Tag: Flowers

Art In Bloom 2023

Creativity was all around at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. The annual Art in Bloom exhibit opened on Thursday, April 27th and I went on the first day, while the blooms are fresh.

This stunning bouquet greeted people as they entered the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

The concept is for floral designers to pair with a piece of artwork in the museum, to create a floral arrangement to compliment the work, usually attempt to represent the art piece using flowers.

A great representation of the idea behind Art in Bloom, including the color of the vase.

It is a very popular affair… lots of traffic, buses, etc… but, once inside this free event, people are able to spread out throughout the second and third floors and it doesn’t feel crowded. 

I liked this arrangement for Immaculate Madonna. I have always liked white flowers.

We meandered around and enjoyed the floral designer’s creations, taking photos of some, but not all – over 100 displays.  

A beautiful portrait, a beautiful flower arrangement.

Occasionally the floral designer is standing next to their creation, ready to answer questions. That is a nice touch.  

This was a great “pop” of color.
Up close. Wow!

It’s always fun to try and see how the flowers compliment the artwork…sometimes using the imagination to make it work.

It is a wonderful way to spend an afternoon, walking among great artwork and seeing so many beautiful flower arrangements at the same time. 

This is lovely, but some folks commented it needs a stand alone flower to represent the dog in the painting. I agree. 😉

It’s also a great way for MIA to highlight its many art pieces. 

I had to include this photo because the designer said it’s the only Norwegian painting in the museum. I liked the use of evergreen trees.
This was fun because the painting is entitled The Birthday Party, and the floral designer used a cake plate as part of her creation.
A dramatic dragon spiting fire made of flowers. This was next to a Chinese mask.

I forget what a gem the institute is to Minnesota…with or without fresh-cut flowers.  

A colorful wall mural.

Fairy Houses

As the snow melts, daffodils and hyacinth sprouts will begin to emerge, and fairy gardens will be uncovered. 

The beginnings of my fairy garden in our backyard, in 2021.

I am enchanted with fairy gardens. They are whimsical and I love finding them in surprising places: under a flower or next to a tree trunks, maybe under rocks in a rock garden. I also like creating one in my own backyard flower garden.

A fairy garden on St. Olaf Avenue (summer 2019) is large, and has a theme “reading”. You can find many animals scattered throughout the garden, reading books.

Some fairy gardens are elaborate, like one on St. Olaf Avenue in Northfield. The garden is filled all kinds of miniature critters with some fairies, most are reading books. It is clever.

An inviting entrance to a fairy house, at the bottom of a tree trunk. Photo taken: 2019.
A frog enjoying a cup of tea while reading a book. Photo taken: 2019.

My fairy garden is simpler; a table with chairs, with one fairy drinking from a tea cup and another fairy with a watering can…and oh yes, I added a Norwegian troll last summer.

My fairy garden in summer 2022.

I’m planning an expansion to my garden this year with a few trinkets I’ve picked up in thrift stores…a lamppost and wishing well to name a few. 

One of three fancy sheds on display at the Home + Garden show in Minneapolis.

A couple of weeks ago we went to the Minneapolis Home + Garden Show in the convention center downtown Minneapolis. The show always has colorful flower gardens to show off and lots of different vendors promoting their wares.  Every few years we think it’s interesting to go see “what’s new in home-style”.

I like the porthole window in this one…

This year my favorite display was…what I call… life-size fairy homes…uniquely designed sheds that look like fanciful fairy houses. I wanted to bring one home to play in, but they were asking an exorbitant price!  

This shed has a large side window, for a lemonade stand or such fun.

What fun it would be to have an adult-size fairy house in a backyard…especially if it were tucked in between some trees. It could be a great place to set up a small library scene: book shelf full of books, a lamp, and a comfortable chair… or a place for sitting in quiet contemplation…or a fancy garden shed with all manner of plants and dirt, tools and planting supplies…or maybe even a game room?

A side view…

When writing about these sheds, a memory surfaced of playing in a shed in our backyard when I was a little girl. My dad and brother made an adult-size play shed out of scrap wood – nothing fancy like these fairy sheds – but it had a door and a window and that was enough. The neighborhood kids and I played for hours in that shed.

My brother had two photos of the shed. This is when he and my dad were building the shed.
The finished shed. Looks like deep snow that winter…up to our waists.

I’m thinking that subdued memory was what sparked such a joyful response in me when I saw the creative fairy sheds at the Home + Garden Show.

Marjorie McNeely Conservatory

Last week I thought to myself, I sure would like to see some blooming flowers…where can I go in Minnesota this time of year? Como Park Conservatory came to mind.

Stunning.
Sweet buttery yellow with a touch of lavender.

We have gone to the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory in previous winters, to catch a glimpse of colorful flowers, and be surrounded by greenery and warm, moist air. The sunken garden is always a bright and beautiful.

Elegant.
White orchids…with sprinkles of purple dust…

It is a lovely oasis in Minnesota’s winters. 

Blue skies and sun shone through the glass walls and ceiling which adds a lot to the ambiance of the sunken garden.
Stunning burgundy lilies, outlined with a fine white line, were growing throughout much of the sunken garden.
Foxgloves were blooming in the sunken garden, along with cyclamen and other annuals.

I checked the website and discovered an annual orchid show was happening, during St. Paul’s winter carnival. I talked to a woman over the phone and she said it’s a great exhibit, but warned me it does get crowded. I bought tickets anyways…

A amazing array of color. Tables of orchids were set throughout the sunken garden.
A striking orchid bloom.

We did get in to see the beautiful orchids even though we had to wait in long lines. It was not what I had planned when I first thought of the idea, but it was an enjoyable change in plans.

Gorgeous.
An exquisite pattern on this foliage.

I can’t begin to name all the different types of orchids there are. It was enough to drink in all their beauty.

One can see a face on these orchids…natural…two eyes, a nose, a mouth…
Good-looking.

We saw many incredibly beautiful and interesting and unique orchids…in all different shapes and sizes and colors.  

Orange-colored orchids.
Pleasing purple.

It was hard to discern which photos to post. As it is hard to pick a favorite orchid.

Delicate.
Pearly and iridescent.

“Consider how the flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.” Luke 12:27

Dundas Trail

Yesterday I took a morning bicycle ride on the Dundas Trail. Even though it was cloudy, it seemed like the sun was shining…

because bright sun flowers were blooming profusely on both sides of the trail.

Golden rod was already blooming yellow in a few places too, adding to the vibrant yellow color all around.

Golden Rod, a sure sign that fall is coming.

To top it off, three yellow (gold) finches flew across the trail in front of me. I didn’t capture any photos, but they are always a delight to see, and added much cheer to the already lovely, yellow scenery.

I don’t know the name of this variety of sunflower.

Also, I’m grateful for the garden club who tends to the flowers in these bicycle sculpture  baskets that are on the Dundas Trail.

Nature Scenes

Here are a few photos I’ve taken over the past couple of weeks…No particular order, no particular theme…just nature showing off.

A still, quiet morning, with mist lingering over Daggett Lake.
An early morning sky.
A rainbow… a promise. The bright colors were not captured with my iPhone camera, but it has been awhile since I’ve seen a rainbow, so I kept the photo anyway.
A black and blue swallowtail butterfly.
A big, beautiful, boastful sunflower.
A friend’s colorful garden.
My Little Lambs hydrangea bushes.
My Quick Fire hydrangea.

In Montgomery, Minnesota?

Montgomery, Minnesota is a small town 24 miles west of the small town where I live. The population is 3,249 and it claims to be the Kolacky Capitol of the world.

Franke’s Kolacky Bakery

Franke’s Bakery made Montgomery’s kolacky’s famous. Click this link for a brief history about the bakery and its famous kolacky’s. 

Montgomery seems to be a fairly active town. It celebrates its Czechoslovakian heritage with Kolacky Days every July. In the downtown area there is an Arts & Heritage Center, Hilltop Hall (a music venue), Pizzeria 201, a restaurant serving delicious pizza and other Italian offerings (but only take-out since 2020) and other small businesses, plus a few churches.

Holy Redeemer Catholic Church

Montgomery’s main street also has an interesting drug store, Herrmann Thrifty White Pharmacy, which was my destination on this particular sunny, summer day. 

Years ago, I discovered a lip balm that I really liked while on vacation on the west coast. I hadn’t been able to find it for years, but came across it on a different vacation and bought another tube. I decided I still really liked it and wanted to find more. At that time, the era of websites and ordering online became doable, so I looked it up on the internet and ordered it online, for several years. 

But now, the shipping charges have become more expensive than the actual product so I decided to look around for the lip balm again, in retail stores…without much luck. So I went back to the their website and found a chart of retail stores where they sell their products…which wasn’t many!

The list was short for retail stores where it is sold in the US (about 56), and only a handful of stores in Minnesota (13). But interestingly, the closest store to me, was Herrmann Thrifty White Pharmacy in Montgomery, MN. What??? 

Herrmann Thrifty White Pharmacy on mainstream in Montgomery.

I have been to Montgomery before, and I enjoy visiting small towns, so taking a road trip 24 miles down the road to find my beloved lip balm was exciting. I wondered if the store would have the “original” lip balm, which I like best.

Well, it did, and a lot of it!  I told the clerk why I was there and she showed me the display. I told her I wouldn’t buy her out but I wanted 4 of the 6. She said she had a lot more in back and brought out a tub, half-full, of the lip balm. I laughed, and bought more. I admit, there was great satisfaction in that moment.

Herrmann Thrifty White Pharmacy (established 1884) serves as more than a drug store. It is a small variety store for the town…with gifts, kitchen supplies, greeting cards, wrapping paper, baby supplies, jewelry, even some clothing and purses. It was a lot fun to spend time in the store looking around at all the variety of wares. I added a few more things to my purchase that day…to “help support this small-town store.”

There was a sign identifying this as Mary’s prayer garden near the church.

And, I have to confess…we stopped in at Franke’s Bakery first thing upon arriving in Montgomery, to buy coffee and a pastry (no kolacky for me though). We brought our treat outside, to a nearby picnic table, next to a beautiful church, and enjoyed their grounds on this lovely morning.

On the beautiful catholic church grounds.
A huge, magnificent flower pot outside a building in Montgomery.

Our delightful day trip was fun and interesting in the small town of Montgomery, Minnesota.

Lilacs

We’re just past the blooming season of lilacs. Below are three haikus about the delightful spring flower.

A lilac bouquet
on a dining room table
brings nature inside.  (by Sheri Eichhorn)
A transport in time
The fragrance of a lilac
Where does it take you? (by Valerie)
Lilacs in new bloom
Are the most beautiful smell
Nature offers us. (by Sheri Eichhorn)