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It Finally Rained!!

Saturday, July 10th, 2010

It so far has been a very dry late Spring and Summer, with so many storm fronts approaching and splitting…. rain to the North, rain to the South and none here…. (The date on my blog is not coming up right, so I am writing this on July 25- time for some tech geek help to figure out what is going on.)

Wet Planter

When we did get precipitation, it was just enough to raise the humidity and barely dampen the bottom of the bucket I have used as my “rain gauge”. The lawn became pretty crispy, and some of my newest additions to the gardens were looking sad. The spring that I use to water my gardens and planters, dried up a couple of weeks ago, and I have had buckets in sinks to catch hand or dish washing water to use to keep planters and new babies alive without using too much from our well which likes to go dry in Summer.

Sky 01

It seemed as if every time there was rain in the forecast, all we got to see were white, puffy clouds like these. They are really pretty, but when you are praying for rain, not what you want to see every day.

Wet Nicotiana

Finally, on Friday July 23, we woke to a nice gentle rain shower…. heavy storms were predicted, and there were severe ones in other areas not far away- even a tornado, but the half inch we finally got was wonderful. The above photo is of the pink Nicotiana in one of my deck planters… the blurry flower had a drop off the eves fall on it just as I clicked.

Tomato

Another nicely wet planter… This one has a volunteer Tomato plant growing in it…. I left it there to see what it does…. the only tomatoes I have grown on the deck have been grapes, so I am hoping for similar ones.

Stormy Sky 1 8PM

The rain on Friday came with a very hot and humid air mass that hung around for the weekend. This photo above, and the following ones were taken Saturday evening. We began the evening listening to many severe thunderstorm warnings, then tornado watches and warnings. Tornadoes are not common around here, but this summer there have now been at least 4+ in the region. By the time I took this photo the sky was looking pretty “spooky”…. with pinks, yellows and black clouds.

Stormy Sky 2 8:25PM

This was the sky a bit later… The color doesn’t show great in this photo, but it did pick up all the different types of clouds that were present, from little white wisps to dark ominous ones.

Stormy Sky 3- 8:42PM

Shortly after the previous photo was taken, the rain started to fall. Heavy downpours were forecast, but things came fairly gently…. what we need to get moisture into the ground. The sky really began to change, and I was amazed that my camera got the colors pretty close to what they were. We were babysitting our granddaughter Jenna, and she had to have her stool by the front door to look out with her “Poppy”. The pink in the sky made the water drops on the door window look pink, too.

Stormy Sky 4 8:43 PM

This was the first time I remember seeing clouds that looked like this…. The puffy ones higher up were like cottonballs, not like normal cauliflower T-storm clouds, and the lower clouds were darker, wispy ones. It was spooky and amazing at the same time, especially knowing that a possible tornado had been spotted by the weather service in the county to the West of us.

Stormy Sky 5 8:43 PM

As you can see by the times of the photos, I was clicking as many as I could…. This one came out a bit more orange than the actual sky, but shows the shapes of the clouds great. It was a wonderful combination of bright pinks, oranges, shades of gray and even blue sky peeking in the distance.

Stormy Sky 6 8:44 PM

The colors in this photo are pretty close to what we saw… The trees in my Maple tree garden made some great silhouettes against the sky. It kept changing so quickly.

Stormy Sky 7 8:44 PM

This was a different angle, catching the white wisps below the streaks and ripples above in pinks and blue-grays.

Stormy Sky 8- 8:45 PM

This shows the blue sky creeping in along with more dark streaks following.

Stormy Sky 9- 8:47 PM

This is the last photo I took because it was getting too dark for the camera. I really didn’t expect the photos to show as good as they do with my old Kodak digital, but sometimes I am really amazed at what I end up with. We only ended up with less than a half inch more of rain from this storm… much less than fell other places nearby, but yesterday AM while in church we got another rain shower that gave us a total of an inch. An inch and a half of rain in 3 days… That’s the way we needed it to come…. mostly gentle enough not to wash right off, but soak in.

White Lily 2

OK, I have to add at least one more flower… The last bud from my newest Oriental Lily bloomed…. It has been glowing in the garden… I can’t quite see this one from my kitchen window, so it forces me to get out to wander the gardens to see it. That is how I have planted many gardens…. You have to walk around or through them to see all the treasures in them. I will have to give my gardens another day to recover from the rain until the Petunias and Phlox are “photo worthy” again…. the rain knocked off or turned flowers to mush… I am sure it will be worth the wait!

Tags: gardens, inspirations, nature, skies, trees
Posted in Flowers and Gardens, inspirations, Landscapes and Skies | 19 Comments »

July in the Gardens and it’s HOT!

Thursday, July 1st, 2010

The very first few days of July were nice, with warm days and cool nights, then the heat arrived….. We are now in day 3 of a heat wave with temps in the mid 90′s.

(Today’s date is July 7, but the blog seems to think it is still July 1st..?.?.. I guess I’ll have to figure out what is going on…. Later….)

Front Door Garden

There has also been no measurable rain in a loooong time… The lawn is pretty crispy, but the gardens are doing pretty well with the hay mulch on them and occasional waterings. I have been lugging hoses all over to keep the newest plants growing well. The Front door garden is pretty colorful now with the Phlox coming into bloom along with the Daylilies and Echinaceas. You can also see the mildew on the tall late blooming Phlox in the photo above. The lower growing varieties seem to be much more resistant to the nasty white powder that makes the plants really ugly.

Van- Not a Good Sign

Since my last post, I went back to Fillmore, NY to see family and had a bit of trouble getting on the road….. The van really needed new brakes, but during the repair things didn’t go all that smoothly. A few more parts were needed, and after an extra day of waiting, I now have brakes that stop the van very smoothly! You can see that the Maple Tree Garden in the van photo, with the Annabelle Hydrangea in full bloom.

Mom's Deck

The main reason I went back to my hometown was to see my grandmother who has ended up in the nursing home again… another fall. My sister was also visiting from TX, and I wanted to get some plants that I had taken up earlier in the spring planted for my mom. It was a busy visit, and the garden around Mom’s deck and patio is looking much better. The Hosta, Phlox, and Echinaceas I took from my gardens are now in their new homes. Amazingly, there was a lot of rain the day before I did Mom’s gardens- over an inch- we got nothing in PA….

Baby Kitties at Gram's

My sister and I stayed at my gram’s house and did some cleaning and preparing of things for her to come home when she is able. The first couple of days, there were not too many cats around, but by the last day there were cats and their babies showing up. Here are a couple that I lured out with some milk. They were pretty skittish, there was also a gray one hiding behind it’s mom.

View from Wyalusing Rocks

I had an appointment with my Rheumatologist in Tunkhannock the first day I was back home, and while driving back up RT 6, I decided to “play tourist”. I stopped at a couple of scenic overlooks along the road and took a bunch of photos of the Susquehanna River, farms and surrounding mountains. The above photo was taken at the Wyalusing Rocks overlook, and shows the river curving through the valley. Here is a link to some tourist info for Bradford County, PA. More info about our area can be found there.

View From Marie Antoinette Lookout

The photo above here is from the Marie Antoinette lookout. There is a lot of great stonework, and you can see for miles around.

View From Marie Antoinette Lookout 2

This is the view from the other end of the lookout area, showing more of the stonework and more of the river and mountains.

View From Marie Antoinette Lookout 3

This photo shows some of the farms in the valley. I will be using these photos as inspiration for some new art quilts and quilted postcards.

Back at home, I have been taking walks through my gardens with the camera.

Mound Garden Echinacea and Hostas

This photo shows the Mound Garden in the back yard with the Echinaceas and Hosta in full bloom. So far these plants are doing well in the dry weather.

Echinacea with Bees

Here is a close shot of one of the more popular flowers with a couple of visitors on it. The honey bee tried to chase off the bumblebee, but I caught them both sharing the flower for a bit.

Baby Corn

It might be hard to see them, but there are some sweet corn plants in the veggie box. I think some critters helped themselves to many of the seeds…. not many plants came up. This bed has always been very dry, so I hope with the hay mulch I won’t have to water very often and hope these plants will take off.

Front Door Garden 2

Back around to the Front Door Garden, and more Echinaceas, Asiatic Lilies and Hemerocallis (Daylilies). I also have some Gladiola bulbs planted in the bare spots in this garden for late summer color and flowers to cut and take indoors.

Pair of Daylily Flowers

This is a closeup of a pair of Daylily flowers. Many of the Daylilies lost their buds due to the late freeze we had, or that is what I think happened. I have found lots of shriveled or deformed buds.

Hemerocallis Ice Carnival

This is my favorite Daylily variety… The white color shows up really nice in the evening, even as the flowers are fading after their single day of bloom.

Hemerocallis Pandora's Box

One of the few flowers this plant will have this season. Most of the buds died, but this variety is supposed to be a rebloomer, so maybe I’ll get a few more late summer. The photo makes it look bigger than it is… this flower is half the size of the other varieties.

Raspberry Petunias

I love pink, and I really love these pink Petunias- Raspberry Swirl, I believe. I have one plant in one of my large square planters along the front walkway.

OK, this is getting long….. I have more flower photos, but will save them for a later post. I may be wilting in the heat, but the flowers are still blooming!

Tags: andrusgardens, flowers, gardens, inspirations, nature
Posted in Flowers and Gardens, inspirations | No Comments »

Water Road Continued….

Monday, May 10th, 2010

Due to “technical difficulties” I had to rebuild the last post, and am finally getting the rest of what I found the other day along Water Road. If not for those Azaleas, I may never have known some of these little treasures existed right under my nose….

Wild Blueberry Blooms

During my wandering, I noticed what looked like small Azalea plants closer to the road. Upon closer inspection, the leaves were too small and not just right for Azalea leaves. They almost looked like Blueberry leaves, but I had never seen those here before…. As the photo above shows, they are definitely Wild Blueberries! They may have been under my nose all the time and I just looked over them, or this may be the first year they have bloomed…. Actually, around here they are called Huckleberries if they are found growing wild. They have smaller berries than the cultivated ones, but the flavor is wonderful. It’s hard to tell from the photo, but the blooms are about 1/4 inch long…. very tiny.

Solomon's Seal

I almost missed this, too… A medium growing Solomon’s Seal. I had gotten into the van and saw these out the passenger window, so had to get out again to get photos. These flowers aren’t quite fully open… They aren’t very showy, but the plants usually spread nicely. I have a variegated leaved one in my woodland garden…. I haven’t seen them come up yet… maybe I better take another walk in my own gardens!

Pussy's Toes Flowers

There were lots of these Pussy’s Toes blooming on the steepest parts of the roadside. They tend to like more harsh conditions to grow in. The little flowers on these are on 6 inch tall stems, with little fuzzy gray-green leaves.

Dogwood

It is pretty tricky to get photos of the wild Dogwood flowers. Most of the trees are way down the steep bank on one side of the road, or high on the upper bank of the road. This little tree wasn’t too far up, but the wind was blowing, so many tries were fuzzy. (I love my little digital camera…. just erase the bad ones:) I was trying to get a photo of some of the flowers from their tops, but I’m not tall enough and the wind didn’t want to blow them just when I wanted. This year, they seem to be ahead of most years, just about past peak.

Cinquefoil

I should have tried to get a finger into this photo to show how tiny the Cinquefoil flower is. The tree leaves may put things into perspective a bit. This flower is no more than about half an inch across. Plants growing in better conditions will have slightly larger flowers, and plant is mostly considered a weed by me. Pretty cute here.

Tall Trees

I was trying to show what it is like to walk along this roadway, with the tall trees growing up on a high bank, making them appear even taller. The sky was a perfect blue for the background. This is a beautiful stretch of road, and I feel so lucky to live where I do every time I drive down it.

Fiddleheads

From the sky, to the ground again….. There are many varieties of ferns growing, and this one is just beginning to unfurl it’s leaves with lots of little Fiddleheads showing.

Anemonella

I discovered these little Anemonella flowers last year, and I think there are even more of them this year. I have a hard time getting the camera to focus on the flowers, not the leaves or background, so this is the best photo I got. Another trip may be needed if the wind ever stops and the temps go up a little.

Big Rock

This is one of those things that amazes me…. Here is a huge rock, and there are numerous plants growing on the top of it just in whatever has fallen on the top and accumulated there. The photo doesn’t really show well, but the rock sits out by itself. A little rocky soil has tumbled off the bank onto part of it, but most is just old leaves, sticks and whatever else happened to fall there. The poor plants must struggle a lot for moisture in the summer, with such a thin layer of “stuff” to grow in…. Nature at it’s best! This is the last of the photos from that walk along the road…. There will be more as the Mountain Laurel get nearer to blooming.

Single White Peony

This beauty is something I have been wanting to acquire for many years… A Single flowered White Peony! I found this just in bud at a Lowes on the way home from my gram’s. It just started opening these gorgeous Lotus-like flowers. It is in the house right now, due to the gusty winds that kept blowing it over, until I decide it’s place of honor in the front door garden. The single Peony will hold it’s flowers longer because the first rain shower doesn’t fill them with water and flop them to the ground.

WIP Peek

Here is a little peek at what is happening with some of the photos I have been taking…. I am making a batch of postcards for an exchange group, and hope to have some extras that I will be able to list for sale, too. I also need to get my larger WIP to the machine and start adding some stitching to see where it will end up…. I have an idea what I will do, but many pieces seem to decide they want something different than I first thought…. Time will tell!

Tags: flowers, inspirations, nature, water road, work in progress
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Water Road Revisited…..

Saturday, May 8th, 2010

I am finding myself stopping more and more when I travel down Water Road. It may be a good thing that I don’t travel that direction too often, or I wouldn’t get where I need to go in a timely fashion many times.

Today, I was headed North to stop at greenhouses, garden centers, and to pick up prescriptions. I didn’t get far before stopping…. I usually end up spotting things on the way home to check out, but stopped on the way down as well as the way back today. What got my attention??? Pink flowers….. What was that pink??? Had to stop to find out…. Azaleas! Soft pink colored Azalea flowers blooming high on the bank at the bases of the trees. I couldn’t get great photos due to the distance, but here is one:

Wild Azalea

A cluster of blooms I was able to get a photo of peeking out from behind a baby Dogwood tree. This group were quite a pale pink, while other flowers were a bit deeper in color. This is the first time I have ever seen the Azaleas…. maybe because I have usually stopped for the Mountain Laurel that bloom later, or I just didn’t pay attention to what I was driving by…. Of course, when I stopped, I found more than the Azaleas…

Fringed Polygala in Leaves

I had only seen Fringed Polygala near home where I grew up… These are really tiny flowers and are easy to overlook if you are not walking and looking…. These little ones were peeking out of a pile of leaves.

Fringed Polygala in Moss

This bloom and bud were growing out of a tuft of moss. The flowers are no more than one inch across.

Fern and Wintergreen

This baby fern was so cute poking out from the moss and leaves with the Wintergreen (or Winter Creeper… I need to pay more attention).

Mountain Laurel Buds

While walking along the road, I had to check on the Mountain Laurel…. Here are what the buds look like now… Getting a little bigger…. There are more clusters of buds this year than there were in past years. They seem to be blooming more each year.

There are more little treasures I found today, but this blog is not behaving well tonight, so I will leave you in suspense…. (update 5-10-2010… The blog did crash and I had to recover this post this morning)

There were more treasures that I found… Maybe things will work better tomorrow…. Many of the photos will be finding themselves in coming quilts. There will be many more pieces based on what I have been finding along Water Road.

Tags: flowers, inspiration, nature
Posted in Flowers and Gardens, inspirations | 1 Comment »

A Hike in the Woods

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

I am staying at my grandmother’s house right across from the home I grew up in for a couple of weeks. I have not been back in my hometown area in the Spring since leaving for college. When working in greenhouses, I had no free time during the busy Spring season to get away. Today I went for my first hike and expedition into the woods where I used to explore when I was a kid. Here are some photos from today’s hike.

Sugar House

I began near the old sugar house…. Much of the area is in a cow pasture, and I found that I am not as good at getting through barbed wire fences as I was as a kid. I remember spending time with my grandfather in this building when I was quite little while he kept an eye on the boiling sap that became Maple syrup. It is now sinking into the hillside and is not in very good shape.

Dead Tree

Not too far up the hill from the sugar house, was this big tree that died and fell over.

Pond

Here is the pond where my sisters, brothers and I would spend summer days fishing. There are a pair of Canada geese swimming there now. The cows used to be kept in this pasture, and would go up the hill behind the pond to another flat area of the pasture. We used to hike up there often to bring the cows down for milking…. it looks much steeper than I want to hike up now….

Hepatica

After I checked out the pond, I began my exploration of the woods. I used to love to see what flowers and plants were coming up as the weather warmed up. The first I ran across today were a few of these tiny little white flowers.

We called this little gem Spring Beauty. The flowers are tiny white to pale pink with magenta to plum purple stripes. One needs to keep a keen eye out to find the little plants and flowers.

Sugar Road

Here is the main “trail” I took…. It was a roadway where the sap was carried from the trees to the sugar house. It is not very easy to walk it now because of all the fallen trees, branches, and other obstacles. I ended up following a few deer trails off the old roadway to find the plants I was really looking for. I felt like a mountain goat at times…. I was looking for Trilliums and Jack-in-the Pulpits that I used to love to watch growing and even moved a few to a natural garden near our house.

Dog tooth Violet 1

The woods were almost carpeted with the leaves from the Dog Tooth Violets. The yellow flowers were not in all areas, though. Here is one just opening.

Jack-in-the-Pulpit 1

The first of the real treasures I was looking for. Hiding in the piles of leaves was this Jack-in-the-Pulpit plant that was just beginning to show itself. It was hard to spot these, as most were not as far along than this one is.

Jack-in-the-Pulpit 2

This one is a bit different in color from the first. Not far from this one, I found a nice cluster of this color as well as the lighter colored ones. A few more up this far and lots more just peeking. A nice find….

Red Trillium 2

Just as I was beginning to wonder if I would find any Trilliums, I made this discovery! I first found only leaves with no blooms, then found many groups of the red flowered ones. They covered quite a good sized area. I had remembered more white flowered ones than red, but today I found mostly red.

Red Trillium

Here is a good closeup shot of one of the red flowers.

White Trillium

The lonely clump of white Trillium I found. I don’t know if there are more, but so far I found many more red ones. I will probably go on a bit farther another day and may find the big group of white flowers. I do remember the colors growing in different areas in the past.

Plant by Log

Another plant growing out from the bed of leaves next to a mossy old rotten log.

Rush Creek

Once I followed the deer path out to the road, I could get a good view of the creek as it travels around the bend with the cherry trees blooming on the bank.

After returning from my hike, I enjoyed a slide show of these photos and many more I took, and I realized that the new direction my quilting began heading in is not only inspired by the area of PA that I live in, but has been influenced by my wanderings when I was young in the woods and fields where I grew up, too.

Mud on the Wall Not so Muddy

Does anything in this quilt look familiar?? I guess I have been influenced by rocks, mud, dead trees and flowers through my whole life.

Tags: fillmore, flowers, inspirations, nature
Posted in Architecture and Old Buildings, Flowers and Gardens, inspirations | 6 Comments »

Another Walk, More Treasures…

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

My camera and I went walking on Water Road again yesterday to see the progress of the opening Mountain Laurel flowers.

Mountain Laurel 3

A few more florets have opened, and I caught a baby fern in this shot. The buds are pretty pink and the flowers open to the faded pink with those neat markings.

Roadside

Here is one section of the road I have been walking on. This is the view one would see driving along…. Not super impressive until you get out and up close.

Baby Maple

A baby Maple tree with it's reddish new leaves that turn greener as they mature. I wish the weather would cooperate so I could start sunprinting with some of the Maple and other leaves- too humid, rainy and windy…

Struggle

Ever felt like this poor flower cluster??? I think this shows just how I feel when my fibro decides to flare- Smashed down by a tree (or branch in this case). The flowers are still opening dispite being nearly buried.

Fuzzy Babies

Something more to keep my eye on…. Not sure what these little plants are. They are growing on a clump of moss on a pile of rocks. Looks like it might be a vine-like grower.

Feathery Ferns

Ferns are unfurling everywhere, now. This group looked so soft and feathery.

Baby Fern

A baby fern hiding among the other plants and dead branches and leaves.

Fern in Rock

How's this for overcoming obstacles!! This little guy is growing in a crack in the rock, and some days I think it is hard living where I do….

Another Fern

Final fern photo of today…. Not sure of the variety, different from the lacy wood ferns. Check out the upper left of this photo- a leaf from the Anemonella I found blooming earlier.

Pink Wild Rose 1

The tiny flowered wild roses can become very invasive, but this plant has pretty pink flowers instead of the usual white. I like the pink much better.. OK, I love the color pink..

Hemerocallis Pandora’s Box

Back home….. Here is a Daylily we bought in Georgia- I had not seen this variety up here in PA. It is very different from any others I already have and they are super hardy and easy to grow.

Baby Cobweb Chicks

Baby cobweb chicks I got on our way home… I had been looking for these for quite a while- mine all died in a weed infested rock garden.

Double Balloon Flower

This pretty flower is another on a plant we picked up at one of the garden centers we stopped at. I hadn't seen the lavender available here- just the blue. This plant is now in it's new home in my biggest flower bed.

So far not much going on in the studio still…. today is a bit rainy and dreary, so a good time to hibernate in there while I can't "play" in the gardens. I am getting a lot of great photos to play with for when my creativity returns….

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Tags: flowers, gardens, inspirations, nature
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My Walk on Water Road and Back in the Gardens

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

As promised, here are photos from a walk along Water Road to see the Mountain Laurel. I was sure to have freshly charged batteries in the camera, parked the min van and started discovering lots of treasures.

Mountain Laurel 2

Here is one of the blooming Mountain Laurel plants along the road. I was surprised to find that these plants must have been here for many years, even before the road was widened to two lanes. When I found the bases of the plants, there were shoots coming from knurly, cut off stubs. The plants had been cut off during the road work and re-grew to bloom again. It is amazing how tenacious some plants can be.

Mossy Rocks

Some wintergreen berries on tiny plants growing on moss covered rocks. Something I wouldn't have seen without really looking.

Another Mystery Plant

Now I have another mystery to solve…. This is a plant with tiny white flowers that I am not familiar with. There are a number of these plants along the road on the high side.

Lower Side of Water Road

This is the other side of the road- there is a steep drop-off. The plants growing close to the road were covered with dust from traffic on the gravel. A bit of a spooky road during winter when icy.

View Down Water Road

Here is a view looking down the road, with steep banks going up on one side and going down on the other. It is a beautiful road to travel, almost covered over by tree branches in some spots and distant view across the valley in others. When the trees are bare in winter, you can even catch a glimpse or two of the Susquehanna river. A beautiful area to live for sure.

Plumbago 1

Back home, I kept snapping photos. Here is a plant I had to bring all the way back from GA. I love the color and shape of the flowers of Plumbago. When we owned the greenhouses, we raised these from seed. They are a late summer blooming annual in PA, but hardy in many areas of the South. I love the florets for sunprinting. This was the last one available at the garden center I found it at, now at the center of a planter for easy plucking.

Pink Verbena

A couple plants that got planted before we left for our trip. Pink Verbena and airy Euphorbia.

Hawaii Coral Peony 1

My coral Peony flowers opened up! I love the color! They are quite bright and much different from any other I have seen. They only have a double row of petals, so hold up nicely in rain.

Single Pink Peony

This Peony plant was supposed to be a yellow tree Peony that turned out to be a bright pink fairly single regular one. It has been beautiful for years, but got moved today. You can see the evergreen branches in the background of a Balsam Fir that was a little Christmas tree planted many years ago. It has now almost covered the whole plant, so I cut the flowers, dug it up and planted five chunks in various locations. It is probably the worst time to move a Peony, but it was in a really hostile location.

Spirea Goldflame

This Goldflame Spirea is so beautiful when the leaves are unfurling in the Spring. They start out hot pink and change to bright gold, then deeper green as the summer progresses. It will also bloom with pale pink flowers.

Geranium lancastriense on a Rock

This little hardy Geranium is a very hardy little plant. I love the lacy foliage and delicate flowers for my sunprinting. I hope the weather will begin to cooperate so I can get my outdoor studio tent set up soon.

Iris siberica Deep Blue

My blue Siberian Iris have been seeding themselves all over. This is one of the babies that is a very deep color. The original plant was a lighter shade of blue purple. I love these Iris and wish the flowers lasted longer.

Front Yard Garden after Mowing

This is tha garden shown in the previous post after I got the grass mowed. It looks much neater, but still needs weeds removed. Three clumps of the blue Iris are in this bed.

Campanula persicifolia Alba

Right outside my front door are these flowers that are beginning to bloom. The white Campanula flowers are great to use as cut flowers.

Hungry Babies

The poor baby plants that got water but no fertilizer while we were away. After getting a drink of some liwuid fertilizer, they are starting toshow a bit more green color. The tomatoes and squash should recover. The plants in the pots look much better, after having their dose of long time release fertilizer- What a difference!

Garden Mess

This is my next major project….. The front of my huge Maple tree garden has been neglected for too long. Under the berry brambles is a water garden that has overgrown with water plants so the water barely shows. I used this area for veggie plants year before last, nothing last year. I did start to remove some old brambles, but didn't take the time to get a long sleeved shirt. Not a good idea- lots of scratches…. Always wear long sleeves when battling brambles. I am going to leave some of the black raspberry plants that are loaded with fat little green berries, until after I can pick them.

I plan to try doing a little each day in the gardens. It is hard not to over-do for me. I get started and keep going until I can't stand the pain or nearly pass out…. not recommended…. Hopefully by the time my veggie plants regain health, this area will be ready for them.

My sewing studio is also calling…. My flower photos are still asking to be part of my quilts. It is hard to figure out how to get done all that needs to be done.

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Tags: flowers, gardens, inspirations, nature, treasures
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More Inspirations on the Way Back Home

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

Our visit to GA came to an end and we headed home. Here are some more photos from the trip home, our stop at Kenilworth Gardens in DC, and what we were greeted with at home.

Planters for Nick

The horticulturist in me won't go away…. Here are a few planters I potted up for Nick and the guys to have around the pool. We visited a few garden centers while in Valdosta, GA.

Lolipop Trees

A photo of "Lollipop Trees" as Nick calls them. Trees in the South grow differently than those we have here in PA. He grew up with evergreens more in the shape of Christmas trees, not shaped like Lollipops.

Kenilworth Sign

We stopped at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens on our last day of travel. We had visited these gardens 25 years ago, a month before we got married. Things have changed a bit, but the many ponds are still there. That first visit was in mid July, we were a bit early for many blooms this time.

Early Morning Lilies

The morning we arrived was a bit cloudy, so the Lilies were not fully open. There had been very heavy rains the day before, so the water in the ponds was very muddy.

Lotus with Raindrop

The Water Lotus are a month or more away from blooming, but the leaves were interesting with the puddles of rain from the day before.

Pickerel Rush

The Pickerel Rush were in full bloom, but the muddy water made for a different background. We also had to watch where we walked due to a few over flowing ponds.

A Beautiful Boardwalk

We don't remember the boardwalks from our previous visit. I love the design of them, with the angles and interesting railings. There are two that take you out into the marsh.

The Sad Part

this was the saddest part of the visit- seeing the trash that was being caught in the plants and fallen logs. One of the important things the marsh does is to help filter out stuff that makes the waterways very unhealthy. It makes you really think about how our actions can affect more than our own little parts of the world.

Great Texture on Tree

From the ugly to very interesting…. This tree has great texture from the many vines that have climbed it. the vines had been cut off at the base, but the remaining vines that had rooted in were still intact.

Peachy Lily Bloom

We did find a little area that wasn't muddied by the rains…. There are a few display gardens with the plants in planter boxes. There were more flowers in bloom here. This one is a beautiful shade of peachy pink and huge.

Lilies in display pond 1

A few more flowers in the display pond. I had to go to the van to steal batteries from my laptop mouse to get these. I was sure to download the photos to have space on my card for photos,but forgot to recharge the batteries for the camera….

Blooms and weeds

Home Sweet Home! We were greeted by a lot of flowers blooming that were not even hinting buds when we left. There are many weeds to contend with too.

White Peony with Iris

My white Peony is full of big fat flowers. In this photo, the blue Siberian Iris are in the background. The smell is so great near this plant!

Blackberry Blooms

Along the edge of the yard, the blackberry brambles are in full bloom- I love the details that aren't always seen just walking by them.

Whit Iris

Here is the final photo of this post…. One of the white Siberian Iris. I have a huge clump of these in full bloom.
Until I put these photos together here, I didn't realize that most of the flowers blloming right now are white.

Now the real work begins again…. I have weeds to pull, annual flowers to plant and the veggie garden to plant. I will need some more rainy days to keep me indoors to get back to quilting.

Stay tuned for the newest treasures from my gardens and travels. As a tease….. I found that the Mountain Laurel are beginning to bloom on Water Road….. A walk there with my camera is in order.

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Inspirations From The Road

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009

Today is the first day since last Thursday that Ken and I have not spent many hours in a car. We drove from PA to Georgia, then to Florida, then back to Georgia. We came down South to bring our youngest son Nick's dog home to him. Roxie has been a member of our family since Christmas, and now in a new home shared with buddies he works with, there should be no shortage of guys to watch her when he leaves for training missions and deployments. When we head back home, it will seem like we will be leaving a child behind.

While down here we have been doing some visiting and sightseeing. We began with the weekend in FL visiting our daughter-in-law and her furry roomies.

Trouper

Mo Jo

Here are Bonnie's dogs, a little tricky getting photos- dogs don't always cooperate with cameras. Both are sweethearts. She also has 3 cats, but you know cats, they cooperate worse than dogs.

Gecko

This photo may challenge your eyes. These little gecko's were everywhere, and pretty hard to catch staying still for photos. This little guy sat for quite a while.

Bougainvillea

These flowers were on a huge, beautiful Bougainvillea at the corner of the house. I really wish these were hardy in PA, but they aren't. The only way to have one would be to keep it in a pot.

Murreya paniculata Orange Jessamine

These little white flowers were super fragrant on a hedge of great glossy deep green leaves. I had to do a bit of research to find out what they were. Found they are Orange Jessamine- the fragrance is very similar to orange blossoms.

Yellow Plumeria

Bonnie also had a pot of these beautiful Plumerias. Another fragrant flower. Everything smelled so great around her house.

Tree Question Flower

This is a flower that I saw at a truck stop while driving down. It looked a lot like a Magnolia to me, but up North, the ones we have only bloom very early Spring. I did more research, and found that these are a different variety of a Magnolia. Huge, fragrant and beautiful. some of the trees I saw along the roads were really huge.

Okefenokee Swamp 2

While so close, we decided to check out the Okefenokee Swamp. It was a beautiful, sunny day yesterday when we went there. There were very few people there, being the summer now. It was so great! We took a pontoon boat tour and I got many great photos. Since there has been a lot of rain recently, the water level was quite high. There was only one family on the tour with us and no other boats on the water. It was so peaceful and beautiful. Definitely worth the drive made a bit longer by a couple wrong turns getting there.

Sign

This sign greeted us…. Nick thought we were nuts, wanting to go to a swamp filled with gators. The first gators he saw were when we visited the Orlando area when he was 4, and we had a few swim near us while taking a canoe ride on a river.

Okefenokee Swamp 1

I think this is my favorite photo. A narrower passage with the trees and water lilies on both sides. The water is very black and it was quite still, with great reflections.

Ferns in Water

This was an interesting photo. The water was so still in this area that it is really hard to see where the reflection begins.

Gator 1

This is one of the gator photos I took just for Nick. None of the ones we saw were really huge. This was probably the biggest. They are hard to see in the black water.

Bug on Sign

After we returned from the boat tour, we wandered the nature trail. We found this big bug crawling on the sign with information about insect eating plants. I tried another photo with more of the sign showing, but he wandered under it too soon.

Snake-Like Root

This root on the path of the nature trail looked so much like a snake that I had to take this photo just to show my best friend who really hates snakes. Is that cruel of me???

We are spending a day just lazing around the house and pool here today. At least one day to rest up before heading back home before the end of the weekend. It is great that our oldest son lives so close to our home and has been taking care of things for us like watering plants, feeding cats, etc. Thank You Aaron!!

By the time we get back home, I will have so many ideas for new art quilts…. I have even been scribbling down ideas and some very rough sketches. It will be interesting to see what turns up!

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More Garden Treasures

Friday, May 8th, 2009

The rain finally stopped for a little while, and I wandered into the gardens with my camera again.

Anemonella thalictroides

Actually, this first photo was taken a couple days ago while driving home. I spotted these little flowers blooming along the road. I will have to do a bit of research to find out what they are. I keep finding little treasures along this stretch of road. It used to be only one lane, but was widened to pass two vehicles. There are new things popping up where the roadside was cleared during the widening. Good thing there is not much traffic so I can take time to stop and take photos.

Phlox Nettleson’s 1

I have always loved variegated leaved plants, and finally now have a couple of these variegated Phlox subulata. The Nettleson's variety has wonderful leaves with white and pink tinged edges along with the pink flowers.

Peony Hawaii Coral Buds

These buds are from one of the Peony varieties I splurged on last fall. This one is supposed to be a not too double deep coral color. There are ants on these buds already!

Convallaria Variegated

It looks like there will be no flowers on these variegated Convallaria, or Lily of the Valley plants. They were planted last summer, and I am happy to see that they survived the winter in their new home.

Convallaria Pink

These are in another garden…. I have had the pink variety for many years, and they have spread out nicely in their part of the garden. The fuzzy white area in the lower corner of this photo is the tail of Cuddles the cat who was following me around.

Phlox and Dandelions

Here is another flower that I was really happy to see return. I have planted this type of low growing Phlox in past years, but the deer ate them down each time I planted them. I tried a different garden and now have 3 fast growing clumps! The dandelions are everywhere, too.

Find the Hosta

Here is what I am battling in many gardens…. lots of weeds! Can you find the Hosta trying to show itself?? Thankfully Hosta are pretty sturdy, and battle with the weeds pretty well. This Hosta is "Krossa Regal" and will get to be really huge by summer.

Hosta with Lamium

This is how I wish all of my gardens looked. This Hosta with a clump of Lamium next to it only have a few weeds to compete against right now. I am trying to get low growing plants to take over the spaces under the Hostas and other taller plants to keep the weeds down.

Back Yard Shade Garden

After much time spent weeding, here is what one area of the back yard garden looks like right now. The Hostas in the previous photos are along the wall to the left of this photo. This garden is shaded by Black Walnut trees, and I have finally found a nice selection of plants that grow well with them. I keep dividing my Hostas and moving them around to fill in bare spots.

Viola Sylettas 1

Down in my garden in the woods, I found this little gem a few days ago. I didn't have my camera with me and didn't get this photo until after we had heavy rains, so the leaves are a bit dirty, but I am so glad this little new addition seems to be happy with it's new home. I planted a lot of new perennials last summer, many who had been living in pots for quite a few years like this one. It should be much happier in the ground!

101_0049

Up to the Lilac garden where they are all coming into bloom! We have many different varieties and colors of Lilacs collected over the years.

Strawberry Plant 2

The strawberies are blooming!!! I can't wait for berries this year… I just need to get mulch on these or they will be buried in weeds like everything else.

Cuddles

Here is the cat that got his tail in the earlier photo. He was checking out the surroundings from the trellis over one of the raised garden boxes that have been neglected for many years. I hope to put these back into use this year.

Pink Blossoms 2

The rain didn't take all the flowers off the almond tree… I got some really neat shots of some of the remaining flowers. I didn't know we had an almond tree until Ken told me what it was….. A nice surprise! Pink flowers instead of the white on the apples, pears and plums. We won't have almonds, though until we get another variety of almond or a peach tree to cross polinate with it, but the flowers are pretty in the spring.

This brings the garden tour to an end for this photo session. I am getting lots of flowers to play with in new quilts to come…. Lots of ideas are forming….

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Posts Tagged ‘nature’

It Finally Rained!!

July in the Gardens and it’s HOT!

Water Road Continued….

Water Road Revisited…..

A Hike in the Woods

Another Walk, More Treasures…

My Walk on Water Road and Back in the Gardens

More Inspirations on the Way Back Home

Inspirations From The Road

More Garden Treasures

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