daffodils

FRIDAY FLOWERS: ALMOST SPRING

By |2019-02-28T17:06:54-05:00February 28, 2019|Friday Flowers, Garden|

I realize not everyone has had nice, or even decent, weather lately. Between snow, cold and rain it has not been a great winter for many of us. So, of course, flowers are few and far between (except those luscious tulips at the store!)
We are fortunate to have a somewhat milder climate here in Zone 7b. This doesn’t mean we don’t get a lot of rain and grey days…but it does begin to warm up for many days in February.

Thank goodness I planted many new daffodils last fall. They are so easy, the deer don’t eat them, and oh do they put on a show in early Spring!

 

I had totally forgotten I put in these cute, bright Anemone Blanda/Grecian Windflower,  last fall.

 

The tulips are coming! I had an overflow of bulbs last fall so stuck these in pots just outside the back door. Have no idea what they are….which will be fun!

 

One of my hellebores from Pine Knot Farms:
‘Penny’s Pink’

 

Even the Iberis/Candytuft has popped open in a sunny, protected site.

 

Pansies do well here in […]

FRIDAY FLOWERS AND THE NEW iPHONE 7PLUS

By |2017-02-23T19:12:49-05:00February 23, 2017|Friday Flowers|

It has been a week of exploding color and warm weather! Really…it’s only February? We are all concerned that by April all the spring color will have appeared…and disappeared. My tulips have been at their peak, for the past six years, about April 1. And that is the day I have my annual hosted women’s group. The tulips make quite a show in my front gardens. Well, this year…who knows. We shall see!

In the meantime I wanted to tell you about my upgrade from the iPhone 6 to the iPhone 7. And then, a week later, I upgraded again to the 7Plus.

It is beyond fabulous!! I love the larger size: it still fits my hand just fine (an initial concern) and the screen is SO much easier to read and navigate.

And then we come to the Camera and the brand new “Portrait” setting. Take a look at the images below. The top one of each pair is the regular “Square” setting. The bottom of each pair is the “Portrait.” You get that wonderful blurred background.

 

I have (almost) no need to use my Canon DSLR as this “camera” does it all. And, as they say, the camera that works best for […]

FRIDAY FLOWERS: DAFFODILS

By |2016-01-28T19:56:52-05:00January 28, 2016|Friday Flowers|

It is still only January and we have had snow and ice and cold weather…
and yet….
daffodils are already making an appearance in my neighborhood.

Spring is on its way.  Seven weeks and counting!

One lonely flower at the back of my house:

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Lots of buds out front:

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This was from last February: I love the grape hyacinths mixed with the bicolor daffodils. My trusty purple bottles always come in handy.

IMG_3852-1_wm Using the kk_5.Friday Lightroom preset.

Hoping you all have a wonderful weekend!

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FRIDAY FLOWERS: SPRINGTIME

By |2015-04-02T18:59:04-04:00April 2, 2015|Friday Flowers|

 

First came the daffodils, those cheery harbingers of spring!
I have a huge selection of various kinds and most of them came with the house. Here I mixed them with the hellebore foetidus in a crystal vase.

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Next came the hyacinths, here in the vase made by my sister…

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And now, the tulips! My favorite flower. It is very rare indeed to see planted tulips here in North Carolina: most people feel the winter is too short and mild to produce quality tulips. This is true…..sort of. My tulips are never as tall or grand as they would be up North, but never mind, they are there, in my garden and that is what counts.

Here we have Wildhof white; actually a creamy off white that was the first to bloom. If you follow the link and take a look, they appear so much whiter than in reality. I think they are my favorite white/cream tulip to date!

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And here is the first of my

FRIDAY FLOWERS: START WITH A VASE

By |2014-04-03T22:28:55-04:00April 3, 2014|Friday Flowers|

I started with the vase: it’s one of my own designs from many years ago done for Hausenware.
Next, I gathered some daffodils from various parts of my garden. Some of the daffs have long since faded and withered, but others are just coming out. Most of these were actually planted long before we moved here so it’s a wonderful bonus to see them each spring (and not really know just what I ‘m going to see.)

Then, once again, those wonderful hellebore foetidus.

And finally, some rosemary which has just begun to flower (can you see those tiny bits of blue?).

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I had a few minutes this evening to play with some filters. This one, below, is
Kim Klassen’s Sunkist, at 76% opacity.

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For a totally different look, I tried the Waterlogue effect:

Waterlogue

The viburnum carlesii will be […]

FRIDAY FLOWERS: HERE AND THERE

By |2014-03-20T20:48:13-04:00March 20, 2014|Friday Flowers, Garden|

Not too much to report here in the way of colorful, budding, spring-like flowers!
Oh spring, where are you? We even had a total ice event two days ago, as you may have seen on my Instagram. While it was pretty (for about ten minutes…) we are all SO over it!

The above paragraph was written yesterday when it was still raw and gray. Today, Thursday, was gorgeous!  So there you go….spring at its most changeable.

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However, I do have some adorable miniature daffodils and some grape hyacinths in the amethyst bottles I bought last fall.

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Finally for this week I wanted to show you just a few shots I took on our one beautiful morning on Amelia Island, Florida. I love the water and  the reflections in these images; I managed to hit this at just the right time of morning light.

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