Living in the countryside

Hello friends
I havent been very activ in the last months at multiply - that does not mean,that i have layed down at my back.
A lot of work in the garden,living with my daughters,making music and videos like that one i like to share with you.
I wish all of you a wonderfull christmas a lot of presents and enjoy my singing.
With love - Attena

Waiting for summer

I plant bromeliads in pots and hang them on the wall.

Like most of the world the weather was unpredictable over the last year and though it seems that summer may be just about stabilised now in December, our seasons seem to be running six weeks late or going back to the seasonal calendar I grew up with.

~ Art ~ Dishing up Poppies

Garden Flowers in

(((((((Art)))))))

Painted, Poppies, Posing, Prettily

On a Porcelain Plate.

Or Are They

Reclining, Rununculus, Resting Resplendent, upon a

Round Platter.

You be the judge of this hand painted plate.

>

Spring Has Sprung In Australia.

 

 

It has been sometime since activity in our lovely little group here and so decided to share some Spring Pretties and hope that others will share their Fall or whatever Season they are in right now here too!

I took a photo of a Powton® Sapphire Dragon Tree Growing nearby and what a magnificent Tree it is. I am so impressed that I will now follow this tree through the seasons and watch it's progress over time.

Powton® Sapphire Dragon.

 

Of course I can not forget to mention the purple wisteria vines now out on show and attracting lots of bees. I think that they are so beautiful but understand how difficult they can be once established and in the ground for many years. I have a friend in Victoria whose whole pergola and small shed next to it was choked by this vine leaving him only one alternative and that was to remove it. What a shame but we do need to keep in mind where we plant strong vines and big trees like the Wisteria and the Powton Tree above.

 

 

Spring brings birds into the garden, where they nest and feed on all the wonderful spring inspired feasts to be found.

I have a pair of pink and grey gallahs nesting in the Washington palm in the garden. They are so guarded over their nest hidden in the old fronds of this huge palm. I am so entertained watching them either sitting together on the one small branch that protrudes from the palm or one sitting there and the other keeping watch in the gum tree nearby. They really do work together as a couple and it is so wonderful to watch them and hear their unique cries to each other.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see they have really buried the nest right into this palm and they share it with many other smaller birds too, who are also nesting this time of the year.

I think I will have to call the palm the 'maternity hospital for native birds'.

The wall flowers have been stunning over winter and now they are gradually making lots of seed pods for replanting. I love these beautiful little flowers and hope to keep them going through summer if I can.

Well I hope you liked this  small taste of my Spring and hope that you share your season with us all soon too.

Cheers for Now..Milli09

Tapu Valley Coromandel

I think its ok to put this in the garden group, its winter here you see, & perhaps this is a little out side the square , perhaps in the wild garden section or the mountain garden , oh shucks hope you enjoy, ty, I was going through some of my Pics and one stood out real good to me, i took them about oh 5 years ago ,I find with pic's as the years roll by they seem to have more apeall,& you say to your self well that's nice , so thought i could share

The art of nature - Bells in the Wind

Sometimes we try to be creativ and really nothing happens at all. And then,just sitting down relaxing and the grass grows by itself
And the best is; "No GEMA and not any Warner Brothers,can come and ask for the copyright."
http://www.youtube.com/user/bollywoodag

Daffodils and Tulips 2009

Spring is almost officially over here in the northern hemisphere and so I thought I should hurry up and post my photos of daffodils and tulips! Most of these flowers grow in my garden, but a few of them are in my neighbor Holly's garden. She has the most beautiful display of tulips in town! But I've been planting a lot of tulips in the hope of matching hers soon. I really endeavored to photograph the flowers in the most interesting lighting and right after rain showers--when they are their most beautiful.

You may have already seen some of these photos in Picture Perfect, Images and Words, and also as my blog banners.

I hope you will enjoy my photos and feel free to leave comments. Thanks!

A Garden Pond at Teddy's Request

Waiheke Island

Garden setting looking across bay from garden seat, one of many gardens on the island

Idaho Botanical Gardens field trip

 

Yesterday I accompanied Alan's class on a field trip to the Idaho Botanical Gardens!  We got hit with rain showers off and on so we had to hurry through the gardens but we had a good time and I still got plenty of good photos.

*

 

The Idaho Botanical Gardens are located at the site of the old state penitentiary.  Some of the walls and guard towers are still there and make for interesting back drops.  This old stone wall borders the rose garden.

*

 

I think this is an ornamental cherry? The tour that we took was called "Flower Power" but our guide didn't talk about this tree.  But I thought it was pretty so I took the photo.

*

 

Our guide did talk about this tree.  It's a legume, in the pea family.  You can tell by the seed pods (on the right hand side of my photo out of focus), and the flowers have the unique legume family shape.  The flower is closed to protect the pollen until a bee lands on the lower lip, then it springs open so the bee can access the pollen as this bee is doing in my photo.

*

 

The roses in the rose garden aren't blooming yet but it's still very pretty.  Large mounds of sweet violets are blooming at the base of rose shrubs, and that white flowering tree is a perfect back drop for the greying garden bench.  When the sun peaked out from behind the clouds the scene glowed!

*

 

I kind of like this view through the garden arches.

*

 

This vignette is obviously inspired by Monet, and it will become even more obvious in a month or so when the irises bloom.  The yellow flower on the right is a euphorbia. It's pollinated by bees and so it's yellow to attract the bees, however bees don't see the color red so when a euphorbia flower gets pollinated its center turns red so that the bees will ignore it and move on to a euphorbia flower that isn't pollinated. Clever, yes?

*

 

This little froggy stole the show for kids.

*

The kids planted marigolds in a new bed in front of the Children's garden that is currently being constructed.  That's Alan on the left hand side, I told him that we should come back in a month to see how his marigold is doing (not to mention that in a month the roses and irises should be blooming!).

After they planted the flowers they dissected a daffodil so they could examine its inner workings.  That was the end of our tour and right then it started raining so we had to run to the buses.  We drove to a nearby park with a covered picnic area, but by the time we got there it had stopped raining so we were able to eat outside and the kids could play before going back to school.

I hope you enjoyed my photos!