Today's Flowers

Time to show off my flowers again! yay! For "Today's Flowers" that is hosted by TF team, Santilli, Denise, Pupo & Valkyrien, I am featuring my miniature African violet called, Little Moonstone and Streptocarpus, both given by my good friend, Jean.
Jean enjoys propagating them, then share them to friends. She told me how to propagate, so one of these days, if successful I will show you the results. I documented it! ha ha
Pictured below are african violets and one streptocarpus; all from Jean.


Just a few days after I transplanted the streptocarpus, a bud came up ...


... after a couple of weeks, aha! it showed me its color!



... a couple of close ups.


It's too bad that I forgot to take pictures of Jean's streptocarpus, she has quite a lot in gorgeous ranges of colors.


And this is the miniature African Violet, isn't it a charmer? ... I just love, love it! Each bloom is probably around a quarter inch in diameter.


... it's incredibly beautiful! It almost look like those Staffordshire fine bone china florals that are made in England.



This picture will give you an idea of how tiny this Little Moonstone is. I haven't put it in a pot of its own yet since Jean gave it to me, I hate to touch it while blooming.


If you want to participate in Today's Flowers please visit Luiz for more info. TF opens every Sunday at 2pm, GMT time.

Grassroots Festival

Love festivals? ... please join me, put on your walking shoes and don't forget to bring an umbrella because for some reason, here in upstate NY, we've been getting a lot of rain! I am not complaining but it would be nice to have a decent day to enjoy outdoors... we have short summers as it is.
Anywho ... let's go and groove at the Grassroots festival of music and dance! ---------- > Click the link and find out what's going on in my neck of the wood. ;)

Today's Flowers

Since I love gardening, I thought of participating in the Today's Flowers by Luiz and friends. If you visit his site you will see various participants posting all sort of gorgeous flowers ... some of them I've never even seen before! Instead of posting various blooms from my garden, I decided to post maybe two kinds at a time. Dahlias and Lilies are now showing off their beauties so here are my entries from my garden. Enjoy!









The following are from my friend, Josie's garden.

Simple Pleasures

I consider myself lucky to live in an area where there is a bountiful supply of fresh fruits and vegetables from spring to fall like asparagus, strawberries, cherries, peas, apples, blueberries, peaches, grapes, tomatoes, etc. These bounties provide flavor and freshness that store-bought produce can not match.
Last weekend me and my friends went cherry picking at a nearby town. The taste of fresh, tree ripened fruit is reason enough to drive a few miles ... hard to top that! ;)


Climbing these cherry trees reminds me of when I was a little girl. We used to have guava, tamarind, star apple,and mango trees (these are tropical fruits) in our yard and us kids enjoyed going up as high as we could get on those trees. In this picture, we used a ladder to get to the top of the cherry tree.


Here we are, taking a break. Try to notice all those cherry trees behind us, there must have been a total of a hundred trees in this orchard.


The gang ...


After picking cherries, we drove to a hill where the owners live, to pay. One more reason that I appreciate where I live is the trust that the farmers extend to pickers. They are aware that all pickers have their fill first before starting to fill their bags. ;)
This is the view from the cherry owner's home. Imagine waking up with this view every morning? ... it's heaven!


Pretty soon road side stands like this one will be filled with produce. Notice that metal box at the left side in front? ... help yourself to the produce and drop your payment in that box. Nobody minds the "store" ... so trusting like in the good old days!
This pic was taken last fall.

Summer Bliss

I don't know about you, but one way for me to unwind after a long day at work is to walk around my garden beds every afternoon ... yes, you heard it right, every single afternoon! ha ha My plants are beginning to show their beauty, so I took pictures of some of 'em that are in bloom.
I am sharing nature's beauty with all my blogger friends
... want to come and walk with me? ;)
All images can be enlarged.

Oriental Poppy - delicate and absolutely beautiful! Some of my poppies, the old-fashioned ones, multiply every year; they re-seed, require little care, but sadly they have a short blooming season. I have 3-4 other varieties but they are not blooming as yet except these.


... another poppy variety, a flaming beauty, don't you think? Oriental poppies do not like their roots being disturbed, so be sure to keep the root ball intact when transplanting.


Iris - looks so exotic and elegant! Irises provide so much joy and beauty for so little effort! I also use the leaves in floral arrangements for dramatic effects. This pic was taken in late spring.


Iris - I love its soft, pastel color. As in my previous post, Irises are available in myriad colors!


Nora Barlow Columbine - double blooms, excellent cut flowers! I adore this variety!


Columbine - another variety.


... and more columbine! he he he


Campanula or Canterbury Bell? - vivid blue bells. I also have the old-fashioned kind but they came and went before I was able to take pictures. ;)


Daylily - a beauty for a day! lol They are called that because each flower is only good for a day. Each stem, though, has several buds which will bloom one after another all through the summer. I love the fringed petals of this one. Hardy, and can withstand drought conditions. They are low maintenance beauties! You can't beat that! ha ha


Wild sweet pea - a real charmer and a favorite in aromatic garden! I like them because each bloom resembles a butterfly. You have to watch them though because they can be invasive. They multiply so fast even if you don't have a green thumb. ;)


Dahlia - there are so many varieties available today. They look as gorgeous in bouquets as they do in garden beds. I love them because the more you cut the flowers, the more they reward you with more blooms. And they bloom from early summer to late fall. Most of my dahlias are not ready to be shown yet.


Dahlia - I haven't tried this yet, but I read somewhere that if you dip the stem ends in boiling water for a second, it will make the blossom last longer in a floral arrangement. huh? ;)


Foxglove - I don't remember planting this one, a "gift" from the birdies, perhaps? ;)
Hummingbirds can't resist them.


And I'm sure you've heard a lot about my peonies. lol What I love about them is that the flowers provide a long-lasting and spectacular display from early to late summer.



There you have it my friends! Hope you enjoyed the walk and ... hope I inspired you to do some gardening too! lol

HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY EVERYBODEEEEEE!!!