The Earth Laughs in Flowers

I may have mentioned this before…

and most likely will do so again,

….and again.

I love this time of year!

I wait all winter for my garden to awaken. 

It is a treat well worth waiting for.

A few moments in the garden bring me a sense of peace in a crazy daisy world.

I start my day with a hot, fresh brewed cup of coffee in one hand and my camera in the other.

So I can share…

The robins are here, bright and early, snitching strawberries. 

Strawberries I have let roam as ground cover wherever they please. 

They are tucked beneath roses, along walkways and hidden beneath over grown perennials.

They are a treat and I set my camera down to pick a few.

I actually do get some, even if the robins are making a feast of them.

I could be irritated that I lose most of the berries to the birds, but they are so comical as they wrestle with a berry that is nearly as big as their own heads….

…it makes me smile instead of annoyed.

Bumblebees are perched on blooms. 

Still and silent.

 

The morning mountain air is still too chilly for them. 

They wait patiently for the suns warming rays to come over the trees.

I can’t say that I blame them…

40 degrees in June is just too cold. 

Even at night.

Warmer days and nights shall come…

 

At least that is what I tell myself as a shiver runs over me.  Brrr. 

How is your weather?

Are you sweltering as we still sweater up?

I will look at the bright side…

at least it isn’t SNOWING!

Time to head to the studio and paint my day away…

I wish you sunshine and warm temps on this fine day. 

I love Sunday Mornings

I love this time of year.  The sun is up by 5 am and the birds are especially tuneful. 
The neighborhood is quiet (everyone sleeping in, I suppose) and my garden  beckons me. 

Grab a coat this time, it has turned cold this week.  I mean fah-reezing. 
Literally, 32 degrees.   I can prove it. 

One of my San Romano tomatoes just curled up her edges and will now need a bit of a trimming. 



Poor thing.  The other, not three feet away looks fine, but my Basil just completely gave up the ghost and I will have to replant.

I have extra Basil tucked away in the greenhouse, just in case of such an occurrence.  We are in the mountains and cold can strike even in June, and I gotta have my basil come Fall.

 I make the best Pesto. 

 It is my taste of summer throughout the winter months. 

Do you have your coffee or tea?  Wrap your hands around the warm mug to keep your hands warm and we will see what has bloomed.

Can you smell the faint hint of wood smoke in the air?  The campers up at Big Trees State Park must be enjoying a cozy camp fire on a chilly morning. 

Beverly Sills.  This is my only Pink iris.  I think I need to add more pink. 

 

This guy below is not as flashy as some but the colors are subtle and interesting.



I honestly used to know all the names of my Iris and I had a map drawn of where everything was.

 I kept it  in my desk drawer to refer to when I forgot plant names but when we moved for a year and then moved back I just tossed my beloved plants, bulbs and corms in the ground without rhyme or reason.
 
I was in a hurry.

Dutch Iris in blue, I had some called Tigers Eye that was striking but it has not come back.  



A friend gave me this one, it is smaller than the Bearded Iris but quite lovely. 
 


I call this one Lemon Chiffon.

Not because of its color, but because of its scent, it smells faintly of Lemon Chiffon pie.

I came in the ‘scented’ collection I bought from Schreiners.



Icy Blue



Elise’



There is an iris just to the left of this one, it is called Starship Enterprise.  It is my favorite one of all, it is just starting to open so be sure to come back to see it.  I am sure it will be ready to photograph tomorrow morning. 



I must not forget Josephine..one of my clematis, she has been putting on a show herself.  She is close in coloration to Nelly Moser but just slightly a darker hue of pink.



My cup is empty, time to get a refill. 

I am going to sit in the garden and just enjoy the quiet of the morning, sip my coffee and dream of where I want to move what plant, what I would like to add or take away. 

Half the fun of a garden is changing it around. 

The other half is being surprised in Spring by what comes up because through the long winter months, buried beneath all the snow, you forget what you have done.
  
Enjoy this long, fun weekend.  I know I am. 

Come on back, I will be sure to share Starship. 

Another Garden Walk

The weekend fairly flew past, it was fun filled.  Saturday was the baby shower for my sister and her latest baby boy.
My sister in law made the cutest fruit salad. 





There was lots of wonderful food and it was enjoyable to catch up with family we had not seen in awhile.  

It was so lovely this morning, it was 50 degrees at 6am. I headed outside to enjoy it with my first cup of coffee.

The Iris beside the step I love to sit on had just opened up.



It is not one of the scented ones but it is gorgeous just the same.

One of my clematis is putting on a show as well.
 

I wish I could remember which one this is.  I will have to look up my garden map, I try to keep one on hand as I plant new things. 

This next Iris is blooming just a few scant inches from the ground, I am not sure why it did not grow normally but it is pretty just the same.



The Baby Blue eyes Forget Me Nots are filling in and I have some cropping up all the way across the garden, I suppose the birds are spreading the seeds.  I don’t mind, it does not seem to be overly aggressive and I can easily keep it in check.



My Cecile Brunner climbing rose perfumes the air, I get a good whiff each morning as I go to feed the hens.  It sure beats the smell of chickie doo.



My bed of lettuce, it was filled from end to end but the chickens got loose one day and only left a little patch for us.  I had reseeded so we should get more soon. 



A few months back I ordered some roses from Heirloom Roses.  I have been very pleased with their growth and I am in love with this one so far.  It has just bloomed, it is called Kiss of Desire.





The other three are beginning to bloom as well and I will share those soon.

In a pot on my back deck is this lovely rose, called Scentimental. It truly has a lovely perfume. 



Below is a Warsaw Nike clematis that is just going hog wild, if you want a clematis that is tough and vigorous then this should be your choice. 



It is absolutely loaded with big fat blooms.



It will most likely start to bloom while I am away.  I leave on Wednesday for the rest of the week to work at the Strawberry Festival by Yosemite.  It is crazy, fast paced and exhausting but we have fun at the same time.
 
The downside is there is no internet or cell phone service AT ALL.  Zero, zilch, nada!

So that being said you will not hear from me until Monday.  I will be toast but I shall check in.  I will have my phone with me so I may get some photos but last year we were just too busy so I can’t make any promises.
 
Adios,





Fertilizer Friday

Another beautiful day!

The weather has been spring like making it easier to work out of doors.  My bench is coming along and I will post the update soon with photos of us building it. 

I took the time Sunday morning to walk my gardens and see what was blooming.  My Hyacinths provide a sweet perfume that is pleasant as I walk thru the different blooms. 



This was taken just a few days ago and now it has change already. As soon as the sun starts shining steadily and warms up the earth the garden begins to really get to work.



One of my New Millennium Delphinium seedlings, in the past I have called them English Delphiniums but I should correct myself here.  This one was in my greenhouse and is already blooming but the ones I put out in the garden last Fall are cropping up just fine as well, they will take longer to produce blooms.

You can go here to see my post on starting these from seed.



I have started a lot of these and I am going to plant them all in my garden, I love them! These were protected by wire to keep the chickens from digging them up as they hunted for worms.



My Japanese Maple seedlings are all leafing out.  I will share my method of sprouting these guys soon, it is easy enough.  I had nabbed these seeds off the patio of a restaurant that was surrounded by Japanese Maples, the seeds littered the ground thickly.  I will have to try there again this Fall and see if I can get more.



My Cecile Brunner climber is loaded with buds, the side I my chicken house this is clambering up will be awash with the spicy scented pink blooms soon.



All of my Clematis are donning buds as well.  Each one is a different color.  They sure seem to like it here. 



A thick carpet of Larkspur volunteering in the garden.



And some purple flower signs I have been painting on.






And a couple rose signs to ship out today.





I certainly hope everyone enjoys their Tuesday.  Another sunny spring day here and out to the studio I go.  First I think I will put down some more Delphinium seeds, I can’t have too many!