Celebrating gardens, photography and a creative life
We saw – no, the right word is experienced – this frothy Chinese fringetree in bloom in Natchez last year. Each year when it flowers, the people who own it throw a party in celebration. We’d missed the official party, but had a wonderful evening, and I was charmed by the tree. If I remember rightly, they planted it shortly after buying the house and it is ‘only’ around 25 years old. Continue reading “Partying With a Magnificent Chionanthus retusus (Chinese fringetree)”
Wisteria is grown as a decorative, highly fragrant vine in Mississippi, but also grows abundantly in the wild, many a time outlasting the home where it was planted. Continue reading “Wisteria, Flowering Three Weeks Early in Mississippi”
I loved how the speckled pink flowers of this hellebore looked like tumbling stars. By selecting the tumbling angle, and going in close, the image gives an impression of a thicker clump than it really was. In future years, it should be even more glorious. Continue reading “Starry Hellebores and Winter Protection”
Recently one of my blogging buddies, Laurie Graves, mentioned that she’d be interested to see how a hydrangea might change colour as it aged. I didn’t have the sequence of the flower she admired, but was inspired to share this instead.
A little context first: to get to our favourite pie shop, my sweetheart and I have to pass this hydrangea. You might not notice how floriferous it is from my first shot, because the flowers blend into the foliage by starting off green, then open to dusky shades of pink/purple/blue. Your guess is as good as mine whether the flowers open blue or pink, and how they change as they mature. Each flower seems to have its own trajectory. Continue reading “A Hydrangea Colourfully Rings The Changes”
Something cheerier today – one of nature’s many blessings. I’ve quite a collection of pictures of hydrangeas in antique, autumnal colours, but have selected this for its clear, uplifting colour and the freshness of the raindrops. Continue reading “Flower of the Day: Lavender-blue Hydrangea”
Dawn Miller is hosting a weekly Festival of Leaves challenge to celebrate autumn that will run for the next 10 – 12 weeks. I’d have felt more concerned my first offering might not count, being counterfeit autumn leaves, had Dawn’s first not been chrysanthemums.
Susan Rushton 