June: A Season of Growth and Gratitude
There is something quietly miraculous about June. After the long, slow exhale of winter and the tentative promise of spring, June arrives with a kind of joyful certainty — hedgerows thick with blossom, evenings stretched long and golden, and gardens suddenly, gloriously, in full voice. For people of faith, this annual renewal is no accident. It speaks of a Creator who delights in beauty, who clothes the fields and tends the sparrow, and who invites us to find him in the living world around us.
On Sunday 14th June, Ansley will be taking part in the National Garden Scheme’s Open Gardens day. Private gardens across the village will open their gates to visitors, offering a rare and generous glimpse into the creativity, care, and hard work that goes into making a beautiful outdoor space. It is a day for wandering slowly, for admiring, and for that particular quiet joy that comes from being surrounded by growing things — a joy that, at its heart, feels like a form of gratitude.
The National Garden Scheme has been raising money for nursing, health, and wellbeing charities across the UK for nearly a hundred years. Every garden visit, every cup of tea enjoyed on a borrowed lawn, contributes to that remarkable effort — a reminder that beauty and compassion so often go hand in hand. Full details of participating gardens, opening times, and the charities supported can be found at www.ngs.org.uk.
Closer to home, anyone who has paused by St Laurence’s churchyard recently will know that it too is flourishing. Much of the credit belongs to Ansley in Bloom, whose volunteers give their time and energy to keeping this sacred space looking its very best — weeding, planting, and tending with a dedication that is itself a kind of ministry. A well-kept churchyard says something important to all who pass by: that this place is loved, that the lives remembered here are honoured, and that the community of faith is alive and present in the village.
Scripture tells us that we are co-workers in God’s creation — called not merely to use the world, but to tend it. In our gardeners, our volunteers, and all who quietly care for the shared spaces of this community, we see that calling beautifully lived out.
This June, make time to wander. Visit an open garden, pause in the churchyard, and give thanks for the hands — and the grace — that make Ansley bloom.