Spring Bouquets

This morning I went out into the garden looking for some flowers to make a simple bouquet...I was greeted by some beautiful daffodils which I knew would be the base for my bouquet. I didn't want to take a big full bunch because it is so pretty to just look outside at them so I picked sparingly. We ordered hundreds of daffodil bulbs from White Flower farm to plant down by the pond's edge this fall for a spectacular spring swath of color so then I will have plenty of naturalizing daffodils to pick every spring! Now back to my arrangement, I needed a contrast and what is nicer than purple and yellow together...so I added several branches of PJM rhododendron what a great punch they gave to the mix...now I needed greenery, so some day lily foliage and a few hosta leaves were just what I needed...walking by the forsythia bush and how could I resist these gorgeous yellow flowers, so a few sprigs and they finished my lovely spring bouquet. I put them all in a vintage McCoy pottery vase and spring definitely came into the house in one fell swoop!!!!!

I had a few extra branches of forsythia so I put them into a small flower tube that serves as a "backpack" on this adorable little robin vase...whimsical items like this are great to tuck about your home just as a nice surprise for some unexpecting visitor! How can you not smile when you see this guy!!!!!

Life on the pond today is wonderful...cool dry air, all the flowers are popping up, the sun is bright and there are spring flowers to pick!!!!! It doesn't get any better than this.

Take care,

Elizabeth

Sunday Morning on Jamestown

How fortunate we are to live so close to the Atlantic...my father and I go for breakfast early every Sunday morning and then take a ride to the ocean to make sure it is still there. This morning we took a ride to Jamestown an island off the mainland connected by a bridge and then connected by another bridge to Newport. It was gorgeous this morning. We rode over to Beavertail which is the end of the island. This is where the lighthouse is situated. High tide was at 8:30 AM and just coming in as we got there around 8AM. One fellow was fishing and I mean seriously fishing as we had four poles set up. He had his poles set in holes on the rocks...it was an interesting sight.

Can you see the four poles he is working? Can you imagine if he got four bites at the same time?

Here is a picture of Dad taking in the view of the ocean...

We stopped by the windmill to take in the view...doesn't it look like we left the USA and made quick stop in Holland?! The daffodils are beautiful against the stone wall and the windmill in the back....What a beautiful morning!!!!!

This is a lovely way to start every Sunday morning...a good breakfast, good sights and exceptionally good company...life gets no better than this.

Take care and be sure to spend sometime with someone you love,

Elizabeth

More Signs of Spring

I look forward to walking through the gardens every day...so many plants are sneaking out and up! Tomorrow is suppose to reach 70-75 degrees, that is sure to push the growth of all the perenniels. Below are some more garden examples of spring here on the pond.

As you can see above the hosta shoots are just emerging in the upper garden...the unfurling hosta in the second photo are in the lower rock garden. Because the hosta near the rocks are more protected and benefit from the stored heat in the rocks that radiates out once the sun goes down they get a jump start on opening up....

The red shoots above are peonies. I have a several varieties I bought from White Flower Farm a couple of years ago. This will be the second year for blooms on these plants...I am looking forward to see how they are progressing...Peonies are absolutely gorgeous and so so fragrant.

This is the trellis the clematis climbs all over...I can just see the vines starting to emerge...the trellis adds height to the garden and a nice focal point.

To the right are easter lily shoots...every year I plant my easter lilies which are gifts and much to my delight they return...a few years ago we had an invasion of voles and lost them all... we restarted planting the area...I like to keep them near the gazebo so when I sit and look at them I can think about the person who gave them to me!

One of my favorite plants are siberian iris and I am delighted to see their spikes peeking out and coming to life!

As you can see the hollyhocks are sneaking out of their winter burrows to bright sunlight. What gorgeous plants these are. They make for nice back drops as they grow so tall...they always remind me of old fashioned gardens....my father gave me these as transplants two years ago.

Isn't great to see all these signs of spring...things are changing every day!

Til later,

Elizabeth

Our Garden is "Springing" Into Action

Our garden is bursting with lots of shoots, sprigs and all sorts of emerging leaf stock. Taking a walk around we can see hosta shoots, cat mint, artemesia, ground phlox, lilies (day, easter and oriental), herbs, peonies, iris (bearded and siberian), coreopsis, sedum, canterbury bells and so much more....this is an exciting time of the year as the perennials come to life.

As you can see the garden is getting ready to do wonderful things...the alpine strawberries are showing lots of green. We are looking forward to loads of tiny sweet berries...a nice treat to eat while walking through the garden....though the chipmunks usually beats us to them. One of the cutest things to watch is a chipmunk sitting on his hind legs while holding a strawberry eating away...absolutely adorable.

The garlic is doing well...lots of green spikes showing. garlic is a heavy feeder so we use manure to satisfy that appetite. The results of the fall planting look like we will have another bumper crop. If you have never tried homegrown garlic you really should give it a try. My father taught me how to grow it and it is one lesson I will never forget. It beats store bought for flavor by a wide mile! It is easy to grow, tend and harvest. I'll discuss it again later in the season....

Also it is almost time to take the Agapanthus Africanus, commonly known as Lily of the Nile or African Lily outside to the greenhouse. This is one plant that here in New England must be wintered over inside due to cold temps. It requires little attention, just a little water and indirect sunlight. Once March comes it is time to start feeding and a liquid fertilizer is just fine. As you can see it wintered over well...we hope to be treated to loads of big blue flowers throughout the summer...we leave them right in the pots as they like to be cramped and produce well this way.

I took loads of pictures of emerging perennials yesterday and will share them over the next few days.

Happy Spring,

Elizabeth

Early Morning Mist

What a gorgeous start to our day! As the days get warmer, the sun is warming the water...yet our nights remain below freezing so in the morning we are treated to a dancing sunlit mist...

The bench on the peninsula that jets out into our cove is a nice place to sit and just look and observe the birds and occasional fox or otter that come to play.

On warmer rainy days a blue heron comes and walks through the shallow water...what a beautiful sight when he is around.

We have a pair of ducks that great us each morning looking for their breakfast...They quack and quack to let us know they are hungry and once they have their bread they swim about in the mist full and happy!

Starting a day like this is simply wonderful...

Elizabeth

Welcome Aboard

I have been thinking about blogging for sometime and decided to take the plunge today...I hope to share photographs and thoughts from our life on the pond...

Living on the pond allows us to see some of the most beautiful sights which we would love to share with others...

My husband and I love living here and all the seasons here in New England give us ever changing scenery from the same spot...it is simply to hard to chose a favorite time of year.

We love to garden as well and will share some thoughts and photos as well. We enjoy seeing other peoples gardens, so thought we would add some of ours to share.

Till Later,

Elizabeth

Free Counter