I don't have a good picture this year yet of my garden, but here are a few of some of the flowers blooming. First up is the iris, which was the first flower planted in my garden. My mother gave them to me from her garden. They have really loved my soil, and have flourished in the past 8 years we have been in this house.
This is the heirloom rose I found by accident last year at Walmart. I love this rose. It's been slow to bloom this year, and this was the first bloom. Isn't it almost perfect? I've blanked out on the name, and it's late, so I will come back tomorrow in case you want to know which one it is.
I love the rose picture the best. I have three rose bushes, and while they are blooming, I am fighting with beetles which are eating them as fast as they bloom, plus we are extremely hot and dry this year, so they aren't lasting long.
I also have been taking some while out for walks in the city this spring, mostly on the way home from work.
The bottom three are my favourites so far. It's been a lovely year for blossoms.
I love these pink blossoms, the pink was so vivid and gorgeous!
Gardening soothes me and grounds me, and I love feeling the dirt in my fingers. No matter how I'm feeling, when I'm in the garden, everything falls away and I have a sense of timelessness for a few precious hours.
Here is a link to a post I did last year, that has some of the statues in my garden. I have been building a butterfly and bee friendly garden, I love feeding nature. This way I feed my soul, and the birds, the bees, and the butterflies!
22 comments:
Wow, these are wonderful, Susan! So beautiful.
Peter's about written off our garden this year. Veg-wise anyway, it's so wet and the plague of slugs are eating everything in sight. We have tomatoes in the greenhouse, a nice crop of shallots, and peas growing well but otherwise - nothing. I gather it's a UK-wide problem this year.
I feel the same way about gardening. Alas, the yard I have now faces north and gets very little sun. I've planted shade plants but there's not many with actual flowers. :( I do have a lovely garden coated in moss and I love moss, so that's good.
I love pictures of flowers. It's nearly impossible to take a bad picture of them.
Beautiful photos. I especially like the white iris, but they're all lovely.
Despite the heat and fires, we've had a great year for blossoms in CO as well. I think everything pulled out the stops this year, from the fruit trees and lilacs to day lilies and now sweet williams, one of my personal favorites.
You've inspired me to try to get some photos of my garden...esp now that the mums are threatening to bloom, albeit a month early. Must be the heat.
Oh Susan, they positively lovely!!! And I would say that rose is pure perfection! So beautiful! (And I'm generally not even a huge fan of roses.) We like to flower garden like you--as bee and butterfly friendly as can be. Just adds all the more beauty to a garden to have them around, don't you think?
Cath: thanks so much! I'm so pleased with my new cell phone, which some of these pictures came off of, too.
Yes, you've gone from a hot May to rainy and wet summer, haven't you? I'm sorry that your garden is so soggy, it makes it hard to want to go out into it.
Jenny: Moss is good, I love the colour and the shapes it can take, and the textures of it. It's hard to grow things in a north facing garden though, you are right. Do you have a little water garden or statues to make up for the lack of flowers?
Jane: thank you so much, I really like the IRis one too. I have some sweet william, which flowered wonderfully for me this year, but I can never get it to photograph well. They are so delicate and sweet, aren't they?
I love that I've inspired you to take photographs of your own garden!
Memory: thank you! :-)
Debi: LOL that you like the rose picture even when you don't like roses so much! thank you too, I love these photos also, and am framing them. I want a collection of garden photos to inspire me in winter, the time I am most uncomfortable.
I think it's so important to have flowers that the bees and butterflies feed from! There is so little wild land left for them to eat from. I love going outside and watching the butterflies land, and seeing the big bumblebees and their happy buzzing as they fill themselves with flower pollen. Which flowers do you have in your garden for them?
These photos are just terrific. This is all from YOUR garden?
That is simply amazing. Although my favorite flower in the world is the rose, for some reason I like best [in these shots] those bright orange things with the yellow tips. Coneflowers? They look almost unreal.
One of my favourite places on earth is called Butchart Gardens, in Victoria B.C. I have spent entire days there, feeling like I'm in heaven. And I'm going there in exactly 2 weeks time, again!
Yesterday I transplanted my first plant, ever... and I am awaiting results. Which is to say I am not a gardener by any means, but I do love wandering amongst the result of other people's labours in the world of botany. To transpose the title of your blogpage, I firmly believe that one "can never have too many flowers."
Cheers!
Cipriano: the first shots are, of the iris, rose, the coeleus, the button flower (some time of small carnation or thrift I think) - those are all from my garden. The others are from trees around the city that I took when they were in bloom. I wish they were in my garden/yard too! lol
I haven't been to Butchart Gardens in such a long time, so many years. I only went as a child, when i didn't care about plants. Now I'd love to go and gaze at the plants and get ideas and soak up the colours and variety. Please take pictures and post them!
I hope your transplant survives - remember to water it every day for the first two weeks, and it should be ok.
The rose IS lovely.
Such a very beautiful post, Susan :) I miss having a flower garden so much :) I have some flowers in containers, but its just not the same...
Care: thank you!
Chris: I wondered how you were doing without your garden at your family's home. Can you still get back to tend any of the plants, or is your mother looking after your garden now? It is hard to leave them behind, isn't it?
And thank you for saying my post is beautiful :-) I was hoping you would enjoy seeing some of my flowers for a change, as you have posted about yours so lovingly for over a year now!
Such beautiful flowers, Susan! I wish I liked to garden. Unfortunately, I don't. I'm terrible about keeping even houseplants alive. :-(
Literary Feline: thank you so very much:-) I didn't know I liked gardening until I was in my 30's! I'm just as surprised as anyone, as before then I killed off any houseplant I ever had. That said, I still manage to kill of some of the houseplants! so it may not be a lost cause for you yet :-) I discovered that I loved growing flowers, really loved it, and I've never looked back. I think one reason I am dragging my feet about moving is the garden.
I've been looking at my nearly bare garden and been thinking it needs color. I've even been checking out neighbors' gardens to see what I like and don't like. So, you may be right. Maybe there is hope for me yet. :-)
Literary Feline: That's how it starts! lol what kind of flowers can you grow there? are you finding some you like? I know, I'm really enthusiastic,aren't I? I know it's not for everyone, and you can't force youreself, but I can't help encouraging everyone anyway!
Gardens truly are good for the soul. Your flowers are lovely and I've always found gardening to be therapeutic also.
Kathleen: thank you so much, I love my flowers too!
I love looking at people's gardens too, when I'm out for my walks or visiting different places.
There is something nurturing about making something grow, isn't there? as well as comforting and grounding.
I have to agree with you here, Susan: The rose picture is the best among the bunch! It’s the kind of flower you’d be proud to give to a loved one come Valentine’s. You're right about the benefits of gardening. Not only can it calm our body; it can also make us more optimistic, whenever we see the plants growing.
Jeremy: thank you so much! I was looking at the picture again this weekend, getting ready to print some, and I found myself thinking it is beautiful. The bush hasn't put any more out this year, though I'm hopeful I'll have an early fall blossoming.
I agree to the plants making us feel more optimistic when we see them. I think it's a reminder that life is all around, and always growing and changing. As well as precious green in our long winters!
Keep it up, Amy! I’m glad you’re having fun with gardening. It could take a lot of patience but it’s rewarding in the end. I have an herb garden too. I practice container gardening so I can move my herbs whenever I need to. Doing that also helps landscaping much easier.
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