Wednesday, May 31, 2006

here my daugther is holding the first alpine strawberries of the season! as i was brushing the plants to see the berries, i found some poison ivy growing in the patch! darn! i just set up my bean poles for the haricots verts i'm growing in the raised beds. i will pick all the lettuce once it gets too shaded by the beans.
another rose! this one was here before me also, so i don't know what it is. i'm not a big fan of the coral color, but it is pretty in a bowl.

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

for nectaroscordium fans, here's a scan of just one umbel!

Monday, May 29, 2006

peony today...the sqaure garden decorated in blue this morning...

Sunday, May 28, 2006

red, white and blue for memorial day. this is some of the smaller stuff blooming right now. correction: previously, i erroneously identified the hairy seedpod as geum; it is actually a pasque flower pod.

Saturday, May 27, 2006

big things are happening in the garden... here's a rose that was nodding after i watered. the peonies are just opening...
and kalmia carol (which i bought because it shares my neice's name) is finally blooming!

Thursday, May 25, 2006

the square garden shows my love of blue flowers with iris on the left, baptisia in the back and pansies in the foreground. the small tree in the center is a japanese maple. the dogs lounging on the deck in front of a blue planter. the dogs were actually touching each other prior to my running to get the camera! whippet + poodle = whoodle? poppet?
sorry for poor focus on this one, but shows my one lupine that is blooming, with alpine strawberries and amsonia in the background.
this purple rhododenron was in the front garden when we bought the house, its one of the few pre-exisiting plants i kept.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

today i made a small arrangement of columbine, japanese iris, perennial snapdragons, bachelor buttons and mullein from the garden.

Monday, May 22, 2006

redbud "forest pansy" highlighted by the sun today. nectaroscordium blooming in front of hosta and solomon's seal in the woodland garden. nectaroscordium are in the allium family, so the deer avoid them.
kalmia latifolia "pinwheel" about to explode into bloom!
(aka mountain laurel)

Saturday, May 20, 2006

here's the cake i made for dau's birthday this week.
her birthday party was today, and here's the cake hubs made and i decorated.

Friday, May 19, 2006

We had a brief bit of sun today, and I caught this illuminated M. seiboldii colossus flower. I also snapped this little skipper butterfly on a pansy.

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

ah, a brief respite from the rain today offered this view of m. sieboldii colussus' downward facing flower. i really love this tree! it reminds me of the lunch pail tree in the oz books, because of the profusion of large buds that get smaller toward the trunk of the tree.
the dogwood has littered the woodland garden with its pink petals.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

wow, it's still raining. omphalodes is blooming now in the woodland garden.

Monday, May 15, 2006

Another rainy day! Hurrah! Magnolia sieboldii colossus is blooming now. I made this scan last year.

Sunday, May 14, 2006

happy mother's day! white, blue and maroon columbine with fern, blue bells and akebia that i collected this afternoon.

Saturday, May 13, 2006

i've kept some cammassia cusickii in a vase for a week, and the petals have curled beautifully, here in close-up, and here the stalk that fit on the scanner.

Friday, May 12, 2006

pink columbine in the main garden... the main garden. you can see the raised beds on the lower left with bricks holding down the chickenwire to keep out the deer and rabbits... the main garden looks more impressive in person... i just put in a yellow broom in the front garden that has the largest flowers i've seen for a broom. all around the broom are bluebells. we'll see if this broom can survive being so near the street.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

today is cloudy and rainy, perfect for photographing white flowers. here is halesia carolina, the silverbell. i planted this tree about 6 years ago. this rhododendron has been struggling in my garden, but it puts on a nice show every year.
this little azaelea is a favorite of the deer, hence the small amount of blooms and leaves. the flowers look like tiny gardenias though, so i hope i can protect it.

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

i took this scan two years ago in may. e think it's the best one.

Monday, May 08, 2006

here is a scan i made last year in may...

Sunday, May 07, 2006

this is a scan i made two years ago in may...

Saturday, May 06, 2006

part of the main garden today... the tree peony is lovely this year.

Friday, May 05, 2006

i adore little alpine plants and have a few in this shallow garden bowl... strawberry "lipstick" is also blooming in the lower left corner of the frame. i don't have lots of yellow in the garden, but i make a few exceptions... here's one with an indigo columbine blooming in front of prostrate broom.
another exception is this variegated kerria, which is a real show-stopper this time of year. it's hard to see, but there is also blue woodland phlox, ajuga and veronica "water perry" hiding at the bottom of the picture.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

tree peony today... dwarf iris today...
camillia still blooming today...

Monday, May 01, 2006

today is a great greenery day! below are a small hosta, the jeffersonia, and red epimedium in the woodland garden
another pretty hosta in the main garden.