Around the garden: Desert Roses

These are not a true rose, and I do not know the latin name, but I remember the little tag called them Desert Rose. They grow terrific without water, and we have some areas the sprinklers don’t catch so these were just the thing to fill in the space. Planted last spring, two 3-inch pots [...]

Read Full Post »

End of summer roses

I wish I knew if this was an Oklahoma or a Mr. Lincoln rose, because I’d buy a whole bunch more plants. Fabulous long stem, smaller thorns on the small stems, lots of fragrance and perfect form. And it waits until the end of the summer to start producing these beautiful flowers???

Read Full Post »

glorious delphiniums

To give you an idea of the flowers’ size, that painting is 18″x24″. Now I need to think about what color that wall should be.

Read Full Post »

a few flowers

I had a moment this morning when I realized I wasn’t taking nearly enough flower photos and that I was missing out on my opportunity for this year! So here’s a few of my posed vignettes that may or may not be used in paintings….

Read Full Post »

Primroses for spring

The stores have primroses out, so I thought it would be a good idea to buy a little bit of colorful cheer even though spring isn’t really here yet. It’s a good reminder to see the colors and know that winter is almost over. Last year’s pots sitting in the shade have frozen dirt inside, [...]

Read Full Post »

What a day

Elle took off her diaper last night, so woke up soaking wet at 5:15. It was so bright out that she didn’t want to sleep, so we’ve been up a long time. You’d think I would have gotten more done! Some gardening was done (but I guess that gets done every day) and I’m a [...]

Read Full Post »

peonies & delphinium

Don’t these peonies pair nicely with the delphinium as a backdrop? The delphinium tower 3 feet above the peonies, and the strong contrast color is striking. Since the peonies bloom only once a year, they needed neighbors who were ever-bloomers. I’ve got a little square area of 9 peony plants in their first year, and [...]

Read Full Post »

pretty peony

Waiting for flowers to bloom is sort of like waiting for babies, isn’t it? “What will it be like? Robust? Delicate and small? I can’t wait!” except it doesn’t take quite so much time, and there’s a lot faster turnover of youngsters. My peonies have been taking their time. Remember last year I complained there [...]

Read Full Post »

around my garden

My twisty baby locust tree produces flowers. This is year 3 for the tree. Year one it had flowers, year two zero, and this year they are appearing in the uppermost branches. The flowers are drapey, like a wisteria, and have a sweet fragrance. Hey, I’ve been noticing something that smells like cough syrup grapes, [...]

Read Full Post »

new flowers

The winter has been lingering here, and affecting the flowers. My Japanese Iris are really late to bloom, I thought maybe they were going to skip this year. They are sturdy and elegant, a little more so than the softer and fleshier regular iris. The strawberries are coming on, though, which makes Elle do a [...]

Read Full Post »