Posts Tagged ‘Flowers’

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Peppermint Stick Tulip

April 13, 2009

pepperminttulipcollage

One of the more interesting variety of tulips we have in our yard this year is Peppermint Stick Tulip.  It’s quite small as far as tulips go, but we have been fascinated by it.

The three pictures in the collage above (which can be enlarged) were taken over a five day period.  The top picture on the left shows the tulip before it starts to open.  I’m guessing that this appearance is how the tulip got it’s name.  The coloration does look somewhat like  that of a peppermint stick.  The picture on the bottom left shows the tulip as it begins to open.

The large picture on the right shows the open tulip.  It’s quite different from whatI would expect looking at the first photo.

I hope you enjoyed this part of our flower bed.

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It Looks Like Spring

April 2, 2009

2009-garden

Yesterday was a beautiful spring day here on the Plateau.  After doing our weekly grocery shopping in the morning, both Betsy and I worked out in the yard during the afternoon.

It really is beginning to look and feel like Spring around the house.  It was almost too warm for a long-sleeved shirt.  The grass is now almost completely green (and needs mowing!), tulip buds are starting to show some color, and the roses are showing new growth.

But the stars of the yard yesterday were the daffodils.  We have several different varieties in bloom.  The collage above (which can be enlarged for better viewing) shows the daffodils we currently have in bloom.

Isn’t spring wonderful?

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We Have Daffodils in Bloom!

March 19, 2009

Daffodils in bloom under our dogwood tree. March 18, 2009.

Daffodils in bloom under our dogwood tree. March 18, 2009.

We had another bright beautiful day on the Plateau, and we were rewarded with a small bed of daffodils in bloom.  There is something especially enjoyable about seeing those bright yellow blossoms.  They seem to promise that Spring has really arrived.

These daffodils are in one of the small beds we rebuilt last fall.  We have more daffodils in other beds that haven’t bloomed yet, but that’s alright. We now have something to look forward to each morning when we go out to walk the lawn.  In the background of the pictures you can see one of our rose beds.  Unfortunately we’ll have to wait a couple of months before we see any blossoms in that bed.

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Before Betsy and I went to Arkansas I received this award from my friends Antigoni in Greece and Tarolino in Finland.  I can’t begin to tell you how much I appreciate the thoughtfulness of both of them.

I’m supposed to nominate blogs that I love that haven’t received the award.  But I’m still trying to get caught up from our time away from the computer and am not sure who received the award while we were gone.  So, if you haven’t received this award and I’ve visited your blog this week, I pass it on to you because I love your blog.

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My World # 22

March 17, 2009
Crocus Pickwick, Fairfield Glade. March 16, 2009.

Crocus Pickwick, Fairfield Glade. March 16, 2009.

When we got home from Arkansas we were pleasantly surprised to find most of the crocus in our large flower bed in bloom.  When we left there were only a couple of lonely survivors at the front of the house in bloom.

Unfortunately we’ve had rain almost constantly since we’ve been home, so most of the blossoms are pretty bedraggled.    I did manage to get the picture above, but that’s about it.

If we get some sunshine in the next couple of days we should have many daffodils in bloom around the yard.  Then we can really feel that Spring has arrived.

The rain has made it difficult to work outside, but I’ve gotten outside a few times.  Since we live on a hillside, there are a couple of places in our yard that are difficult to mow, so I’m planting some sempervivum (hens and chicks) that Dad gave us in the more difficult places.  Hopefully in a year or two they’ll spread and we won’t have to worry about mowing in those spots.  We have quite a bit of sempervivum growing in rock gardens and we really like the way it looks.

This is my entry for My World Tuesday, a weekly meme of pictures from around the world.  To see more pictures from around the world, or to join and post your own pictures, click HERE.

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Our First Promise of Spring

March 7, 2009
The first blossom in our yard. March 7, 2009.

The first blossom in our yard. March 7, 2009.

The past couple of days have been very pleasant up here on the Plateau.  The weather has warmed and I was even able to work outside without a jacket yesterday.  That’s good because I certainly have plenty to do in the yard after our fairly hard winter.  In addition to  general clean up, I also have some new roses that need to be planted.  So I’ve been  outside quite a bit over the past two days.

Yesterday, while working with the roses in the front of the house, I found the crocus shown in the picture above.  It’s our very blossom of the year.  Actually it looks a little forlorn and lonely.  This is a crocus my father gave us when we first bought the house.  It’s located up against the south side of the house, so it gets more sun than any other part of our yard.  The little bed it’s in is a favorite tunneling route for our many chipmunks, so most of the bulbs that were originally planted there have long since disappeared.

But this little plant has bravely hung on.  And in so doing it has given us our first promise of spring.

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Strawberry Candy

January 24, 2009
Strawberry Candy Daylily, Fairfield Glade. June, 2008.

Strawberry Candy Daylily, Fairfield Glade. June, 2008.

Several days ago my friend Mildred posted about strawberries on her site, http://nalleyvalley.blogspot.com/.  You can read her strawberry post HERE.

In her blog Mildred talked about eating strawberries and she gave a couple of recipes.  But at the end of her post she had a picture of a daylily, “Strawberry Fields Forever”.  With a name like that, it certainly fit the theme of her post.  But we have another daylily that would fit Mildred’s theme — Strawberry Candy, pictured above.

We have several daylilies in our yard and we really enjoy them.  In many ways daylilies are a perfect perennial because they are available in a wide variety of colors, shapes and sizes.  They are also very easy to grow and require very little care.

Each blossom on a daylily lasts for a single day (hence the name).  But there are usually many flower buds on each daylily flower stalk, and  many stalks in each clump of plants.  So the flowering period of any one clump is often several weeks.  In addition to this daylilies are vigorous growers growers and multiply quite quickly.

We only had one clump of Strawberry Candy last summer.  We’re looking forward to many more in the years ahead.

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The Roses Have Been Put to Bed

November 29, 2008
Sweet Freedom Rose, 2008.

Sweet Freedom Rose, 2008.

Today I finished putting the roses to bed for the winter.  We’ve had enough cold weather that they’ve gone dormant and I covered them to help them get through the winter.

To say that I cover the roses is not completely accurate.  What I do is mound compost over the crowns to keep them from freezing.  I have a compost pile on the edge of the rough behind our house to which I add grass clippings, leaves, and other organic material.

I know it’s just my imagination, but the days seem more dreary once the roses have been pruned and covered.  I guess that means that winter is almost here.

But hopefully when spring returns the roses will green up and start growing again.  I posted the rose above as a reminder that spring will return.  That rose is Sweet Freedom, a new rose for us in 2008.

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Another Iris in Bloom

October 14, 2008
Queen Dorothy Iris, Fairfield Glade. October 9, 2008.

Queen Dorothy Iris, Fairfield Glade. October 9, 2008.

We had another iris bloom this week.  Queen Dorothy, the re-blooming iris shown above, had bloomed in the spring and has honored us with another display.

About half of the iris we have in our flower beds are re-blooming, and we enjoy the autumn displays since we don’t have a great many other flowers in bloom in those beds this time of the year.  We’re hoping that we’ll have even more blooms from these irises during years with more rain.  The drought has been hard on just about everything.

One other thing about this iris.  Betsy thinks we should change the name from Queen Dorothy to Queen Betsy.  What do you think?

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Mission (Almost) Accomplished!

October 11, 2008
Pansies in our new flower bed around the lamp post. October 10, 2008.

Pansies in our new flower bed around the lamp post. October 10, 2008.

The picture above shows our new flower bed around our lamp post.  This is one of three flower beds in our front yard which I’ve rebuilt and reworked this year, and is the last I had to finish.  As you can see I’ve gotten pansies planted, so I’m almost finished.  I need to plant some daffodils and liles in this bed and then I’ll be done.

Since this  was one of the items on my ‘Honey-Do’ list while Betsy is in Georgia with her childhood girlfriends, I’m glad that I can check it off.  Now if I could only check off a few things on my ‘What-I-Want-To-Do’ list!!!

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The Look Of Autumn

September 25, 2008
Pansies in one of our new flower beds. September 24, 2008.

Pansies in one of our new flower beds. September 24, 2008.

The calendar says autumn has arrived.  The daily high temperatures might not be saying autumn, but the garden centers do say autumn.  They now have pansies on sale, which is always a sign that autumn is near.

Betsy and I plant pansies in the autumn and with luck they will last through spring and provide us with color during the drabbest part of the year.

Earlier this week Betsy and I stopped at Lowe’s in Crossville and got a couple of flats of pansies.  We haven’t finished yet, but we do have two of the new beds in the front yard planted.  The picture above shows one of those beds.

We have one more bed in the front yard to do and we’ll plant pansies around the perimeter of our large rock garden.  Betsy will also plant pansies in some containers to use as hanging baskets during the winter.

We will probably need to buy some more pansies before we finished, but we’ve gotten a good start on autumn color.

Now if only those autumn temperatures would get here!

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