Wild Strawberries!

From our yard, in my hand. The season is late this year.

Vibrant Contrast or Irises!

More Flower Postcards

Dream Garden 10, Poppy, 4 x 6, $20 plus s & h
Dream Garden 12, Turk's Cap Lily, Sold
Dream Garden 11, Bleeding Hearts, NFS

Think Spring! New fabric postcards

I'm working on a series of postcards, using my photographs as a base for the stitching. It's been great to look at all the spring flowers as I've chosen which pictures to make into fabric art. I'm thinking of doing one of the iris pictures in a larger, more abstract format. These will be in the art show I'm scheduled to be in later this month.
Dream Garden 6, Tulip Transparancy, 4 x 6 $20 plus s & h
Dream Garden 8, Garden Iris, Sold
Dream Garden 9, Blue Flag Iris, 4 x 6, $25 plus s & h
Dream Garden 7, Tulip Portrait, 4 x 6, $20 plus s & h

A little art show

My friend SW was asked to have a little art show at a local gallery and shop, actually a very small gallery. She invited me to be part of the show. She says it is no big deal, just a way to show people what we "do."

It took me awhile to get on board with the concept. I actually don't have very many "quilts" that I would show. For one thing, I would only expect to show original work, but I've also given much of my work away as gifts. But I do take a lot of nice photos, so I've decided to make up some photo cards that I can sell. My speciality is close-ups of flowers, especially with the background obscured or from an angle that gives an unexpected background.

I've also decided to make a push to get some fabric postcards finished for this show. These will mostly be work based on my photographs.

Now I'm excited to see how it goes.

Tulips, Sign of Spring

Well, it is far from being spring weather here yet, but I've been looking at some pictures I took two years ago when my tulips were in full bloom. I am getting tired of the white landscape. Enjoy my web album; think spring.

Autumn Glory

You May Have Heard of The Floods....

You may have heard of the floods in Southeastern Minnesota, but Smokey the Bear says we still have drought.

Losing Some Good Shade Trees

Four very large Aspen trees had begun to have some internal rot. Since they were close enough to the house to be a danger to the building and us, we had to have a tree service take them down.

And now the Yellow Flag Iris

Columbine

Peonies

These were given to me by a friend.

Signs of Spring

Cheerful robin songs, optimistic reminders of spring renewal.

Lovely Trilliums, all over northern Wisconsin, by the tens of thousands.

Wild Plum Blossoms

I wish you could smell these wonderful wild plum blossoms that are on small trees around about a third of my yard.

Hibiscus

I've had several hibiscus plants in large pots, indoors, for quite a few years. One plant, with deep fushia colored flowers, blooms fairly well, for a hibiscus. The problem with the hibiscus as an indoor plant is that they need lots of water and light. They tend to get very leggy, which means drastic pruning, which tends to inhibit the development of buds. And when they do bloom, the flower lasts only about 1 1/2 days.

This particular plant apparently hadn't bloomed in a few years, or, at least I didn't even remember that I had one of this color. We can enjoy it longer on the blog than we'll be able to enjoy it in real life.

Franklin Ground Squirrel

Well, spring is here, sort of. Since we are in a year long drought, and nearly every storm of the winter and the spring has bypassed us, we aren't greening up very fast. But there are signs, signs of hope. I'm wondering if many of my perennials made it through the winter. Due to the low depth of the snow cover, the frost went deep into the ground.

So out I went with my camera today, looking for life. There are lots of camouflage colors out there: dry grass and leaves, dirt, rocks. Here and there, green is poking through.

Last year, we frequently saw a ground squirrel who we called "Frankie" because he is a Franklin Ground Squirrel. After a few months, we realized that there was Frankie, Mrs. Frankie, and Little Frankie. This year we've seen three at once already. Look how well he can be camouflaged. Cute? Maybe, depending on what they might burrow into. We won't think it is cute if the garage slab gets undermined. These animals are also called Whistle Pigs, because of their call. But last year, I heard that sound only a few times.

I also took a picture of the little creek that flows by our house. It is so small that I can walk across it with one big step. The water is low because of the lack of rain, but right now, it is the only "running water" I can see when I'm in the house because our well is broken.

The next few weeks will bring exciting changes. I love the sproutings of spring.

The Weatherman was Wrong Again

All summer we've had forecasts predicting rain, storms, showers, scattered showers. But we've had a drought.

The forecast is often for "high of 78 degrees" or "high of 82 degrees" but we get a nice sunny day of 85 or 88.

So yesterday, I listened carefully when the forecaster said, "Lows in the lower thirties, with scattered areas of frost." Since they were so far off in the wet and cool directions all summer, I figured on only bringing in the pots of impatients. The pansies will usually survive the frosts. The petunias might make it if the weather isn't too cold, and besides, they are somewhat over the hill anyway.

When I got up this morning at 7:00 am, I read the indoor/outdoor thermometer: 25.7 degrees! The flower pots still looked great. I went out and checked them: the flowers were frozen solid. There was ice in my little fountain.

What would a weather forecaster earn if he were paid by percent of accuracy?

Toad Height

 

I Love Pansies!

 

Lush Growth of Flowers

I've been away from home for most of the past month due to both happy and sad family events. Those topics are for another post. This is about my flowers.

I didn't expect to see the lush growth and explosion of blooms that were so evident when I got back home. The plants had been watered as necessary and the temperatures were high while I was gone. All the plants, petunias, pansies, impatiens, as well as some mystery plants, were in their colorful glory. All the lobelia had died from the heat.

When I am home, I faithfully "dead-head" all my flowering plants, believing that if I don't do this, they won't make more flowers. But apparently being compulsive isn't necessary. I even wonder if doing it nearly every day stresses the plants. This year, I did some pruning a month ago, and then nothing since, except that someone else watered my plants. I even wonder if I've watered too frequently in the past. These plants flourished in the high heat this year.

I certainly felt welcomed by my flowers. What a joy after some of the stresses of the past weeks.

The grass hasn't been mowed in weeks and mostly it doesn't need it. The grass, that is. There are dozens of trees that have sprouted up from underground roots that are about 18 inches high! The yard looks scraggly with these tree sprouts and the weeds flourishing instead of the grass. What kind of tree grows that fast in a month? It is known as the Balm-of-Gilead or Populus candicans Ait, perhaps of variety of the balsam poplar. It is know for not much except for the resin of the buds, which smells good, and is used in medicine. It springs up like a weed. We used to live in a log cabin made of this tree. It rots easily, unfortunately.