Tag: Flowers

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

Young At Heart

Summertime 2012

We are heading up to my aunt and uncle’s farm on Bay Lake in northern MN.  We haven’t seen them for over a year. My uncle turned 89 last September. We look forward to visiting with them, my only living aunt and uncle.  Below is a story from a summer visit with them in August, 2012.

*****

I am sitting here on the deck, breathing in the fresh air, hoping it infuses me with the youthfulness around me. I hear loons calling and the water fountain gurgling and look out to see the sun slowly exposing the field where eight cattle are leisurely grazing.

My uncle, age 84 11/12 (85 next month) has embarked on a new adventure this year. In order to keep his land deemed agricultural he bought eight steers and is fattening them in his field. Not only that, he adopted a new puppy too, Max. And did I mention he plays tennis three times a week?

We came up for a weekend get away before the busy fall season. My aunt and uncle are my relatives still living who have known me since I was born. It’s always fun to come up to their lovely home on Bay Lake.

Yesterday afternoon they arranged to take us on a pontoon ride with some friends of theirs. It was a glorious sunny day with blue skies and wispy white clouds. We climbed aboard the boat and the skipper (Jack) and his wife (Jean) maneuvered the boat away from the dock and we were off on a leisurely ride along the lake shore of Bay Lake, admiring cabins, seeing other boaters and skiers, and getting quick glimpses of loons before they dove under water.

Back on shore their friends invited us to stay awhile. She showed us her lovely garden and picked a stunning white and violet dahlia for me. We ate snacks and then headed back to my aunt and uncles place. On the way back we find out this very hospitable, lively couple are both 87 years old!

As we drove up the lane to my uncle’s place we are greeted by two strategically placed plastic penguins that my uncle found in the pool-house and placed playfully in the yard.

Oh to be young, like 85 or 87!

Missing Photos

lit blu 2puple bush hyrd

pink hydr

All shades of blue and pink and purple hydrangeas grow everywhere on Cape Cod. Nobody told me this before we went on vacation to the area in 2012. I was pleasantly surprised. I love hydrangeas and took many photos and even made a poster from them.

This was the same vacation when I broke my foot. When I went to look for a photo to post with the broken foot story I couldn’t find our photos of the trip. My husband got out the hard drive with our back up photos and they were not there either.  In a way I feel a sense of loss because we can’t find them.

The hydrangea pictures posted here are copied from the site I used to make my poster. Thankfully they were still archived on the site!

puprle hydrmix blue hydr

 

Sunflowers

IMG_4008 Sometimes a photo needs to be taken just to remember the scene even if it isn’t a good shot. In this photo, taken from a moving vehicle,  I tried to capture a portion of a field of  bright sunflowers along Interstate 94, near Alexandria, Minnesota. It caught me by surprise and took me a minute to figure out what was growing in this vast field. I was delighted to see bright, yellow flower heads with brown centers of the sunflower, standing tall with thousands of stalks, all facing east. It was a beautiful sight and worthy to record and remember.

My Fairy is Missing

IMG_3996-1I was in our yard on this beautiful, sunny, low-humidity morning…just walking around with a cup of coffee, looking at the flowers and bending over to pull a few weeds here and there when I noticed my fairy is missing!

Earlier I wrote an entry about buying a fairy and hiding it in my flowers for my little grand-daughter to find, knowing that it would not be this summer since she lives n Mozambique, Africa. However, I “hid” it in a place where I could see the fairy fairly (fairy fairly?) easily. I looked around to see if she had blown over, like Babe, the Blue Ox, (an 18 1/2 feet tall, 24 feet wide, 6000 lbs. Minnesota Icon that blew over in a storm in northern Minnesota yesterday) but I couldn’t find my fairy anywhere. Her bench is still there. I will only surmise that a squirrel ran off with her and she is sitting in some lucky squirrel’s nest protecting nuts for her new friends.

A Blooming Hibiscus

IMG_3405

Spring in Minnesota teases us. Warm, then cool temperatures change daily, but the emerging multiple shades of greens in the budding trees, the blooming pink, white and crimson ornamental trees, the bright and colorful spring flowers popping up and lawns greening are a beautiful sight. The air is so fresh and that is why it feels good to be living in Minnesota with its changing seasons.

My husband and I have been working hard in our yard…cleaning up the gardens, trimming trees (the tree trimmer was too expensive so my husband got out the ladder and hacksaw and trimmed them himself….I’m grateful its done and he’s unharmed), dividing and transplanting perennials to reduce the maintenance of the gardens. I am now ready to plant annuals when the weather warms back up!

Over the weekend we bought our annuals. I planted some in the flower boxes on our deck in time for Mother’s Day. As gifts, I received a yellow and purple Millions Bells in a hanging plant and a container full of colorful Gerbera Daisies for the deck. I have a Hibiscus to add to the mix…its one I bring it in every fall to winter over in the house (after I threaten to toss in the compost ~ I’m not an indoor plant person.) A friend encourages me to keep it…and when it blooms I’m glad I have. During the summer the hibiscus gathers fresh air, warmth and energy from the sun so it blooms over the winter. I’m always happy to get out of the house though. It’s blooming now and is so lovely…I think it knows I could get rid of it at any time so it tries its best to perform for me.

So with the flower boxes planted, the hanging basket in place, a fresh flower pot with colorful and perky flowers, and my good old standby Hibiscus in bloom, our little outdoor room is shaping up. We’ve cleaned up our deck furniture and I anticipate spending a lot of time on the deck this summer