Garden Glimpses : mid-June

Here are some more glimpses into my garden (I love the little Bartlett pears growing upside down):

Garden Painting Day 11 : Globe Thistle "Buds"

I was happy to find another night to paint, and have started on the globe thistle flowerheads. At this point, they are in the bud stage (photo left). The next step will be to paint in the tiny star-shaped flowers which are so irresistible to the bees. PS. Double-click the painting for a larger image.

Blog Topical Index

This is my attempt at a topical index to my Blog. If I were more inclined to programming, I would figure out a way to automate this index, but a manual one will need to suffice for now.

Enjoy!

Garden Painting Series

Garden Painting Progress - Finally!
Garden Painting Day 20 & 21 : Lupines
Garden Painting Day 18 & 19 : Cat
Garden Painting Day 17 : Daylilies
Garden Painting Day 16 : Patriot Hosta
Garden Painting Day 15 : Outline of Cat and Hosta
Garden Painting Day 14 : Coneflower Petals and Globe Thistle Blooms
Garden Painting Day 13 : Coneflower Stems
Garden Painting Day 12 : Monarda
Garden Painting Day 11 : Globe Thistle "Buds"
Garden Painting Day 10 : Globe Thistle & Monarda Stems
Garden Painting Day 9 : Hydrangea Bush
Garden Painting Day 7 & 8 : Bird Bath and Tree Peony Foliage
Garden Painting Day 6 : Spanish Lavender
Garden Painting Day 5 : Pansy Leaves & Kids Projects
Garden Painting Day 4 : Real Canvas and Acrylics
Garden Painting Day 3 : Trial Canvas, New Brushes
Garden Painting Day 2 : Finished Paper Layout
Garden Painting Day 1 : Paper layout

Gardening Advice & Information

Fruits of My Labours and Then Some! (espalier fruit trees)
Tips for New Gardeners
Parsley as a Garden Ornamental
Adding "Bones" to your Garden
Flowering Shrubs to Hide an Ugly Fence
Weed Management : Ground Fillers
Weed Management : Maintaining a Positive Attitude
Mint : Lovely, useful and invasive!

Interesting Links, Snippets and Musings

Fairy House - Part 3
Fairy House - Part 2
Fairy House - Part 1
First Snow Creation of the Season
First Snow in Vancouver
Daylight Savings Time Confusion
A Small Cloud in a Blue Sky
When Gardening Turns Dangerous
Embarrassed Sunflower and Veggie Faces
Stargazer Puzzle - Improved!
Stargazer Puzzle
What Turns a Sunflower's Head?
Floral Wreath Workshop
Cool Bug Discovery : Ten-lined June Beetle
Chafer Beetle Dance - Too Close for Comfort
Red-backed Jumping Spider Discovery
Planting Tomatoes and Cukes
Spring Trimming of Espalier Trees
Favourite Posts
My Brave Shieldmaiden
Final Caterpillar Transformation : Grey Moth
More Fun in the Snow : Snow Bear and Snow Angel
Caterpillar Transformation
Fun in the Snow : Snow Mouse
Garden Photo Website : Maureen & Glen's Gardening on the Prairies
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly : Brown Caterpillar
Dragon Fruit
Pumpkin Carving
Plant Recycling
Mystery Apple
She Knows How to Grow Them
Peculiar Person Picks Purple Peacock Pole Beans by Pale Phony Moonlight
New Favourites : "Purple Peacock" Pole Bean
Arborsculpture - The Extreme Trees of Richard Reames
Driftwood Horse Sculptures
First Hummingbird of the Season
Bald Eagle Live Web Cam
Plant Salvage Mission
Horsetails in Heaven?
Snow and Stamps in March
Moving the Espalier Apple and Asian Pear Trees
My New Rainier Cherry - At Home at Least
Sunny, Sweaty and Sad Day
"Purple Peacock" Pole Bean
Past Favourites : Osteospermum
A mid-January Jump Start on the Weeds

Garden Photos

Golden Ears Park Pics
Hummingbird Pics
Stargazer Puzzle - Improved!
Stargazer Puzzle
Garden Glimpses : Early August 2007
Garden Glimpses : Mid July 2007
Garden Glimpses : Late June 2007
Garden Glimpses : Mid June 2007
Garden Glimpses : Late May 2007
Garden Glimpses : Mid-May 2007
Garden Glimpses : Late April 2007
Garden Glimpses : Mid April
Garden Glimpses : Early April 2007
Mushroom Photos
Garden Glimpses : Late September
Garden Glimpses : Early August
Garden Glimpses : mid-July
Garden Glimpses : Early July
Garden Glimpses : mid-June
Garden Glimpses : Early June (Part 2)
Garden Glimpses : Early June
Skagit Valley Tulip Festival
More Snow in March

Computer Imagery

3D Dinosaur Scene
Pink Green Forest Fairies
Weird cakes and weird creatures
5 Beautiful Fairies
Fun with 3D Textures - Not Pretty!
Dragonfly Fairy
What are Toadstools Anyhow?
Trio of Forest Fairies
Well Dressed Fairies
Fairies and Toadstools
More Fairies in My Garden
Yet More 3D Fairy Images
More 3D Fairy Images
Fairy 3D Images
Weird and Wonderful Photoshop Dream Homes

Recipes

Recipe : Candied Kumquats
Recipe : Candied Orange Peel
Recipe : Mint Butter Cookies
Recipe : Tarragon Butter Cookies
Parsley Recipe : Parsley-Walnut Pesto
Recipe : Truffle Mice

Garden Painting Day 10 : Globe Thistle & Monarda Stems

I spent a few more hours on my garden painting last night. I've been feeling very inspired to paint lately, but most nights I am too tired, or end up watching a depressing movie with my husband, such as "The House of Sand and Fog" tonight.

Anyhow, I have managed to add in the foliage for a patch of Globe thistle (Echinops bannaticus or Echinops ritro) - see photo right. I've added only dark purple balls where the flowers will be. I think they will be fun to paint in, and also very time-consuming.

I also painted in the stems and part of the red flowers of Monarda didyma (Bee balm). I will add in the leaves and finish the flowers another night. The globe thistle flowers may take a couple of nights.

I am feeling good that I've covered a good portion of the canvas now, so I can feel the progress. But I also realize that I am painting much larger than I had planned originally, so fitting in about a third of the flowers I had hoped. So maybe I'll have to paint two more paintings after this one... :-)

Garden Glimpses : Early June (Part 2)

For some reason, I was not able to post all my photos. Perhaps there is a file upload limit per post. Anyhow, here are a few more glimpses into my garden, including a self portrait against a stand of yellow loosestrife (click any photo for a slightly larger image).

Garden Glimpses : Early June

I've collected some highlights of my garden this evening, small glimpses into the many wonders I enjoy when I make time to stroll through it.

Garden Painting Day 9 : Hydrangea Bush

I was happy to have a chance to add to my painting last night, even if it was between the hours of 10 PM and 1 AM! Lately, our business has been very actively pursuing new opportunities, and I'm too tired by the end of the day, for doing much after getting the kids to bed.

I am struggling with what to put in the background / top of the painting, which I've discovered, is easier to start with, and paint my way foreward. I find it easier to visualize the front / bottom of the painting. Anyhow, I was thinking of a rhododendron, but most of those are spring-blooming, and I wanted something summer-blooming to go with the other flowers in my canvas "garden". So I decided on a hydrangea.

The hydrangea turned out to be pretty fun to paint, and the results were pretty quick and rewarding. I finished both the leaves (although I see now that they are a bit sparse, I should have crowded them a bit more), and the flowers in the one night.

The photos are a closeup of the hydrangea flower (sorry, I'm have difficulties uploading the image), as well as the painting in its current state. I am visualizing some orange tiger lilies in the left side, in front of the tree peony. In front of that, a variegated hosta and / or clump of coreopsis verticillata (threadleaf coreopsis). I am imagining a red monarda on the right side edge, with some white or yellow daisies between it and the lavandula stoechas (spanish lavender).

I also want to fit in these favourites from my garden : echinacea purpurea (purple coneflower), echinops ritro (globe thistle), lupinus polyphyllus (russell's lupine), geranium "Victor Reiter", osteospermum and alliums (even the common allium schoenoprasum or chives, which are absolutely outstanding in my garden this year). Since I am painting to a larger scale than my original paper layout, it will be tricky to fit everything into the painting. Perhaps I may end up painting a second one to fit them all in!

Fruits of My Labours and Then Some!

I have been very impressed by my little fruit trees. They were only planted last Spring, and already last year the espalier apple provided 3 fruits, and the regular apple tree tried to offer a few (too late in the year to ripen). This year, I have been surprised by the number of fruits they are trying to provide.

The Lapin cherry (which is a dark cherry, similar to the Bing) is full of small fruits, as shown in the photo on right. The Bartlett pear has a half dozen tiny fruits showing. The apple tree is displaying fruits. The blueberry bushes (we have approx 8) are loaded. The red and missouri currents have strings of berries forming. The raspberries are loaded in tiny fruits and blossoms, visited by big black bumblebees. The two plums are still resting this year, and that's fine by me. It is also too soon for the Rainier cherry (new this year), but the tree appears to be healthy, and the persimmon (also new) is finally putting out new growth also.

The big surprise to me is my espalier apple tree (see "thumbnail" photo on left). This espalier apple tree, which is in the "horizontal cordon" form, is formed by grafting three different varieties of apple (which I have written down, but don't recall) onto a dwarf stock. The top variety has been very successful, with a cluster of 2 or 3 tiny fruits per fruiting spur. I gave it some "tough love" yesterday, removing all but 1 fruit on each spur. Even so, one branch has 13 fruits left, and the other branch 21 fruits, from what I recall. I am amazed by the potential fruit-bearing capacity of these espalier trees!

The second variety of apple in the espalier tree displays less than half the number of fruits. The third (bottom) seems to only have a few. This favouring of the top branches is also evident in the vegetative growth, with the top branches being the longest, with the most side branches, and fullest leaves. This seems to be a drawback of the horizontal cordon shape. Some of the other espalier forms may more fairly distribute the tree's growth and fruit production. I've included here a nice set of drawings by Beth Thevenot of the classic espalier forms. They were lifted from the site SouthernAccents.com.

I also have an espaliered asian pear, also in the "horizontal cordon" form, which has three varieties of asian pear. This year it is also showing a number (maybe 10) small fruit. I wish I had more room along the fence, I am tempted to buy or train a third espaliered fruit tree. Maybe a peach?

Garden Painting Day 7 & 8 : Bird Bath and Tree Peony Foliage

I finally got back to my garden painting a few nights ago, and filled in the bird bath. The change is very subtle, since I painted it a light grey (to look like concrete), and it was white before (from the unpainted canvas). So it was not a very satisfying couple of hours, trying to get the right shadows and hue, and having few people notice the change. (Since the work-in-progress sits in our kitchen eating area, it is often a topic of conversation with visitors.)

Last night I pushed myself to paint in a tree peony, even though I was too tired. I finished the foliage, and have placed 5 black dots where the flowers will be painted in (visible if you double-click the photo on right to see a larger version). Looking at it now, the foliage colour is quite realistic, but I think I painted it in a bit dark. Hopefully, the flowers will brighten up this corner of the garden painting. It is also a bit sparse, just like my dear tree peony. I think it could have been more lush, as are most of the tree peonies I've seen.

My tree peony, which was generously given to me by a gardening friend in the Fall, provided me with 5 gorgeous white flowers this Spring. When it was finished blooming, I cut back one of the main woody branches to a few buds. Next year I plan to do the same with the other main branch. I want them to grow in more bushy, and to be able to remove the supporting stakes I have it propped against.

The tree peony flowers I will paint, will be pink ones, inspired by the photo on the left. I'm trying to keep going with filling the painting with plants, so I will likely move on to more plants, fill in most or all the foliage first, before I move to the flowers, which will be most time-consuming, but also most rewarding. Then I will add in some birds, bees, butterflies and whatever else I can manage. That will be the truly fun part.

Driftwood Horse Sculptures

The first week of May, the family enjoyed a trip to Disneyland, returning from L.A. to Vancouver via repositioning cruise. What a great time we had. I have some photos to post, soon, I hope.

During the vacation, I had a cough and sore throat which didn't slow me down. However, the night after we returned and unpacked, this turned into a wicked nasal / sinus infection. After a couple of days and sleepless nights of unbearable pain (ready to chop off my head to stop the pain), I visited my doctor, and started a nasal steroid treatment. (He knows I don't take antibiotics except as a last resort.) Last night I actually slept most of the night, so there is hope that I'm on the road to recovery now.

Now for something more inspirational... One of the few blogs which I visit regularly is Erie's Argonaut by Linda in Erie, Pennsylvania. I am inspired by her talent and ambition. She's always up to her eyeballs in home renovation projects and small art projects, which she loves but can't seem to find enough time for.

Recently she shared a link to the art of Heather Jansch, which I also recommend visiting. Heather is an artist in the U.K. who creates wonderful horse sculptures out of driftwood. (She also sells signed limited edition prints of photos of the horses, for people who don't have room for one in their yard.) The horse images here are a few excerpts from her site.

First Hummingbird of the Season

I have a long list of projects I am trying to complete this week, so I promised my husband I would not post today... But then I spotted my first hummingbird of the season, darting around my garden, while I watched from the kitchen window, my hands submerged in hot water and dirty dishes which I am catching up from last night.

It paused at a number of shrubs and plants, but did not find any flowers - it is still early yet for many of their favourites. I hope to post on some of the hummingbird favourite flowers from my garden at a later date, such as the shaggy red monarda (bee balm). In the meantime here is a link to a list of flowers and flowering shrubs which are attractive to hummingbirds in the Pacific Northwest.

The photos are of the mosaic stepping stones I bought for my garden, only $6.95 at the Canadian Superstore warehouse. I plan to treat them with tile and grout sealer before placing them in the garden. I don't know how they'll hold up to the weather. They seem to be made from concrete (or perhaps a concrete and resin mix), painted, and grouted. The sticker reads "Made in China". They sure wouldn't be $6.95 if made in Canada!

I would have liked to pick up more stepping stones to give to each of my gardening friends (really!!), but they were so heavy I had a hard time making it to the car with the 4 of them. We'll see if I get back to that store. I don't visit there often, because of the poor or nonexistent service. To save money, I prefer to buy the specials at stores where I am treated with respect.

Skagit Valley Tulip Festival

Today we went with our neighbours to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. The weather was wonderful - sunny, yet very windy (as it always seems to be, in that valley). Here are some photos from our visit.

The festival runs from April 1 - 30 this year. We were happy to finally get good (dry) weather on a weekend, before the festival was done. When it has been raining, the fields can be pretty muddy. Today they were dry, with very few puddles.

We enjoyed our visit afterwards to the town of La Conner, with its unique shops and galleries.

Bald Eagle Live Web Cam

This is a nice link my friend Helen sent to me, it is a live camera watching in close-up the activities of a pair of nesting bald eagles on Hornby Island, British Columbia (don't try this with dial up!):

Bald Eagle Live Web Cam

The site even includes a forum for discussing the eagles.

The eggs are expected to hatch on approximately April 26 and 30, 2006, so watch for eagle chicks soon! Beware, this eagle watching is addictive! Hint: Double-click the modest eagle web cam image, and you will get it in full-screen! What an awesome screensaver it makes!

Plant Salvage Mission

I am proud to report that yesterday morning I went on a plant salvage mission. That is, saving plants from impending demolition, and finding them a good home.

I've had my eye on this particular house for probably six months now, since the tree protection fencing (orange plastic) and survey stakes went in. Last week, the gas was disconnected, and yesterday when I visited, the hydro meter was removed also. So it could be gone in days, and with it any living thing on that lot. I knew there were raspberries there, and also a peony, perhaps more. It would be a shame if they were all dug under.

I was happy to run into the next door neighbour, and ask her if she thought the owner would mind if I dug up some plants before the house was demolished. She told me that nobody had really lived in that house for 5 years now. The previous owner lived there for about 20 years. I was happy to hear that, since any plants which survived that long without care would definitely be hardy!!

So I dug up and carried whatever I could fit in the trunk. Two peonies, quite a few raspberry canes, strawberry plants, narcissus bulbs, and a few others which I couldn't quite identify, but look pretty promising, since the dried stalks from last year indicated tall and sturdy flower stalks. One looked thistle-like. I mused that the leaves looked almost like the cardoon which I have so painstakingly (I don't enjoy seed-starting) started from seeds, and only now transplanted a small seedling into the garden.

I spent a good part of the day planting these into my garden. I've placed many of them into the very front of my yard, in an area which was too inhospitable (probably too wet) for the hebes which the landscaper had installed, and is home to heather and horsetails. The weather was perfect, threatening to rain, but ending up being only overcast. Since I didn't know how long I would be able to continue (I'm a wimp when it comes to rain), I pushed myself hard, and was sweaty and dirty from head to toe when I was done.

This morning, I was relieved that it was starting to rain lightly, so I wouldn't be tempted to go and dig up more. Instead, I planted in some strawberries and a few more daffodils. By noon, it was raining hard, so I am now inside, catching up on work around the house (okay, and blogging also).

I didn't have any good photos from my mission, and it's too wet to take photos of the plants in their new garden beds, so I've inserted some Microsoft clip art instead. Enjoy!