The flowers of spring

As our seasons transition from spring to summer I wanted to share some of the beauty from the season.

We had a really dreadful winter, with record rainfall, ice and storms.  When the calendar gave us spring, we had hope for warmer, drier weather. But alas, Mother Nature had a different idea.  We continued to have record wet weather through March and April. It wasn’t until early May that we finally saw a reprieve.

Of course, the plant world doesn’t mind a few wet, gray days.  And we were very ready to welcome any sign that spring and summer was really on the way.  From the early tulips, trillium, columbine, iris, flowering currant, lilacs and even iconic dandelions that we can always count on came the hope for better days ahead.  Rhododendron, snowball bush, viburnum, lupine and may-apple signal mid-spring is briefly upon us.  Some early summer flowers tease that summer will arrive soon –  poppies, clematis,  and old garden roses.

Enjoy the photos – to view the photos in a slideshow format simply click on the first photo and go from there.

 

*S.   If you need me, I will be in the garden

 

 

Roses!

How are you? Its been a while. I thought it was time to get my feet wet, and try a bit of blogging again!

You may remember that I volunteer as a Master Gardener? One of the projects that I am involved with is tending the gardens at the End of the Oregon Trail Pioneer Gardens in Oregon City. The roses have begun their once-a-year show, and I have never seen the blooms look so spectacular! So I decided to share…

*for even more glimpses of the gardens please checks out our blog page: EOT Pioneer Garden

Dog Rose

Rosa Mundi

Harison’s Yellow

Rosa Mundi

Columbine with multiflora Thunberg

Dog Rose with multiflora Thunberg

William Lobb moss rose

Cardinal de Richelieu aka Old Cardinal

* Valentines Day

A definition of Valentines Day, paraphrased from Wikipedia: The day was first associated with romantic love in the 18th-century England. It evolved into an occasion in which lovers expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as “valentines”). 

It’s the day when the whole world turns red and pink.  Tokens of our affection are handed out in the form of sweets, cards and flowers.   We decorate our world with heart shapes in all colors but mostly traditional reds, pinks and whites.  Retailers began reminding us there is money to be spent just after the clearance tags were put on the un-sold Christmas merchandise.

This week I have been observing people as I go out on my errands.  Actually, it’s mostly the men that I have been watching.  I have seen them quietly thumbing through greeting cards at the gift stores, hovering around the candy displays at the grocery stores, and choosing bouquets of  all kinds in the warehouse market.   The are alone, they are moving like ghosts or shy children, unsure of what to choose.  They don’t speak to anyone, and the expressions they wear on their faces is all the same: a kind of shell-shocked, am I doing this right kind of look.  Mostly over 30, they obviously care very much about getting it right: the once a year public display of affection.  It’s priceless!

This week I also paid a visit to Youngest Daughter.  She was making a Strawberry Valentines cake to share with her co-workers at a Sweets potluck.  She is so into holidays and creating things for her friends and family; I love watching her create!    

And of course I can’t resist the opportunity to create a photo to share in my own way, too.  For the grand-kids there are heart shaped boxes of candy and craft kits to deliver sometime this weekend, and Saturday Hubby and I will spend the day together running errands and sharing a nice meal with all the other Valentine couples.

Tomorrow the moment will be gone, and clearance stickers will mark the unsold candy and gifts at the stores.  Florists will breathe a sigh of relief that another year has come and gone, and count the receipts from all the dozens of red roses sold.  The boxes of chocolates will be opened and shared, the valentine cards displayed for a week or so, and new jewelry proudly shown off.  

I feel so fortunate to have my family and friends, and love having days like to this to reflect on how blessed we are; and to express my feelings publicly.  I hope you find some love in your little corner of the world! Happy Valentines Day.   ♥

late Winter to Early Spring * in Sharon’s garden

It’s been a very long winter in my world. When the calendar turned to March, I started to see the signs I wait for from the time I put the garden to bed in November. The green shoots of my roses begin to swell, the Hosta leaves start to point up through the ground, my 3 year old Clematis is waking up and all the little plants I have in the yard seem to become much larger as I walk around to take a peek, and a photograph or two.

The following pics are a timeline of sorts, walking you through the last part of Winter as it turns gradually to spring. Without a doubt, something worth seeing with each passing year.

Enjoy the photos, and the wallpaper calendar at the end for you* Sharon

a ghost from lingers from last years garden

I noted this beautiful fungus growing on an older rose cane and couldn’t resist sharing

the first blooms to arrive in my sleeping garden

a classic beauty graces my rose bed every spring

the simplicity of the Trillium always reminds me of my mom

this Ballerina beauty is fast becoming a new favorite of mine.

there is never enough red in the winter garden

the Cherry and Camellia grace my view from the dining room

there isn’t a better plant for a winter garden than a Hellebore.

love the simple greens in this bloom

the burgundy colors of this winter rose remind me of my summer roses

taken on March 7, my evergreen Clematis promises a cascade of blooms

about a week later, the blooms begin to uncurl from the bud

the stamens are still so fresh and untouched

yet another week later, the vine is a riot of blooms

the stamens are all unfurled and waiting for the pollinators

love the classic form of this blooming vine

a mini rose begins to leaf out beneath my feet

another classic spring gem, Muscari

this should be my Birthday Bloom, she is right on time every year

these blooms are so fragrant, and the blooms so cheerful in the grey spring days ( Oregon Grape)

I love watching the hosta’s uncurl their leaves each spring

delicate and classic, wish she would bloom all year!

a variegated Money Plant. I wish she weren’t a biannual plant ( I only have one so far!)

a peek at what’s to come … my roses are leafing out just right

I will leave you with the latest desktop wallpaper … enjoy!

this morning* in my garden

This morning I was sitting in the sun on the deck. It was a peaceful morning with just enough breeze to move the chimes to music.  A perfect August day.  Cool air touching my skin, the colors of summer surrounding me.  There is much to see in my garden in the summertime.  Every year is different, but there is always something that my eyes come to rest on over and over.  These are just a few of those things.

Enjoy the photos with captions. You can either scroll down the page with the thumbnails or click the first image for a photo carousel of larger images to click through. 

*Sharon ~ from my garden

My letter “A” planter with mini ground covers and sedums

The Acorn Water Bowl, with water plants floating in the sunshine

I always leave some of the flowers that the birds plant and let them grow

Another birdseed bloom.

The squash blooms are so cool!

When I returned to re-shoot the roses, the bloom was closed.

A fave this year, my Honey Dijon rose, is such a striking color.

For my entomologist friends…. I have seen these in the garden before. Should I be afraid?!

She has been resting, and now has about 10 buds.

I love this Elephant planter, the begonia was a prefect choice this year.

Close up

Pretty Much Picasso petunia. Love the green stripe.

I let some carrots go to seed. The bee liked it too!

The first time I ever saw one of these flowers was in my sisters garden.

I thought they were some kind of orchid. It’s a Toad Lily (Tricyrtis species)

The Pup has learned I will throw the ball for him when I am working in the garden.

Time for a break on the shady pathway.

ladybug larvae * garden residents, or visitors?

Last month I welcomed visitors to my garden; both my gardener friends and these tiny red and black insects.  As I waited for my human visitors to arrive I was taking photos of the new rose we planted this year (it’s called Ketchup and Mustard) and noted a very large Ladybug larvae cruising around on the buds and blooms.  He stayed for both days of my Open Garden, and I was able to get out my Lupe and share the magic of his visit with  my guests.

My macro lens captured these photos, to record his visit for all time.  I am sure that he has grown up by now and become the winged Ladybug he was meant to be, but I was entranced by his movements on the roses.  I have seen his brothers on many of my roses since then, taking care of the aphids that have moved right in this summer.

I love watching the magic that is my garden, the blooms of the plants unfurl, the small plants get larger, and the insects come and go.  Of course I can do without the aphids, and I know the spiders are beneficial and all, but I don’t really care to walk thru the webs every morning.  But I know….it’s all part of the cycle of life, happening every day, every season with or without me.

I was very impressed by this series of photos.  The plants, the bug, the lighting; the lens that captured it perfectly.  It’s not hard to be a good photographer with such a beautiful subject in my viewfinder!

Enjoy the photos, without captions or interruptions. You can either scroll down the page with the thumbnails or click the first image for a photo carousel of larger images to click through. 

*Sharon ~ from my garden

Ahhhh, its August !

Its no secret that I love August. Most years its one endless hot sunny day after another, mornings less hot and afternoons breezy and dusty. Evening strolls into night, which is often the best weather of the day with no unrelenting sun to hide from.  There are vacations, and summer projects to be done, County Fairs to attend, and picnic’s to go to.  As a kid we loved the freedom, but there was always the specter of a new school year in the air.

This morning I look out on a summer morning that is quite different. Now, we all know that the weather of 2011 has been anything but predictable, especially by the standards of the record books. But it feels to me that I have been plunged right back to the summers of my mid-west roots. And I love it!

Morning cloud cover keeps the heat at bay, the afternoons are sweet and a bit humid, and the evenings are fluid and still.  My garden looks wonderful, the grass is happier with the cooler temps and isn’t taking a daily beating from the sun.  Roses are finally not being tattered from the (unusual) mid-July rains, and giving me some beautiful mid-summer blooms.  Its true that everything is late this year, so I finally have an eggplant peeking out from the leaves of my potted veggie garden. Its about the size of a  lime right now. (Planted the plant in June) But with weather like this to wake up to, I don’t mind a few late veggies.

As always, I have been out taking photos and enjoying every minute of it. Last week I was in the Portland International Rose Test Garden taking pics. On Saturday Hubby and I went for a drive in Portland’s industrial district to look around and shoot some neat stuff he has seen while making deliveries for his company.  And the weather was perfect!

I have been busy with a project that is mostly complete, I know I owe you all pictures from Dulcy’s garden.  Those will be coming later this week, and hopefully some other I have been working on.  For now, I will leave you with a request:  Tonight, when the stillness has returned along with the darkness of the August night, step outside and breathe deeply, close your eyes and return to those August nights long ago, when you didn’t have a deadline or a to-do list.  I will be there with you, looking at the stars.