A Full-time Life

Category: Flowers and Gardens

  • A TALENTED BLOG-FRIEND

     

    It is my great honor to have posted a photograph that inspired this lovely pastel by my talented blog-pal JESH ST GERMAIN.  

     

    Sally'sBouguetfinish3

     

    Please visit her wonderful photo blog to see the full-size version of her painting and  then go to her ART BLOG to read about how she created it.    (Click the blue links above and here.)

     


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    Here is the original photo and  link that Jesh saw on this blog a year ago last month.

    Daffodils have always been a  favorite flower,  but we  don't see typical spring flowers much these days.  

    They don't grow here in the semi-tropics and we won't get back to the Pacific Northwest until after they've faded.   So that is an extra-special reason that I love this painting.  It brings back wonderful memories.

     Thank you Jesh for sharing the gift of your talent.  And  I am sharing your talent through this post with the flower lovers on TODAY'S FLOWERS  on Sunday and NATURE PHOTO BLO-MA on Monday.  Thank you to the hosts of both memes!

  • MOUNTAIN MEMORIES

    More  mountain memories for SCENIC WEEKENDS.   This Friday Flashback is to the beautiful state of Colorado (practically synonomous with the word  "mountain").  Our youngest son and daughter-in-law live in this beautiful place and we love visiting!!

     

    The jeep trail 032

    On this visit, Geoff took us four-wheeling up Webster Pass ( somewhere up above Denver).  


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    Fields of beautiful wildflowers were blooming where the snow had only recently melted.



    Mountain view 079

    Oh — and did I mention that these pictures were taken in August?  Early spring up in these mountains!

     

    Thanks to Gemma for hosting Scenic Weekends.  (Visit the links for a virtual tour of beautiful spots around the world.)

     

  • ORCHIDS

    Linking to FLORAL FRIDAY FOTOS and TODAY'S FLOWERS on Sunday

    A bouquet of orchids, courtesy of neighbors who grow them outside every winter season.

     

    Glen and Farrell's orchid

     Essentially, these are grown as outdoor houseplants.  

     

     
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    They buy them as tiny starters and wire the pots to branches of their tree.


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    This is really taking advantage of living part of the year in a subtropical climate!

     

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    There are said to be wild orchids growing in this part of Florida, but we've never seen any.  Maybe someday! 

     

     

    Thanks to Nick for FFF  and Denise for Today's Flowers.  

  • A WISH

    I am also linking this post to OUR WORLD because it seems appropriate for the week.

     Remembering happier weeks and days…. 

    Flowers for cards2
    Each flower is a wish for a safe and joyful world someday …

     

    Flowers for cards

    … for everyone.

     

    New arrangements of old pictures for Mary's  MOSAIC MONDAY and Nature Footsteps BLO-MA 

  • FALSE SPRING – REAL GIFT

    We almost never see early Spring flowers, at least the kind that grow in moderate climates, because at that time of the year we're still in Florida  – where all the blooms are the more flamboyant kind.  

     
    pussy willow catkins

    But this year, November in Oregon gave us a going-away gift.  The weather there was strange   —  warmer Autumn temperatures than usual in addition to the normal rains.    

      Buds were beginning to unfurl on a couple of the rhododendron bushes in our son-in-law and daughter's yard.  And there were catkins on the pussy willow bushes.

    rhody bloom nov 2012

    In the more typical seasonal scene below, on the same day I took the flower pictures  our daughter was outside raking the black walnut leaves.

     
    raking black walnut tree

       (I helped by taking her picture.)  

     
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     It is a little worrisome to think what will happen if there's a hard freeze later– and there probably will be.  After all winter hasn't even really started yet.  (We're in Florida for the rest of the season, so we'll  only know the fate of these lovely flowers when we hear from the leaf raker!)   

     

    Thanks to Nick at FLORAL FRIDAY FOTOS and Denice at TODAY'S FLOWERS  on Sunday

  • COLEUS

     

     Not flowers exactly, but coleus leaves  are bright and colorful,

    and that's close enough for me….

    Coleus

    Especially this time of year.

     

    coleus garden

    Linked to FLORAL FRIDAY FOTOS  (thank you Nick) and to TODAY'S FLOWERS  (thank you  Denice).  Visit.  Click.

  • HYDRANGEA SEASON

    Thank you to the hosts of FLORAL FRIDAY FOTOS  and TODAY'S FLOWERS on Sunday  

     

    The hydrangea blossoms are fading  …. 

    hydrangea fading

    But still lovely  …

     

    hydrangea fading on black

     

    Still the same flower …. 

    Hydr pink and yellow green

     

    Just a different kind of beauty.

    Hydr yellow green
    A reminder to appreciate  …

    Hydrangea green
    The cycle of life and the glory of every stage.

  • A LITTLE MORE SUMMER

     

    It's still warm and sunny here at the Lake.   And that makes it  hard to get into an Autumn kind of mood.   

    So here are some more  summer blooms from the begonia garden posted earlier here.   

     BEGONIAS and pine tavern

     On the Pine Tavern's patio,  willow trees provide the shade these flowers need out in the high desert sun.  But it is the tree below (inside the dining room ) that explains this landmark restaurant's name.

    BEGONIAS and pine tavern1
    For   MOSAIC MONDAY and NATURE FOOTSTEPS BLO-MA on Tuesday.   Thank you to the hosts.

  • BEAUTIFUL BEGONIAS

     

    Around here,  these flowers are usually grown in hanging baskets, but the patio at the Pine Tavern Restaurant in Bend was landscaped with  beautiful multi-colored begonia beds.

     

    yellow begonia

    For  FLORAL FRIDAY FOTOS  (Thank you Nick) and   TODAY'S FLOWERS on Sunday (thanks to Denise and the team).

     

    red begonia

    We couldn't decide if the black bird below was eating the flowers or just enjoying the aroma (we didn't notice one, but maybe it's more apparent to the birds).

    At any rate, the bird was enjoying the beautiful flowers as much as all the diners were.

     


    blackbird in begonia garden

  • BLOOMING IN THE DESERT

    This post is linked to FLORAL FRIDAY FOTOS (thanks to Nick) and TODAY'S FLOWERS on Sunday (thanks to Denise and the rest of the team).  


    P1060953-001We were impressed with the lush late summer flowers in the City of Bend.  

    City planners have installed a lot of round-abouts (traffic circles) instead of stop lights.  They all include an outdoor art installation  and are beautifully landscaped.    Kind of like drive by mini-parks.  Real feasts for the eyes as you navigate the traffic (which isn't all that bad — Bend is growing but it's still  a small city).

     

     
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     As you can see from the picture below it takes a lot of work and planning to maintain landscaping in this high desert climate.  Left alone, it would look like this this picture, taken just a few miles out of town:

     

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    Below is another view of a traffic circle garden — there was  a parking strip around the edge of this round-about.


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     It gets cold in the winter up there and I'm curious about what the circles will look like then.    But not curious enough to plan to be there during that time .. when they're probably mostly just covered with snow.  And we don't do snow!