Blooming Friday~ Good Friday too

After the sixth coldest winter recorded at RDU Airport Spring is moving along at a rapid pace. In two weeks we went from buds to blooms to almost fully leafed out on the Weeping Cherry trees.



This pink dogwood tree is planted very close to the house on the north side. The flowers are just opening~ this is our Easter tree since it's almost always in bloom on Easter no matter when it falls on the calendar. The shady location makes it really hard to get good photos but I try and try again.

The Red Maple is in bloom. This tree is young enough to be able to see them closeup.

The epimediums are also hard to capture because of their small size and location- I backed right into all kinds of limbs while getting these shots.

This is the fullest display that I've ever had from the Veronica 'Georgia Blue'. It was moved here a couple of years ago and was hidden under the Muhly grass pretty much until this year.

I've never seen a display like this on from my young Loropetalum. It must have enjoyed all of the rain.

The hellebore is winding down but has a very good year.

I've done alot of organizing over at Little Wing Photography & Design. I'd love for you to visit!

This is the last Bloomimg Friday to be hosted by Katarina at Roses and Stuff. Be sure to visit and bookmark her beautiful blog.

Happy Easter!

Blooming Friday ~ Trees!

It really feels like Spring when the trees start flowering. Last Friday I posted pics of Weeping Cherry and Bradford Pear flower buds. The next day was very warm and both trees started blooming.



The graceful cherry





The hellebore still has blooms and plenty of plump flower buds waiting their turn.




Lorapetalum 'Ruby' has the most bloom buds this year that I've ever seen. A couple of flowers were open deep in the foliage. I'm not sure if the flowers will open in procession or all at once.



Our hostess Katarina at Roses and Stuff asked if we were enjoying anything pink. I guess the last two bloom pics were pinkish so~ yes. The pink that I've enjoyed the most this week though did not come from blooms. I broke my shades probably a month ago and since it has been so gloomy I had not bothered to replace them until our beautiful sunny day last Saturday. I have to say that the world really does look better through rose colored glasses:)

Blooming and Almost Blooming Friday~the late, late edition

It has been a beautiful day in my part of North Carolina, the kind of Friday that you dream of having off from work. Alas to work I went after taking photos up until the last minute before dressing to leave. I've finally stole enough time to share them here for my first Blooming Friday of 2010.

Katarina at roses and stuff asks us this Friday what photo means Summer the most to us. This picture from June 2008 in my garden is one of my favorite summer images~ Daylily 'Twister Time' with liatris and Salvia 'Black and Blue' in the background.





Presently I have nothing new blooming since my last post. The hybrid hellebore is still blooming. I was blocking the sun in this first shot so I decided to give it a glow to brighten it up a bit.




Same hellebore backlit.



The Forsythia is in full on bloom.






and the Helleborus foetidus is still hanging in there.



For the ~almost blooming~ part I have Prunus subhirtella, Weeping Cherry...







and daffs in the shade(!)...



and the ubiquitous 'Bradford' Callery Pear.




This last blossom is maturing at an alarming rate~ at least it seems that way to her caretaker;) Meike is starting to look like a little Pom instead of a fur ball. Here she is on the deck this morning, on the move...



and looking out at the garden that she is just learning her way around...



Happy Blooming Friday- well almost, I think I may have missed it by a smidge,lol.

Bloom Day~ March 2010

I'm very happy to be participating once again in the Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. I don't have many different blooms but I'll gladly share them. We've had some great mild days and the garden is coming alive again~ like Phoenix rising from the ashes since I haven't finished Spring cleaning yet.

Helleborus foetidus is still sporting her green bells with raspberry trim. The foliage is a beautiful contrasting dark green. This is not your typical cottage garden plant but I find it beautiful nonetheless.



The foliage can be seen in this photo.




This Forsythia was grown from cuttings from the bush that has grown at my Mom's house since sometime in the 1970's. Forsythia is very easy to root from softwood cuttings- probably the reason for a fellow garden blogger's "Hedge". This first photo is of the handsome fall foliage.





Can't you just feel how beautiful it was on Saturday?





The hybrid hellebore has made its grand opening. This is a passalong and probably not a named cultivar or strain~ if so I'm unaware of it. I do like the dramatic dark mauve blooms.







To see what's blooming in gardens near and far visit Carol at
May Dreams Gardens.

Weeping Cherry Blossoms at Last

At the absolute first available moment this week after the rain I was out taking pictures of the flowers on my Prunus subhirtella, weeping cherry tree. There are quite a few flowers on it this year and I couldn't wait to capture them. We were given 2 seedling trees as gifts shortly after purchasing our home in 1997. I think I had my first blossom- only one mind you- in Spring of 2007 and a couple more in 2008. The trees are beautiful in shape alone but I was thrilled to finally see these delicate flowers.

My tiny Redbud tree has buds for the first time this year! Young gardens can be so exciting~ it almost makes up for the unfinished look.

Today was a beautiful day for the first day of Spring. I can't wait to see what awaits me in the garden tomorrow:-)

A Preview of Spring

Spring is definitely on the horizon here. The pear trees are in full bloom and daffodills everywhere- except here my one clump hasn't bloomed yet. This photo is from a week ago when the weather was warm and these were the first flowers open. This weekend is cold and it has rained continuously keeping me and my camera indoors.

I have been working nonstop between Photoshop and Zazzle. I have added many products and learned new things. What I have not done is much of anything to promote my work( or play as it may be since the promotion would be the work).

Above is an example of a photo that has been altered to look like a painting. Not a dramatic change but what I hope is an improvement. Rudbeckia triloba floats among the foliage of forsythia overshadowed by the seedheads of Eragrostis elliottii, Blue Love Grass.







This is the same planting with a different photo and editing method. With the volume of garden photos in my hard drive and the possibilites of what can be done with them in Photoshop it's no wonder that I can barely pull myself away from the computer. But Spring is on my doorstep and hopefully will return some balance to my world. In the meantime I think I'll do some more uploading...