Tag: Flowers

Aspelund Peony Garden

Even though it was cool, cloudy and windy we decided to drive to Aspelund Peony Garden on the last day of their June open houses. As soon as we got out of the car I was glad we were there. The colorful array of peonies were so inviting they made me smile.

A portion of the peony fields.

It was difficult to take photos with the peonies swaying in the wind. There are great photos on Minnesota Prairie Roots blog where I learned about this farm. Click here.

Beautiful and bright.

According to the proprietor of the peony garden, the wind and storms the day before, on Saturday, wreaked havoc with the peonies, but that didn’t stop several folks finding their way to the farm to decide which peony bush they wanted to order…order now, pick up in the fall (a good time for transplanting peonies we’re told.) The farm has 150 varieties of peonies. We do not have any more space for sun-loving flowers so we just enjoyed looking.

Lovely pinks.

The proprietor was friendly and out in the field talking with everyone. You could tell he loved his peonies. He told us peonies are hardy. He said if you go to any abandoned farm in Minnesota, you are likely to find lilacs, rhubarb, peonies, day lilies and iris’. Interesting!

So many colors and combinations.

He told us the oldest peony in Minnesota is 150 years old and is at the governor’s mansion. He said the oldest peony in the world is in the Emperor’s Garden in China and is 600 years old. I could not find any confirmation of these facts on the Internet (a very reliable source! ha).

Lovey, whimsical peonies.
Long rows of peonies. (photo by gb)

The farm also includes the Aspelund Winery…grapes and apple trees and pear trees are grown on this farm. It’s in a beautiful setting in Aspelund, Minnesota. The winery only had outdoor seating and it was too cool to sit outdoors, but we peeked our heads inside to check out the tasting room…we’ll save that for another time.

A view of southern Minnesota countryside.

The drive home was lovely…we love driving in the country…and I love this time of year when the green plants are popping through the soil a couple of inches, forming neatly, defined rows in the field.

As we approached our house we could see our three peony bushes from the road. They looked so insignificant in comparison to what we just witnessed – we laughed.

But they are beautiful and cheerful flowers…and they are blooming…and they are hardy! And I love cutting one stem at at time and having them show off their beauty for me in our house.

A peony from my garden.

Morning Stroll

“Make a morning ritual of strolling through your garden. No weeding allowed – do it for the pure and simple joy of observation.”     Jane Austin Miller

Iris’.

Every year, about this time, I think of this quote. I like it.

Zinnias.

When I do stroll, I like carrying a cup of coffee in my hands.

Hosta and Clematis.

It’s not a long stroll, and not daily, but it is an early morning stroll, and I do not pull any weeds…just enjoy.

Lupine.

It’s fun to watch the garden grow.

“Lime Marmalade” Coral Bells.

Springtime

Spring is finally here and so begins the yard work. For the most part, working in the yard and digging in the dirt is fun for me…but spring clean up is a lot of work. We decided to do some trimming over the weekend.

We started with a tree in our front yard. Gary climbed the ladder to cut off a branch and noticed, there in the crook of the tree, my “missing” fairy.  We surmised a squirrel grabbed the fairy from it’s secret place in my garden two years ago. The squirrel must have decided it wasn’t food after all, so he left it sitting up properly in the crook of a tree, watching over us all that time. It was a fun surprise to find this fairy-angel in the tree after two winters.

Although this is not the exact spot Gary found the fairy, it was sitting upright and up high in a crook of this tree.

Next, in our back yard there is a honeysuckle vine climbing a trellis on the deck and it was getting out of control, as honeysuckle vines tend to do. So this year we decided to trim it way back. We revved up the electric trimmers and started cutting back the vine when Gary spotted a bird’s nest with eggs in it. Hmmm…we had already started trimming so we decided to quickly finish and then get out of there with hopes that the mama bird would come back to the nest and tend to her eggs.

The mama mourning dove returned to her nest to protect her eggs.

Fortunately the mourning dove is back and sitting on her eggs in the nest. It will be fun to watch them hatch right outside our window.

I noticed the lone daffodil blooming on the side of our house. There are several daffodil bulbs planted there but they didn’t seem to make it through that last winter blizzard. Even so, the one bright, yellow flower is perky and brings joy.

April showers bring May flowers, but not April snow blizzards.

It is always a delight to discover fun surprises in nature. Some are so obvious and some so hidden. I am reminded to keep my eyes open for there is so much to see.

Memorable Hikes – Tucson, Arizona 2003

Continuing my Friday series on memorable hikes…

In 2003 we went to visit friends who spend their winters in Arizona, away from the Minnesota cold, snow and ice. They bought a lovely town home in Tucson and we enjoy visiting them, over a long weekends, in February, when it works.

There is a lot to do and see in the area where they live: Tuscan Botanical Garden, Saguaro National Park, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, DeGrazia Gallery, Old Tuscon Studios, Mt. Lemon and the Santa Catalina mountains, good restaurants and several places for hiking. Sabino Canyon is one of those places.

Sabino Canyon is a desert oasis in the Coronado National Forest. When you arrive at the park you can take a tram up the canyon and walk back down if you desire. That’s a great way to hike! But there are several trail options available to hike back down. We have hiked in this canyon on several different trips. On this day in Sabino Canyon we were casually hiking down along the canyon in the beautiful, warm, sunshine. There was water in the canyon; water pools in the canyon during winter months and being near water while hiking is a always a treat. As we were walking we caught up with a couple in front of us that had stopped on the trail. They pointed to a rattlesnake coiled up in the sun on a rock along side the trial. We tiptoed past it and kept on going. That’s the first time, and hopefully the last time, I see one of those snakes!

Desert cactus in bloom.

Other than the snakes, the desert landscapes in this park are beautiful and it’s especially nice when one can enjoy warmth and sunshine knowing it’s cold and icy back in Minnesota.

My Hibiscus

On my daily walk in the neighborhood I pass many manicured lawns and beautiful gardens. In one yard there is an amazing hibiscus in full bloom with flowers the size of dinner-plates. It’s stunning. Back home I check out my own hibiscus and it too, has many blosoms. And it’s beautiful in it’s own way…it’s blooms are not meant to be the size of big plates.

My neighbor’s hibiscus.

During the summer my hibiscus enjoys a wonderful home on our deck. It is a flowering plant that cannot survive the cold Minnesota winters so I need to bring it in the house during the winter. It is a plant I have cared for for many years and every year I threaten to throw it into the compost pile instead of bringing it indoors! Although I love my outdoor flower gardens in the summer I’m not too interested in indoor plants. I have two: a pothos that trails down my cupboard in the kitchen and a Christmas cactus that a friend gave me…which was started by her grandmother years ago in Norway. Those two plants are hardy and survive with little attention from me.

My hibiscus.

So every fall I have to decide if I’m going to bring the hibiscus indoors for the winter. I have a friend who is the hibiscus’ advocate. She encourages me to keep the plant alive. When I went out to water it the other day it had so many blooms…I think the hibiscus has a sense that it needs to perform to save its life. So I guess I’ll keep it over winter again but I won’t bring it in until the last possible moment.

Mine up close…so beautiful.

Petunias!

I like petunias.

Hanging baskets on main streets in Rosemount, MN

Petunias are colorful, hearty, and everywhere. This summer I started taking photos of different displays of petunias.

Our town has beautiful hanging baskets all along the main street.

Petunias cannot be picked for a bouquet but if watered daily they will bloom and bloom and bloom, and tolerate the hot sun.

We saw several of these apartment buildings in Columbus, OH, all with wonderful window boxes overflowing with petunias.

Some people would consider them “just an ordinary flower” but I think they are “old-fashioned and beautiful”.

Bridge Square, Northfield

They come in all colors, are easy to grow, and brighten up many spaces.

These are called night sky because of the color and white spots.

I will continue to notice petunias…once on the lookout you find them everywhere!

Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

Peony

As we started walking around the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum several days ago I looked up the word “teliodoscope” on my iPhone to find the definition and learn how to pronounce it. The word is not in the dictionary and must be the creation of the artist who had a wonderful exhibit “Gardens of Kaleidoscopes” on display at the arb (now through September 2017).

Brightly colored painted, steel structures hold big bowls​ of bright-colored, perky pansies with a few other spring flowers mixed in. According to the brochure,  the annuals in the bowls will change monthly and vary by season. The bowls rotate and there are  kaleidoscopes mounted on each stand (different heights for different folks) so as you look through the scope and spin the bowl (and/or the scope at the same time) it creates a wonderful “teliodoscope” of colors and patterns and fantastic designs. It’s very creative and such fun to locate them throughout the arboretum.

The brochure tells us the artist, Robert Anderson, spent his early life on a farm in south-central WI. This exposure to nature and mechanics would create the foundation for his life’s work of “living sculptures’ as he calls them.

I, for one, am a fan of his work! I love color, I love kaleidoscopes, I love flowers…what a combination.

We also discovered a new permanent addition to the arboretum called Bee and Pollinator Discovery Center. The center is beautifully built and opened last fall. We learned some fascinating facts about bees and want to go back to learn more.

Ladie’s Mantle

And, of course, we enjoyed the wonderful landscape of the arboretum with some spring flowers in bloom… and there will be a whole new look in the coming days as more flowers bloom and grow.

Iris’

Azaleas