A reason to come back

Okay – I actually had no good reason to stop posting here other than things happened and while I kept walking and taking photos I somehow never made it a priority to come back here and post properly. But today changed that. Today when I got home I went to feed the fish in our pond, and saw something I’d never seen. I ran to my camera and thought I have to post this to my blog. This needs more than a fleeting share. This needs a home.

I want to be able to find this whenever I want. Seeing that our red and yellow water lilies had crossed and made this gorgeous flower made what was already a nice day into a great day.

Scene while walking: June 20, 2014

There are those who think it’s a waste of time and money that my employer has flowers in planter boxes around campus. Personally, I think it makes being at work much more pleasant – and it certainly makes walking around campus a more lovely experience.

Encore!

My beautiful Asiatic lilies have returned! I planted these last year and hoped they would over-winter and come back (not always guaranteed). They’ve returned with a huge number of blooms ready to come! I’m very very pleased.

Stripey!

When we were constructing our house we found some long-neglected and abandoned tulip bulbs in a portion of the lot that had been dry for years. I dug them up, apologized for their neglect, and replanted them with a promise of water. They returned the favor by blooming each year and continuing to spread – and it turned out they were cool striped tulips (along with some regular pink and yellow ones). A friend of mine has since educated me that this is a virus, but a valuable one. People apparently cultivate and patent tulip virii to get these stripes. How lucky were we?

These were the first two to bloom this year. I’m looking forward to all the others showing their colors! Looks like I might have another striped one open when I get home today.

Scene in Spain, #14

While out for a walk in Barcelona, we ran across these lovely flowers. I don’t know what they are, but they brightened the already pleasant day.

Scene in Spain, #8

I’ve been very neglectful. Sorry about that! To make up for it here are a ton of photos from the botanical gardens in Madrid. Turns out they have a massive bonsai collection that is super impressive. There are a couple of random flowers and some future tequila thrown in for good measure. It was a lovely place. Unfortunately the bonsai are against a green-ivy fence which makes it difficult to get good photos. I did my best!

Winter Flowers

Last year my aunt gave my mother a “Christmas Cactus” – nearly every one I’ve seen had red blooms, but this one has white/pink blooms. Normally giving my mother a plant is a risky proposition, but she does well with the succulents and the cactus bloomed like crazy this year. It’s a very pretty accent in their kitchen.

My in-laws sent my husband and me paperwhite bulbs this year. I dutifully watered the container and lo and behold, up they popped. I’m sorry to know that since they were forced to bloom out of season (technically not a winter flower) this is probably it. But I’ll give it a go to see if I can keep them alive. In the meantime:

Best wishes to all of you and yours for a happy, safe, and prosperous new year!

Late summer flowers, part 5

I finish my celebration of the last of the blooms in my yard with our carpet roses. We have a variety of colors and all are still blooming. Carpet roses are great – they take no effort and re-bloom all summer long. The only thing I have to do is prune them back once in a while or they will take over the yard.

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Late summer flowers, part 4

We have a couple of varieties of dianthus (in the same family as the carnation) in the yard – this is the lipstick red version. Gorgeous color against the pale sea-green foliage.

Late summer flowers, part 3

The lavender is re-blooming just a bit giving the yard some nice purple accents and a lovely aroma.

@KellyOSullivan

has random thoughts

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