Chickadee Home Nest: berry cart

Showing posts with label berry cart. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Summer Flowers

Mid-August…some schools here in central Ohio start tomorrow! Yikes! 1. Where did summer go, and 2. Who ever thought of starting school in the middle of August??? Don’t those administrators and school boards have children of their own??!! Don’t they know they’re “robbing” our children of carefree summer days??!!

The burning bushes are starting to turn ever so slightly, and I see the landscape crew gathering brown, dry leaves. But not in our garden!! Oh, no…not here! Our neighbor emailed us a week or two ago, observing that the leaves on their birch were turning, and my response was that the word “fall” would not be heard around here, even as our own birch starts its annual demise. Boohoo… I’m keeping my head safely planted in the sand.

Our flowers are still happy, and so I wanted to share them with you, as summer’s last hurrah. I may (or may not) have a fall tablescape for you next week—it depends on my ability to cope with the fact, my friends. Blogging is a bit like retail, isn’t it? We need to get our posts out early enough for them to be of value and inspiration to our readers, so in that vein I may be able to do a fall post—the sacrifices I make….We’ll see. (I LOVE summer, remember??)

Besides capturing the beauty and textures of the garden, I also love to photograph the light-and-shadow play in the garden. The metal wheel at the right edge is the wheel to our antique hand plow that I’ve dragged around from house to house for easily 20 years. You can see the beautiful handles on it here, where I photographed our Chickadee Baby Love’s tussie mussie.The hostas in the garden are new this year—a gift from my friend and hairdresser! Don’t you love perennials that bring back memories of people who shared them with you?

This nook is primarily red, white, and blue until August, when the purple coneflowers join in and start to prepare us for the change in seasons. Summer is red, white, and blue, until it’s time for a change in the “theme.”

The red…

The blue, and the white.

I love how coneflowers brighten the landscape with wild abandon.

And then, of course, my beloved PeeGee hydrangeas burst forth in their soothing white. One day they’re buds, the next, it seems, they’re in full bloom. We held our Baby Love’s baptismal reception here at our home in mid-August when the hydrangeas were at their peak, so every year they remind me of that happy day.

Ummm…do you see dry leaves??? I don’t!! What leaves??

Which is more beautiful? The one yet to burst, or the one almost there? It’s hard to decide.

And guess who else likes the PeeGee hydrangeas?

This is the second year for this Endless Summer hydrangea, and she grew “demurely” this summer. I have high hopes for her next summer, now that I moved her to a sunnier spot, but I am thankful that she gave us blooms in time for the little tea party we had after Baby Love’s piano recital (that’s another post!).

She IS lovely, isn’t she?

These are last year’s geraniums! And they came from cuttings from the year before (you can see my post about rooting cuttings here). I was so crazy about this Calliope Red geranium that I didn’t want to run the risk of not finding it again, so we took the plants to our office over the winter, and they survived (though a little leggy by spring). We’ll certainly do that again this year—that way we get nice big plants early! They sure are happy in the berry cart, aren’t they?

So, Mary, Mary (not) quite contrary, how did your garden grow this year? We had so much rain in the spring and early summer that ours took a while to “catch,” but then, in the end, some of them took off and gave us a good show. I hope yours did too. Enjoy what’s left of summer!! The snow will fly in these here parts all too soon!!

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Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you’ll leave me a comment to let me know you were here—I’m thrilled to know you stopped by, and I’ll always visit back and comment too. If you like what you see, I invite you to follow me (I promise to follow back), and please—Pin away and follow me on Pinterest too! Thank you!!

NOTE: Some of the items I use in my posts are in my Etsy shop, but many are not. If you see something you like and wonder if it’s available for sale, email me at coral5252@gmail.com and let’s talk!

Wednesdays at DIY Design at http://diybydesign.blogspot.com\

Centerpiece Wednesday at http://thestylesisters.blogspot.com/

Wow Us Wednesdays at http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/

Thursdays Share Your Cup with Mrs. Olson at http://jannolson.blogspot.com/

Home and Garden Thursday at http://blissfulrhythm.blogspot.com/

Tablescape Thursday at http://betweennapsontheporch.net/

Thursdays at http://www.impartinggrace.com/

Thursday Your Turn to Shine at http://blesserhouse.blogspot.com/

Share Your Style Thursday at http://www.Commonground-do.com/

Fridays at Feathered Nest: http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/

Fridays at http://rootedinthyme.blogspot.com/

Fridays at Home Sweet Home: http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/

Show and Tell Friday at http://romantichome.blogspot.com/

Pink Saturdays at http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/

Saturday at http://www.craft-o-maniac.com/

Saturdays at http://piecedpastimes.blogspot.com/

Saturdays at Be Different, Act Normal at http://www.bedifferentactnormal.com/

Monday Show and Share at http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/

Mondays at The Art of Homemaking at http://strangersandpilgrimsonearth.blogspot.com/

Mop it Up Monday at http://www.ishouldbemoppingthefloor.com

Metamorphosis Monday at http://betweennapsontheporch.net/

ModMix Monday at http://modvintagelife.blogspot.com/

Amaze Me Monday at http://www.dwellings-theheartofyourhome.com/

Inspire Me Monday at http://www.myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com/

Masterpiece Monday at http://californiacoastalhome.blogspot.com/

Karen’s Something to Talk About at http://www.karensuponthehill.com/

Tuesday’s Blog Shop Listings at http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/

Tuesdays at Our Home at http://mariaelenasdecor.blogspot.com/

Tuesdays at The Scoop at http://www.stonegableblog.com/

Tuesdays at http://theenchantingrose.blogspot.com/

Inspire Me Tuesday at http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/

From my nest to yours~

Zuni

Friday, July 18, 2014

April Showers Brought Summer Flowers

I hope you’ve had a grand spring and summer this year! I think our summer here in central Ohio has been GREAT! It seems like we usually go from a few beautiful spring days right into the dog days of summer with temps in the 80s and 90s and humidity in the same range—that means a lot of inside time, though the sunshine (which is limited in Ohio during the winter months) makes a huge difference in our spirits!

Our summer flowers are so happy right now that they’re perfect for photographing. I’ve always had a keen interest in photography, and this year I’ve spent quite a bit of time building a portfolio, with an eye toward sharing them with you, and for creating a line of greeting cards to sell online and at shops. (And BTW, if any of you can share information with me on cost-effective printing sources, papers you like for cards, shops I might approach (and how to approach them/possible arrangements) I would truly appreciate it! Thanks in advance!)

So this post will be picture-heavy…a sharing post of some of the materials for my cards. I hope you enjoy it!

This is the red, white, and blue basket in my favorite (and very rustic) twig chair.

One consistent theme that you’ll see is contrasts: jagged and smooth; soft and edgy; fragile and strong—Mother Nature at her truest.

The rusty nail adds such harsh and lovely texture to the split wood and soft blooms.

More rusty nails and soft blossoms.

If you’ve been visiting me for a while you know I’m nuts about hydrangeas, and last year’s purchase of Endless Summer is bringing me such joy. A mere $7 at the end of the season for such returning beauty!

This is the plant of hopes—a dwarf weigela that I hope will attract hummingbirds, new to our garden this year.

I bought these darling pansies in early spring for our Easter table, and when they started to look a little sad in the egg shells where I’d had them, I planted them in this stone pot. They are so happy there!

Blue salvia

Oh, I can’t wait! The purple coneflowers are about to BURST…

…as are the PeeGee hydrangeas! I especially love these, because they bloomed just in time for our Chickadee Baby Love’s baptism reception we held at our home five years ago. Now, every year when they bloom they remind me of that happy occasion! You can see a re-do of that day HERE.

The pots in the backyard are also happy with the cooler days we’ve had, nestled in the shade of the big white birch.

The blue salvia in the pot by the birch is also quite happy!

This is last year’s Calliope—remember when I rooted them in the Ball jars, fearful that I wouldn’t find them again this year? (You can read about rooting them HERE.) It worked like a charm, but this year I’m going to just bring them all inside and carry them over until next year, because I’m crazy about their color and texture.

The wrought-iron wall basket adorns an otherwise bare wall above our vintage wood picnic table (that’s another story/another post!). In years past the flowers haven’t been as happy as they are this year, now that I figured out that by poking holes in the [limited amount of] dirt allows the plants to get the water they need! Success!

The begonias try to steal the show, but the blue/purple miniature petunias (I think that’s what they are!) and ivy bring a great contrast to vie for center stage.

Remember Brushstrokes? Another of last year’s faves that I was able to find once again this spring at the firemen’s Mother’s Day flower sale. (You might recall that I propagated these too, but the plant met its demise when we set it outside in early spring and forgot it overnight. :( ) Look at all the buds!! It’s going to be bursting with blooms soon!

The berry cart in the front yard, offset by Brushstrokes, is overflowing. Do you think this will make a pretty greeting card?

Pansies, also survivors from spring, are still gracing the front porch.

Cement bunnies seem pretty happy among the lamb’s ear…I think it could be called bunny ears!

Well, that’s a sampling of my photography for what I hope will be a new line of blank greeting cards. What do you think? I’d love to hear!! Either comment below or email me directly! I can’t wait to hear from you!

How’s your garden coming this year? Has it blossomed beyond your expectations, or is it requiring strong determination on your part? Sometimes they do that, I know! I’ll wish for many blooms all around you! Thanks for visiting! ~Zuni

If you like what you see, I invite you to follow me (I promise to follow back), and please—Pin away and follow me on Pinterest too! Thank you!!

Here’s where I’ll be having fun and joining others in their creativity this week; I hope you’ll visit these great parties!

Fabulously Creative Fridays at http://www.jenniferrizzo.com/

Design it Friday at http://www.findingfabulousblog.com/

Friday Party Junk at http://www.funkyjunkinteriors.net/

Friday at Redoux Interiors at http://www.redouxinteriors.com/

Feathered Nest Friday at http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/

Home Sweet Home Fridays at http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/

Thrifty Things Friday at http://thethriftygroove.blogspot.com/

Simply Sweet Fridays at http://rootedinthyme.blogspot.com/

Fridays at Imparting Grace at http://www.impartinggrace.com/

Vintage Inspiration Friday at http://commonground-debrasvintagedesigns.blogspot.com/