made. It’s the future ahead, bright and beautiful. It’s the laughter, memories. It’s the good things in life.Ā 

It’s Spring.

~ Alixis Russell


I’ll see y’all in the house about dark:30…

Mark C.



Sunday Reflections…

What a BEAUTIFUL Day!!! šŸŒžšŸŒ¼ What do you do on an Sunday in the Spring, when you own a nursery, with limited help and beauĀ·coup plants 🪓? You water 🚿 and then you water 🚿 some more… And in between, you clean and cut back and fertilize, ad infinitum… But, on a day like today, its not an awful deal…

ā€œSpring drew on…and a greenness grew over those brown beds, which, freshening daily suggested the thought that hope traversed them at night, and left each morning brighter traces of her steps.ā€

~ Charlotte Bronte’

I’m going inside… Been a long day 😊

Mark C.



Sunday Reflections…

Good Morning! And, ā€Happy Vernal Equinox! I’ve been hollering ’Spring is Coming’ since February, and finally – here we are 🌼 SPRING!

Belle has been patIently waiting for Spring and the Flowers that follow 😊

Yesterday we held our annual Spring Workshop and Customer Appreciation Day and so many people came out! We talked gardening, water gardening, Koi, and more. We ate some Wonderful Craft-made Pizzas šŸ• and saw some beautiful Art Displayed by a wonderful local artist – Matt Brown.

Featured Artist Matt Brown and two Lovely Ladies ā¤ļø
Our local news station even came out and interviewed us and shot some video.

The Sun finally popped out late in the day and we saw the Full Moon after dark šŸŒ

We found Spring by the light of the šŸŒ•

Now that Spring is here, its time to go to work!

ā€œOh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,
The which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends He will,
But which it only needs that we fulfill.

~ Robert Frost, A Prayer in Spring.

Y’all Have a Beautiful Sunday!

Mark C.