Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Just Another Yellow Rose?


Another yellow rose... and it is blooming in my garden.
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"If the rose puzzled its mind over the question how it grew, it would not have been the miracle that it is." ~ J. B. Yeats

The yellow table rose bush I planted last year. It bloomed all summer and far into the fall... deep into October. I trimmed it back and it is more full this year, loaded with buds. This is another picture for my brother, who loves roses but always seems to be singing somewhere else when they start to bloom. The dark lavender pink rose was the first.... then they all burst into bloom. Today was perfect for pictures, gray skies and rain..

This rose always looks so smooth and soft... like lemon sherbet... I love the yellow sunshine packaged in these petals. Carmi has a weekly theme... and this week it is.... (drum roll)... "yellow". So many yellows... so little time to post them.

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Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Ruby Red: Part Of My Rainbow


Red delights: tulips, impatiens, geraniums.
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"Red 'rings' inwardly with a determined and powerful intensity. It glows in itself, maturely, and does not distribute its vigor aimlessly." ~ Vassily Kandinsky

I have seen flowerbeds and gardens with certain color schemes... perhaps done in shades of blue from navy to pale sky blue and all those in between; or gardens with all shades of yellow or pink or even reds. These are usually beautiful and obviously planned out by a professional landscape artist.

However, I love the rainbow and the colors mixed together. In fact, my perfect garden would have flowers of every shade mixed with no particular pattern, on the back ground of greenery of varying shades and textures with splashes of white thrown in... like a gorgeous stained glass window. Also, it is so hard to decide what flower you want to ban from the garden, so why not try to include them.. or as many of them as you can. To this end I have started to fill out our flowerbeds, a little at a time each year. I prefer perennials to annuals partly because I am lazy... I don't like planting them over and over and over each year; but, also because I love the suspense in the the spring... which little green shoots are going to sprout up through the winter mulch first... have they grown in number, will the blooms be gorgeous again... all those mysteries to be uncovered each year. So, I leave the obligatory winter pansies and the summer impatiens to the yard man and concentrate on the bulbs and flowering bushes.

Each fall my mother loves the chrysanthemums and now we have both dark purple and an orange/red variety growing strong. We have pink verbena, dwarf lilies in white, red, orange and pink, yellow daffodils, purple lavender, and roses in shades of lavender, yellow and a purple/pink. Oh yes, yesterday I saw the shoots of the yellow calla lilies being reborn and the gardenia starters are putting on an ever thickening coat of green... can the fragrant white blooms be far behind?

Yes, I love the rainbow in my flowerbed... these are a few of the current punches of red! This is my first Ruby Tuesday entries.... others are found at Work of the Poet!

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Monday, May 04, 2009

There Is Something About The First Rose......


The first rose of spring... in our flower garden.
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"You love the roses--so do I. I wish the sky would rain down roses, as they rain from off the shaken bush. Why will it not? Then all the valley would be pink and white and soft to tread on. They would fall as light as feathers, smelling sweet: and it would be like sleeping and yet waking, all at once." ~ George Eliot

My brother loves roses. For several years his visits back to the states have been just after the roses have finished blooming for the season or just before. The botanical garden has a beautiful rose garden designed to be the perfect backdrop for weddings; it has fountains and gazebos with climbing roses, tree roses and roses the color of the rainbow. I have planted roses at the house as well.

Stephen's visit just a week or two ago was the same. The roses were growing lush and green, the buds were gathering with just a preview hint of color on their tips.. and yet, no blooms. He had to return to Europe....two days later... this gorgeous lavender pink rose burst forth in bloom. So this post is for Stephen, the first rose of the new season.... I believe this may be the "Marie Osmond" variety.

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Saturday, May 02, 2009

SPH: We're Walking On Sunshine



Clockwise from upper left: A walk around Mt. Trashmore,
March of the Canada Geese,
Lady Liberty takes a stroll,
College sweethearts walk hand in hand.
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"Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around the lake."
~ Wallace Stevens



Walking under the bridge to a magical land, Prospect Park, Brooklyn,
Remembering Max and his walks around the block,
Keeping step with time in Colonial Williamsburg,
Walking on water, Brooklyn Botanical Gardens.

"There is nothing like walking to get the feel of a country. A fine landscape is like a piece of music; it must be taken at the right tempo. Even a bicycle goes too fast." ~ Paul Scott Mowrer, The House of Europe



Graduation 2008, The College of William and Mary.
Flip-flops and high heels... these feet were made for walking.
Traditional walk from the Wren Building to the ceremony.
Parents walk along... proud and relieved!
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"The sum of the whole is this: walk and be happy; walk and be healthy. The best way to lengthen out our days is to walk steadily and with a purpose." ~ Charles Dickens

The theme this week gave me a chance to revisit some of my favorite places and times. Of course, I am partial to the William and Mary pictures, especially the feet. Nyssa wore flip-flops; I can't imagine walking over the brick sidewalks, down through the dell and up the hill in those high heeled shoes....

Actually, with my knees these days, walking all the way across campus in sneakers isn't the easiest thing to do..... but

"He who limps is still walking." ~ Stanislaw J. Lec

Other Saturday Photo Hunt participants are found over at Tennessee Chick.

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Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Watery Wednesday: Peaceful Streams


A lovely winter stream... but, I still think a bit of snow would add much. (Sigh!)
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"Water is the driver of Nature." ~ Leonardo da Vinci

A winter scene for our area... the background of mute greens and browns... still the water flows. In summer this will change... the background alive with color and the water taking on the hue of the sky... blue with dancing little white cloudlets. In between... in spring.. come the storms, the ping-pong temperatures.... and the beginning of new life in the pool... the koi are small, the lotus just starting to emerge. One small stream with so many different looks throughout the year...keeps life interesting, don't you think?

Other Watery Wednesday pictures are here.

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