Category: roses

~The Great Outdoor Challenge~

Continues.  We are recovering from a little illness over the weekend, but I wanted to share a few photo’s..  

 It is so hard to see your little child suffer from sickness and pain. I knew when she got dressed, started talking ninety to nothing, running outside every 10 minutes to play today that she was back to her old self again. It was a rough two days, but the clouds have lifted, thank heavens!

~Antique tea rose.. maybe Safrano? Or ?? I just can’t quite recall right now.

~Marie Pavie~ Love, smells so good!

 I am really pleased with this little bed. I keep trying to capture the color’s, but they are not coming across quite right.  I love the white  bridal spiraea, with Old Gay Hill (China rose), and the purple iris. On the other end of the bed is Baby Love (a little shrub rose) and a little purple iris tucked in.

It’s a jungle out there, but it makes me happy.  Hoping you have a healthy and happy week!

by Categories: roses, spring 2010, The Get Outdoor Challenge April 2010Tags: , , Leave a comment

~Hummingbirds and other things~

Well, I have had my feeder up since March 25th. I have been waiting and waiting. I will admit I was getting a little nervous. What if they don’t come back? What if something happened to the little ones that come to my house. I was beginning to worry.

~crazy bad picture, but seriously, can you see him? I think it is a girl actually. So cute!

I looked back to other blog posts to see when they’ve made their return. It seems as if they are right on track, of course I worried for nothing….Because they are BACK!  For real!

Yesterday I saw a robin get dive-bombed by something and I was like what the ?? I looked at my feeder and there he was. Oh me!  I need the Nikon back. (My husband dropped the darn thing!)  Yesterday was a good, good day!  So,  April 14th marks the date of return to my Memphis garden.

Feeling joyful, I am now ready for summe.  It feels like it is here already, we have been close to 90 all week.  All I want to know is where did spring go?  I am not complaining, not by any means.  Certainly not after this past winter.  I never thought it would end. 

If you’re looking for me, I will be out in my jungle. Literally, that is what it is. The weeds are taking over and I am going in.  If you don’t hear from me, send help!   Here are a few things from my garden today.  (remember I need my Nikon fixed!!)

~Perle d’ Or rose

~Mme. Antoine Mari

~snowball shrub/ with snowdrops.. I have never seen them bloom at the same time. Crazy weather!

~shrub rose Old Blush.

~more plants, cuz you know I am crazy like that.

~good thing we don’t have a HOA, they would not approve. No way, no how.

Don’t forget, April is the month of  The Great Outdoor Challenge. Here is a picture from the weekend.   Best, best, best friends at the park.

by Categories: garden, hummingbird, Life, Memphis, Moments, roses, spring 2010, The Get Outdoor Challenge April 2010Tags: Leave a comment

~A memory~

 

My daughter told me a story today in the car on the way home from school.  “Guess what~ me and Lindsy place outside together during recess.” “Guess what we play” 

 “I don’t know, what do you two play?”

“Well, we play bird nest, we find all of the pine needles and  then we build a nest”
“Guess what we found today” 

 “I don’t know, what did you find?”

“Well, today we found a feather, and guess what, we put it in our nest. Then we played birds, mama bird with babies.” “I hope it is still there tomorrow.” 

Followed by at least 15 more minutes of in-depth conversation that I will  not repeat, but  what a sweet little story.    It brought back a memory that I almost had completely forgotten. 

When I was in kindergarten, my little best friend…  I can’t quite remember her name, but she was my best friend and we played incessantly together. 

One of our most favorite games we would play was the one we played with our pencils, it was known as pencil house. 

Do you remember the little wooden pencil boxes? Well, those boxes were our houses for our little pencil people.  We had mama’s, dads, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles & cousins.. you name it we had it. We used big pencils, little pencils, medium sized pencils.  No pencil would ever be left out, no they would just join our little family. 

 On the playground we would search for any little pencils and you would be surprised what we would find and where. I found many a good pencil on the school bus.  We played so much not only in recess, but in class. We would get so mad when we couldn’t play our little  pencil people family game.   That old  teacher just talked way to much as far as we were concerned.  The more we played the more extensive our pencil families would become. 

 Good times I tell you, good times!

Oh me.. I had almost completely forgotten about that.  In fact, I might not have ever remembered that fun little time if I had not spent time listening to the ever rambling little six year old..  So much passion for play and imagination bundled into that little being!

This is what I love about being a mom, you not only see yourself in your children, but they can actually help you find a small part of yourself that you might have ordinarily forgotten.   I think that is way cool!

I have to leave you with a beautiful old rose named Mrs. BR Cant it is a real doer in my garden. It sits front and center in my wild garden. The blooms are gorgeous, have a pleasant scent, and after each little rain storm I will usually get a new flush. Of course it blooms big time right after my sister’s big day, of course it does. 

by Categories: antique garden roses, children's projects, family, rosesTags: , , , , 1 Comment

~Birds in a bowl~

   ~I found the cutest vintage thing the other day… not exactly sure what this is supposed to be, but it has multiple birdies hanging on a string with beading. There is a very tiny bell on the very bottom.  We have it hanging on my daughter’s door as a part of her catatorium, dont ask!    I first had them  placed them in a  wooden bowl from the thrift store… 

They are the coolest thing and what I love the most is the colors of each bird with the little beading detail for eyes and beak, and a little tassel tail matching the main color of each bird…

Here they are hanging~

I found a few other little goodies that I am saving for later.

We have been enjoying the best fall ever! The weather has been warm during the day and cool at night, just perfect for roses and the last of our fall flowers~

We have been enjoying some wonderful soaking rains as well…

   ~ lovely orange mums

a little pink rose, think it is the Knockout.. it is a good doer along with all of my antique roses. This has been a great fall for roses! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

by Categories: antique garden roses, fall garden, roses, thriftingTags: , , , , 5 Comments

Happy Mother’s Day~ home grown flower’s for Mom!

    ~ Happy Mother’s Day Mom! Fresh from the garden after yet another storm.. There have been some bad ones this Spring. 

  ~ I can see I need to add more flowers for companions.  The roses are good to go, but I can use some companion plants..

     ~for some reason, I am really into white, yellow and orange. I find it very Springish!

 

 

  ~I am very happy with my Confederate Jasmine. This year it has really taken off. Very fragrant, evergreen and fresh.  I am not sure of the orange flower, it was a Lowe’s special… $0.99 cents. I think.  It has come back for the second year. Love it!  The roses are The Gift (Hybrid Musk), the bee’s love this rose, it is a vigorous grower, Crown Princess Margareta and Teasing Georgia both of those are David Austin roses.  The multi- orange flower is called Blood Flower and was from the Lichterman Plant sale.  
This Spring has been really good for roses, I really can’t get over that fact. Either that or they are finally hitting their 3 year stride.   Either way, it brings me joy to share the beauty from my little plot.

by Categories: antique garden roses, family, garden, roses, spring 08Tags: , , , 1 Comment

Old garden roses and thankful Thursday…

Ok, first I am thankful it is Thursday, because I can’t take any more work.  I am over that big time, but gosh I am grateful that I have a job… (just keeping it real you know??)

   ~ grateful for MME. Antoine Mari,  the most beautiful tea rose. I love it.  Also, my Malva Zabrina reseeded for the 3rd or 4th year… I winter-sowed them in 05 I think…

   ~ this is Niobe Clematis, I have wanted this one forever, and have gotten 2 that were mislabeled, so I am thankful this is the correct one. Now, if it only matches the rose I have it paired with….

  ~ thankful, more rain.. on Zephirine Droughin. The fragrance is to die for, a climbing bourbon, thornless rose. Love it.

  ~ Zephy draped thru Limelight Hydrangea..  (the color is more true on the photo above)

  ~ thankful for my China roses, they are so cute! Found rose~ Old Gay Hill, I believe in a cemetery in NC?

  ~ thankful this little rose is still going, one of my first roses, before I really got into antique roses… Nearly Wild, love the white center, it seems to glow… (bees really love single blooms too!)

  ~ Baby Love, not old just really pretty. Thankful for the plentiful continuous blooms on this one. Think it is considered a mini rose, but it is good size and healthy. Grows well in part shade…

  ~ thankful for this little garden vignette, I photograph it quite a bit because it never fails to make me happy. I love the little tinkle of the fountain in the background.

So, with all that is wrong with this world, I am thankful for my little piece of happiness and the health of my family. We are blessed.

by Categories: antique garden roses, garden, roses, spring 08Tags: 1 Comment

Sunday musings…. a little rose anyone?

As the weather warms, and as the days grow longer, it is so hard to stay inside. I am currently battling either poison ivy or Virginia Creeper type rash… I still can’t stay inside! I have been trying for days to get a an accurate shot of this rose bush gone mad….   ~ I have no idea why this is so hard to capture in a picture…  one picture has to much light in the background, ~ this one has too much  somthing or other..

  ~on the other hand, close up photo’s are much easier…~ seriously though, this is a great rose! Everyone should grow one if you have the room!  

Now, when the blooms have faded I will attempt to tidy it up a bit.  It is a bit impossible to go thru the fence, but it is a price worth paying for now…   ~one more little peek~ here is the backside of the fence.

 Now to the back garden….

  ~ my arbor seems to have filled in nicely…  I am loving ‘Madame Alfred Carriere’ right now.  This rose is so fragrant, and nearly thornless so, it is a great choice for an arbor. Only worry is that is will get way too large for the space. But, that is a worry for another day.

     ~ close up MAC bloom

  ~ sometimes you just have to appreciate the view you create on your own…

  ~ peace be with you on this Sunday evening and enjoy Earth Week!

by Categories: garden, roses, spring 08Tags: , , , 5 Comments

Trying a new thing!

Ok, I am trying windows live writer, hopefully I can get a handle on it and use it with my blog that I currently have. It is supposed to be very user friendly and a little quicker uploading things. We will see. I can be a little challenged at times. 

On other notes, we are preparing a cremation/ash ceremony for my brother Robert.  He passed away on December 10, 2006.  It was such a sad day for us. He was 29 years old.  He had a mild mvp and otherwise healthy. He was mentally retarded, but considered high function. He was just a great great person. He would help you anyway he knew how. He was very artistic and very organized. He went thru several rounds of tests trying to determine exactly what his condition was. He was borderline CP, possibly autistic.  We never had a real diagnosis. Later, we came across the Fragile X Foundation, and just on simple review, it would appear that that is what closely resembles my brother.

Anyhow, on August 23, he would have turned 30, so we are preparing a ceremony to be held on a lake for him.

Who knew there was so much information out there to help with this task. Here is cremation solutions that I found that will help one piece a whole service together. Who knew I ask?  More to come on this subject later. It is very difficult to write on this subject.

Now, on a lighter note, I love my new skin care products I received from Marie Chantal. I can’t tell you how wonderful these products are. I am trying the 3 piece trial set, and a lip balm. Wonderful!  Highly recommend these products! The fragrance alone is enough to send you over the moon, and your skin is so soft!

As for the garden, please… nothing happening out there, it is in the high 90’s, heat index low 100’s. It is all we can do to water, so, it is surival of the fitest and will be doing some reevaluating come winter. I believe we will look to drought tolerate plants and so forth. I do believe that the roses I have should mostly make it and each year that goes by truly makes them more drought resistant. It seems like Spring was so long ago.  Goodness.

Now, as for my knitting. I am still working on my hot cross scarf, but Olivia demolished my number 9 bamboo knitting needle. So, while I have replaced the needle, I have shifted my attention to this Christmas Stockings from Little Cotton Rabbit.  I made the first one this weekend, with the Christmas trees, so cute! I am now working on the zig zag. Love these. I am using white and green yarn, Grace from Paton’s.   I hope she doesn’t mind  me linking these, she is so talented! I try to keep my eyes out for when she has the sale of her bunnies, they literally sell out in minutes.

 

I guess that is all that I have for now. Let’s see how this does. So far I like it.  Easy to use!

Here is a Buck Rose, Distant Drum from earlier this Spring.

by Categories: roses 1 Comment

The journey begins…

This is my first time… to blog that is. I will thus embark on my new journey sharing some views of where I am ..in my garden in TN.




This is my first time.. to blog that is. I will thus embark on this personal journey oh to see where the wind will blow me. Self-expression is therapeutic, not that I have ever been to therapy, but sometimes you have to break out of the funk. So, on that note I begin.. care to come along?
As the renewal of Spring brings forth the bountiful blooms and new growth of green and bronze…
I will let today be my my first day of Spring.
Let’s just see how it goes!
by Categories: roses 1 Comment