Windywillow

contorted hazel nut

2011-12-22T11:21:00.003Z

I was wandering around my garden, admiring my plants and trees. I especially like my contorted hazel, it's so pretty in the winter, with all its branches twisting and bending this way and that. And look here! It grew one hazel nut this year!! Shall I eat it? Or maybe plant it?
I decided to plant it, and see what comes up. Maybe another beautiful hazel, maybe one that produces more nuts, maybe the seed won't sprout? One never knows.. but we shall see.

Bubbles for peace

2011-10-31T06:55:00.001Z

Bubbles for peace.. let's hope they pop all over the world

blog your own peace banner, see here for info:
facebook: Blog Blast For Peace
blogger: Peace Globe Gallery

Last swallows seen at sunset

2011-09-30T11:51:00.002+01:00

Last of the swallows sighted this year.. winter is arriving.

Playing with Cousin Itt

2011-08-05T07:19:00.003+01:00

.....
...........

Tree News

2011-06-17T17:05:00.009+01:00

For the Festival of the Trees in July, we are asked to help celebrate their fifth anniversary by sharing a fresh piece of news from the world of trees. Thinking about it for a few days, I was ready to just leave be it for this month, as I couldn't think of any real news. But looking through photos this morning, I saw a hat I had made a short time ago, and I thought, well this is some type of tree news. And suddenly, I had more bits of news to blog about! There is always something new happening that concerns trees in my life.

This is new, I love trees so much, I thought it would be fun to wear one on my head, planted in a little meadow-hat! Crochet by me, people smile and are very friendly when I wear this. :)

The big news this year in my garden is the blooming of my hawthorn tree. She is more than 10 years old, and has only had one flower cluster in her whole life. Until this spring, when she surprised me by bursting into bloom. Below is what she looks like this month, her berries are beginning to form.

....................................

Another bit of news is a newly planted contorted willow. I adore willows of all kinds, and this is a beauty! All twisty and gnarly with bright green leaves. I had her rooting in a pot, and was quite content to leave her there for a little while longer. But I was gone from home for two weeks, and it was quite wilted when I returned home. I put her straight into the ground then! And she's been happy there ever since. Even when a huge car part squashed her in a fierce wind, she just picked herself back up, and continued growing happily.

Another new treeling, this little maple decided to grow in one of my flower pots. It's a beautiful little thing. Very pretty leaves, they're all roundy and tinged red at the edges. It will go into the ground fairly soon, I think.

And just today, I painted some trees into a little corner of one of the pages of the book I'm illustrating. Just a quick job, as they are not the main focus of the piece. But it seemed rather empty down there, so trees were the perfect things to add!
Visit Via Negativa during the month of July and see what news other tree lovers have to share!

Celestial ladybugs, spiders and daisies

2011-06-14T10:48:00.004+01:00

.It's that time of the year, my Celestial Roses are blooming.

It's warm enough to sit outside and crochet in the garden, Tinkerbelle lounging on the grass with me, the roses sending lovely drifts of scent my way.

Walking around the garden, I see the insects are enjoying the weather too. A little ladybug looking for a picnic on my daisies.

A beautiful long-legged chartreuse green spider, maybe hoping for a bee lunch?

The daisies look towards the sky, watching the swallows flitting around.

They try to see over the wall beyond, what's on the other side?

The neighbour's roof! It's being used as a meeting point for the local starlings. They sit and gossip and decide which garden they will feast in next. Come to mine! I know they love to eat slugs. ;)

Violas smile at me from their spot by the back door.

Sweet peas crawl along the footpath, maybe they want to join me and the cat by the roses?

There, my hat's done! Bye bye from me and Tinkerbelle!

Cousin Itt, our Salix Caprea

2011-06-05T18:53:00.006+01:00

I was given this little willow as a Mother's Day present several years ago.

Even before we really knew its name, there were hints as to what was coming.

One year, its branches grew so long, they hit the ground and grew sideways along the grass. We started calling the little willow "Cousin Itt" Our cat Pippin loves to hide in there, you can see his head peeking out from under Itt's hair.

Itt grew fuller, but still with the long hair! By the end of each summer, it was trailing on the ground again.

Here is "Cousin Itt" a few days ago, nestled against a Celestial Rose. A few branches are almost long enough to touch ground again..

tree confabulations

2011-05-29T08:25:00.011+01:00

Welcome to my June Festival of the Trees.
This month's theme is: Trees in sound & motion: arboreal conversations

The first tree that came to mind was my willow, as it is always in motion, with that lovely gentle rustle of leaves. I love to stand inside its flowing branches and look out into the world beyond. There is a peacefulness in its embrace.

Sometimes my willow gives me a feeling of great joy and happiness. Although it is a "weeping" willow, it does not seem to be weeping to me at all. It seems to be alive and energetic.

There are times when my cat, Pippin, climbs up into the willow. He becomes a crazy and wild cat within its canopy, quite unlike his normal "pet" self.
I did a drawing recently of a little chat I had with Willow:

***********************************************************************************************

The giant beech behind our house has a presence. She seems to gaze into the west, forlornly waiting for something. Sometimes at night, she seems a little scary to me. I have never talked with her, and I wonder.. if I did try, would she even hear me?
****************************************************************************************************

While on a bus recently in Eindhoven, Netherlands, there were many of these trees along the road. They seemed to call out to me to notice them. Beautiful trees, with ferny yellow leaves, they seemed a friendly type of tree, smiling at me and waving hello. I had to find out what they were! Thank goodness for interactive internet, they are "sunburst honey locusts" I must see if I can grow one in my own garden.
**********************************************************************************************

We have been having some fierce winds here in the middle of Ireland recently. One day, I looked outside, and a neighbour's trampoline had ended up in the middle of our roundabout, caught up in one of the birch trees. Well, my drawing is a bit of an exaggeration, it was only leaning against the tree. But it had taken a big chunk out of its trunk!
***********************************************************************************************
I had planned to go out and chat with my willow this morning, but when I got outside, I had a different kind of confabulation. ;)

See more tree conversations during June at Rubies in Crystal , our host this month for Festival of the Trees.

my hawthorn is BLOOMING!

2011-04-28T16:34:00.003+01:00

My hawthorn is going to bloom this year!

She has only ever had one flower cluster in its whole life, and she might be around a decade old by now. I was beginning to think it was a freak tree that will never bloom. But look look LOOK! So exciting! She has flowers, many flowers! And it's blooming early too, as hawthorns usually bloom a little later in May. This makes me so happy, my little wish tree will look so pretty this spring. I think the residing faerie is going to be granting my wish this year, see that story here ;) I can tell she is very pleased.

my people tree : phase one

2011-04-27T14:32:00.003+01:00

My "people tree" in progress. These are 2 one year old willows. Hoping for a "person" with long cascading willow-leaf hair.
My husband saw this photo and said the "people tree" ate the kitty! ;)
But, no! .. the kitty is rubbing "people tree's" legs!
I must give this "tree person" a name!

bubbles in the springtime, topiary heads

2011-04-22T10:21:00.011+01:00

.
Bubbles in the onion patch

Mickeys in the garden

Pippin in the willow scratch

Meow beg your pardon?

Mickeys in the sky

Apple blossom scent

Viola winks her eye

Tulip zen event

Pretty awesome heather

Watching sunrise in pajamas

Apple blossom weather

Topiary thinker dramas

Sunrise in the mist

2011-04-20T14:32:00.005+01:00

Inspired by trees

2011-04-13T10:01:00.020+01:00

I have always loved trees. Maybe I was originally inspired by my name, Silvia, which means "of the forest" I used to love traipsing through the woods when I was a child, imagining I was some sort of forest creature. I loved the way the sunlight came through the trees in winking rays.

I'm still inspired to play with trees. Here a little kiwi toy enjoys a tree which grows "clouds"

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Trees inspire my art. "Tree Harp" above (see the winking sunrays?) and "Pixie Tree" below.
My art blog has several works inspired by trees: Trees

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I used to enjoy playing Sims, and forests and trees featured in many of my Sims lives. I have put together several photos of Sims and their trees HERE

One of my stories involves an oak-tree spirit named Taranis. You can read this story at either of these sites:
"Taranis" on facebook
"Taranis" on the Sims 2 website

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The home of my character, Salix, in Ultima Online, which I played many years ago. Where others made themselves homes with proper walls and roofs, I made Salix a forest of trees to live in.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I think I will always be that little girl who imagines herself a creature of the forest!

swallows are back

2011-04-10T14:04:00.002+01:00

The swallows are back in Ireland! It's so good to hear their cheerful singing in the sky again!

barefoot in the springtime

2011-03-28T10:23:00.005+01:00

Spring is here, the days are longer, the air is warmer!

Standing barefoot on the soft grass.

The volunteer forsythia blooms brightly by the back wall.

Daffodils on our cat, Tas's grave. I put them there when we burried him, those daffs had never bloomed before, might have been too old or crowded in their old spot. Last year, one daffy bloomed, this year MANY! They are backed by my favourite tree, a weeping willow.

Frosty yellow flowers, the hamamelis mollis

2011-01-30T13:18:00.005Z

hamamelis mollis in the winter, such a happy tree in the middle of winter!

7 January, I notice the first witch hazel flowers emerging. Fragrant yellow curls uncoiling out of their buds.

A few days later, the entire tree is decorated with glowing yellow flowers. I imagine them as reminders of the summer sun, bright and golden.

As the days become colder, frost settles on the petals.

They seem to be quite immune to the cold and frost, continuing to glow underneath the frosty coat.

The frost grows with each passing day...

Until the blooms are covered by shaggy and spikey white crystals.

The sun sets on another frosty day. The witch hazel blooms go to sleep for the night, to awaken again the next day, spreading their lovely winter fragrance through my back garden.

frosty days

2011-01-30T13:01:00.007Z

.The giant beech tree behind our house, the top is usually used as a perch for crow, starlings or blackbirds.

The smaller trees become the perches of the tiny birds, finches, sparrows or robins.

They seem to happily sit there in the cold, chirping and singing.
............................................................

There are some small willow trees in the green down the street.

I thought they looked magical during a severe frost.

The spikey frost makes a lovely contrast to the curvy bendy branches.
..................................................

The farmer's field on a foggy day.. the giant oaks looming out of the mist.

.....................................

My own willow trees in my back garden, covered in frost. They take on a magical appearance.

..............................................

This is my contorted hazel. It always has a special beauty in winter, when without its leaves, one can appreciate the twisted branches.

It looks even more beautiful when covered in a layer of frost. It is truly a wonder to me!

Snow also dresses the hazel in fluffy cold mounds, reminding me of those fluffy little clouds in the first photo.

My frosty back garden, near my shed. There's the contorted hazel, and the weeping willow, and the giant beech behind the wall.

Summerhill Snow

2011-01-10T09:40:00.004Z

The countryside (near Summerhill) was snowy and frosty on the 24th of December, as we drove to Dublin to pick up my son and his cat. Andrea Bocelli was singing on the radio.

ice crystal landscape

2010-12-10T10:05:00.005Z

Willow branches

Willow

Oak

Cherry

snow crystals

2010-12-06T13:33:00.012Z

photos by myself and my husband

The Wonder and Magic of Trees

2010-11-30T21:00:00.006Z

Welcome to December's Festival of the Trees, where we will be exploring, or wondering about, the magic and mystery of trees.

As the morning mist rises, a lone tree emerges out of the fog. Might this be a faerie tree?
In Ireland, legend surrounds a lone oak, ash or hawthorn... it might be a gateway to the faerie realm. One must be careful not to linger too long under such a faerie tree, or be transported into the land of fae for a few moments. On coming back to the land of mortals, time will have passed for several years.

.......
Salix says "I know the sprite who lives in that tree. He tells me farmer O'Cairagain won't cut it down.. farmer O'Cairagain wants no bad luck coming his way!"
.......

Rebecca of "A Year With Trees" describes an eeriness she feels near this tall oak

.......
"She feels the energy of the oak dryad, whose strong presence brings us a sense of release, showing that every problem can be solved if we take nourishment from the earth."
.......

......................................................

This giant tree stands as a guardian to a protected forest, as related by Dorothee of "Virtual Notes"
......................................................

Becky of "Rainy Day Wanderer" has a red oak in her own garden, an oak who catches rainbows!

.......
" she's very lucky to have such a wonderful rainbow-catching tree"
.......

Dave of "Via Negativa" has written a beautiful piece about the mystique of distances as he hikes atop a far away mountain.
......................................................

Steve at "Blue Jay Barrens" wonders at the mystery of leaning trees
............
.......
"Oh, that was done by my friends ..*giggle*.. they were feeling quite naughty that day, traipsing through these woods and shoving over the trees!"
.......

......................................................
JSK of "Anybody Seen My Focus?" is puzzled at oozing sap at the base of an oak, and its visiting insects.
......................................................

Rebecca in the Woods wrote a poem about cypress knees, how they resemble trolls or elvish cities.

.......
" I think they are spirits or dryads, surrounding and protecting their tree."
.......

......................................................
Walking through a tropical garden, Arati of "Trees, Plants and more" came upon a group of Gymnosperms that seem right out of a magic book
......................................................

Elizabeth of "Yips and Howls" takes a walk on a wet foggy day in an enchanting mossy forest
......................................................

Stella takes a walk in the entrancing Finsbury Park
......................................................

Charlene at "Blissful Solitary Wanderings" delights at the musical greetings of aspen trees.

.......
"Aspens have a protective nature. The rustling, whispering sound of the leaves is the voice of its spirit, to inspire those who hear it with patience and sensitivity"
.......

......................................................

Linda of "The Task at Hand" speaks of life and falling leaves of the golden grove, a beautiful piece of prose that touched my soul!

.......
"If I had to wear glasses, they would be leaf-shaped!"
.......

Steve of "Firefly Domains" has brilliant photos of maple leaves.
......................................................

Roberta of "Growing with Science" explains the mystery of fig pollination, by a tiniest wasp
......................................................

Stella praises the versatile lemon tree, with its endless uses
......................................................

DNLee of "Urban Science Adventures" muses about a rare and special chinese chestnut she encountered unexpectedly.
......................................................

Georgia of "Local Ecologist" dreams of having chestnut soup

.......
"mmmm... a favorite dish of dryads!"

.......

......................................................

Fallen Timbers has a sycamore snag on his land, which is home to owls
......................................................

song of the Tawhairauriki
Robb of "Musings from Aotearoa" visits the magical and spiritual maunga tipua
......................................................

PrairieWalker of "Illinois Nature Walk at Ballard Nature Center and Beyond" remembers an old cottonwood and its inhabitants.
......................................................

Beth of "Finding Ground" wonders how she would look as a petrified pine
......................................................

Ash at "Treeblog" talks about the first snow of winter, and watches a magical sunset behind his favorite oak

Living trees, sculpted into whimsical dancing people or beautiful chairs can be found at Pooktre

.......
"Sometimes at night, the spirits of the trees come out and dance in the mist"

.......

......................................................

There is a carved tree in Fitzroy Gardens, Australia. It's called Ola Cohn's Fairies Tree, and has delightful carvings of faeries, gnomes and various animals.
......................................................

Root Drinker
Mark of "Glebe Homie" emailed this to me, and said it has a Land-Before-Time quality to it, reminded him of Littlefoot.

.........
A strange co-incidence for me, as I worked as an animator on that Bluth film, and I recognised the little long-neck in his photo before I had even looked at his note. I smiled as I discovered he had seen Littlefoot too.
.........

......................................................

Emma Burghardt animated a beautiful film called "The Trees, They Were Once Good Men"
......................................................

My hawthorn wish faerie cross-stitch.
I tell the story of my own hawthorn tree, and its magic.

And so we end this post with the lone faerie tree greeting the winter solstice sunrise, the shortest day of the year. A day where the gateway to the faerie world is very thin. Was that a pixie sprite you saw out of the corner of your eye?
Season's greetings to all you tree lovers, and may the lengthening days promise magic and wonder in the coming year!

A big thanks to Dave for indulging me this month, in letting my theme be about magic, mystery and faeries! And thanks to all the contributors, who posted these enchanting images and prose.

Please visit Festival of the Trees for info and links to past tree festivals. January's Festival will be held at Natures Whispers. She is thinking about asking people to share new years resolutions with respect to 2011's International Year of Forests.

The woods are full of faeries!

2010-11-28T13:45:00.001Z

The trees wave in the wind, sunlight streams down in rainbow hues, the morning dew glittering like tiny gems. I can almost see a faerie couple dancing the tango amongst its leaves.

"The woods are full of faeries! The trees are all alive!
The river overflows with them, See how they dip and dive!
What funny little fellows! What dainty little dears!
They dance and leap, and prance and peep, and utter faerie cheers!"
- Anonymous

My hawthorn wish faerie

2010-11-26T18:17:00.001Z

Do you believe in faeries?

Growing in my Windywillow garden, is a rescued hawthorn tree, which I replanted here 6 years ago. I knew that hawthorns had resident wish-faeries, so one day last year, I went out and tied a green ribbon onto hawthorn's branch, and wished for a better financial situation.

Soon after, I thought it would be fun to make a cross-stitch of my hawthorn tree and his wish-faerie, Elfleda. But on the stitching, I tied a yellow ribbon, symbolising friendship and happiness. I called the stitching "Hawthorn Wish-Fae" and hung it on my wall.

I then became involved in a little Facebook game called Fairyland, where it's easy to chat and become friends with other lovers of faeries. I named my garden "Embroidery", inspired by my stitchings, and my faerie was called Elfleda.
My friends and I made up stories and involved each other in make-believe parties and adventures.
Seemed that my little hawthorn faerie was coming to life.

A little while later, I decided to write and illustrate our story starring Elfleda and my friends' faeries. It's a long ongoing project, which I hope to finish soon.
Here's the first page, finished. And a later page, still in progress, celebrating the winter festival season:

And thus, my wish.. remember my wish of a better financial situation?.. might just become true one day, if I succeed in publishing this book.

Is there truly a wish-tree faerie quietly urging me on? Or is it all a big coincidence? I like to think there are magical powers of nature at work in our world.

Elfleda smiles at me from the highest branches of her hawthorn.
I smile back :)

The Magic of Faerie Trees

2010-11-03T19:37:00.008Z

I'll be hosting the Festival of the Trees for December. We are approaching the winter solstice during that month, which has a lot of magical and mystical connections. So I thought it would be fun to have the theme of Magical Faerie Trees.

Do you know of any trees that has a faerie residing in it?

Have you ever seen a tree or forest that is so beautiful, it almost seems unreal?

Are there trees you know that are shrouded in mystery?

Send your photos, artwork, stories, songs or videos about magical, whimsical or mysterious trees or forests. It can be from any time during the year.

I will be telling the story of my own hawthorn tree, pictured above.

Please have a look over at Festival of the Trees for more information.

Thanks, and my deadline is 27 November.

frosty morning with pink clouds

2010-10-28T22:01:00.002+01:00

A few days ago, one morning, the roses were frosty and the clouds were pink

foggy webs and dewdrops

2010-10-12T10:02:00.004+01:00

Twas a lovely foggy dewy morning. Everything seemed hushed in the mist.
My Mirthful Rose patiently waiting for the sunlight to cheer her up.

The spiderwebs were covered in jewelled dewdrops...

Lacy webs with glittering diamonds were draped over the contorted hazel...

Little sleeping hammocks made of webby gauze for the willow faes to slumber in.

A sunny rose, Tinkerbelle, and a Faerie Village

2010-10-11T16:17:00.003+01:00

A sunny rose on a sunny day. This is Graham Thomas Rose from David Austin.

Tinkerbelle by the wild daisies.

A Faerie Village right in the middle of our grass, imagine that!

last sighting of swallows

2010-09-29T17:05:00.003+01:00

Dark Lady

2010-09-01T17:41:00.002+01:00

..The Dark Lady, a rose from David Austin. This rose is meant to do well in a Mediterranean climate. But here she is in my Irish garden, looking exceptionally beautiful this year, despite the cool summer.

August Flora and Fauna

2010-08-15T14:17:00.023+01:00

.
It's a beautiful warm summer day today, a lovely treat! The weather has been wet and chilly most of the summer, so flowers and animals and I are enjoying the sunshine.
.A pretty white butterfly caught in mid flight by the radish flowers
.An insect attracted to a rose. My brother and I found this abandoned rose in a building construction site. We rescued it just in time, a week later the tractors were plowing up the ground there.
.Marinette rosebud
.William Morris rose
.An insect relaxing on a chamomile daisy
.Violas, chamomile, and oregano
.An insect kissing a viola's cheerful face
.

An insect exploring the soft petals of a californian poppy
.
Nasturiums in the raspberry patch
.A flying insect on black-leaved dill
.Butterfly on chives
.
Butterflies on oregano
.

Honeysuckle, usually covered in bees
.
Wild geranium
.
Oxalis and tame geranium ;-)
.A weed growing near my onions, a beautiful plant! Hoping to get some seeds, it's mostly flowered out now
.Ripening backberries and a gorgeous yellow weed, large and heavy, I had to prop it up.
.I've been digging in my front garden, leaving bare patches of ground. Neighbor cat Smudge like to sleep in one spot by the anemone.
.
Gandalf the Stray sleeps by the crocosmia
.Dave's back garden. Our neighbour over the back wall has tall lovely billowing grass, as he forgets to mow sometimes. I think it's beautiful waving in the morning sunlight.
.
I'll leave you with the morning sky, full of little fluffy clouds.

Want to see what's flowering in other parts of our beautiful world? Visit Carol's blog for Garden Blogger's August Bloomday.

Dancing with the lawnmower

2010-08-07T12:12:00.000+01:00

Marinette Rose

2010-08-05T13:09:00.001+01:00

This rose, Marinette, looks like delicate porcelain to me

Sunny Solstice

2010-07-06T09:15:00.004+01:00

Blythe Spirit rose, wild daisy, alchemilla in the Rose garden.

Mystery Dianthus. A velvety almost black dianthus with magenta spots and pink edging.
My Mom received a flower bouquet which included a few of these amazing pinks. I took one of them and stuck it in her garden, hoping it would grow roots. It did! And now I have this gorgeous flower in my garden too!

I watched this ladybug having lunch on my roses yesterday, came back later and all the aphids were gone.

cherries, violas and forget-me-nots

2010-05-17T15:32:00.003+01:00

cherry blossoms

violas and forget-me-nots

Cat's smile in the Willow and Hawthorn

2010-03-23T20:53:00.002Z

A couple nights ago, the moon looked like the Cheshire Cat's smile sitting in the trees.
The tree in foreground is a hawthorn, and behind him is a willow just getting ready to burst into fuzzy catkins.

windswept frost

2010-01-24T12:53:00.002Z

.Early in the morning, witch hazel with frost. I'm always amazed that these flowers continue to bloom in such weather!

Later on, the frost began to act strange, moving to one side, as if windswept. Here on rosehips.

On the curly grass..

Very pronounced on the dried allysum. But there was no wind!

Frost

2010-01-04T04:49:00.004Z

my kitchen windowsil

2009-11-02T07:00:00.005Z

A cutting of my Mom's jade-type plant, and cuttings of her impatiens are looking quite lovely!
*edit* The white flowers are california poppies that I accidently chopped off in the garden, they continued blooming in the vase for a few weeks.

Autumn Flowers

2009-10-03T19:05:00.003+01:00

These flowers are in my Mom's garden in The Netherlands, late September.

buzzing with bees.

Mom's Mum

a Geranium that came back from its roots.

African Daisy

A wild red rose

Rainy Bloomday in August

2009-08-15T21:46:00.009+01:00

It was a wet morning, so I put on my raingear and wellies, and had me a nice soft photoshoot. Here are my flowers blooming in wet Ireland.
.
Wild fuchsia, still buzzing with bees. They don't mind the rain.
.
One of my sweetpeas, from a mixed color seed pack.
.
Self-sown nasturtium
.
Sulking Impatiens
.
Heavenly scented honeysuckle
.
Campanula
.
I don't know what this is, but bees love it. Each flower spike looks like a curled up caterpillar.
.
Anemone (I took this photo yesterday)
.
A runner bean flower, against my purple plum tree.
.
Violas, self sown all over, and continuously blooming since early spring.
.

Not a flower, but very colorful. Moyesii rosehips
.
And lastly, some wildflowers in the potato patch.
Visit Carols' blog: May Dreams Gardens, where you'll find links to other people's flowers blooming in August all over the world.

Garden Bloggers Bloomday - July

2009-07-14T07:32:00.000+01:00

There are so many flowers blooming, this is only a bit of it all:

Scintillation roses bloom alongside of my shed, just on the edge of the wilder area of my garden, "Peppermint Woods"

Scintillation againMirthful rose in the front garden

Wild fuchsia

Himalayan honeysuckle, it's become a giant shrub, filled with buzzing bees.

Malva in the front garden, a wren visiting on the wall. The only reason I knew the tiny bird was there, was because my cat was doing that "I see a bird" thing that cats do with their mouth. And the cheeky wren was teasing the cat.

Dianthus

Honeysuckle

Honeysuckle again

Cotton lavender

Evening primroseFeverfew and a lemon-scented geranium flower.

Feverfew

Campanula

Violas/pansies in the strawberry patch

Pansies form all over the garden.

My daughter, who lives in Dublin, has picked up gardening this year. She and her boyfriend planted seeds in all kinds of crazy containers. This is linaria from a wildflower seed mix.
It makes me happy to see my kids have the same kind of love affair with plants.

My shed, slowly being enveloped in nature.

Visit Carols' blog: May Dreams Gardens, where you'll find links to other people's flowers blooming in July all over the world.

Roses in art

2009-07-07T07:21:00.001+01:00

Celestial, an alba rose dating from the middle ages. There are alba roses in Botticelli's 'The Birth of Venus'

William Morris, a David Austin English rose. William Morris also painted roses.

pink: Celestial, red with bee: Moyesii, red: Dark Lady, yellow: Graham Thomas

Green spider

2009-07-06T09:16:00.002+01:00

I saw this pretty spider in the rosemary, when I went out to pick some for dinner seasoning. I love the coloring of it, green and yellows, a little spot of pink.

Garden Bloggers Bloomday, June 2009

2009-06-15T07:41:00.005+01:00

It's blooming roses this month:

Marinette

Celestial

Celestial

Scintillation

Alba Semi Plena

The Dark Lady

Moyesii-Geranium

Mirthful

Graham Thomas

Blythe Spirit

William Morris
....................................................
And a few of the other blooms:

Philadelphus

Cow Parsley

Evening Primrose

Dianthus

Sage

Geranium

Malva

Nigella and a lemon scented Geranium

Viola

Viola

Alchemilla

? (pretty yellow flowers, needs ID. Anyone know this?)

Calendula

To bring some of the garden inside, I've made a little bouquet of Dark Lady and geranium to put by my computer (thats' my computer's name "Eyreequel")

Visit Carol's blog for more links to flowers blooming in June all over the world.

Moyesii buzzes

2009-06-13T22:41:00.007+01:00

The fritinancy of the Moyesii Roses

I love to stand near my wild rose, Moyesii. It buzzes!

Bees like to wiggle themselves into its stamens and buzz like crazy.

Petals of Roses

2009-06-09T07:55:00.003+01:00

Luxurious William Morris

Silky Graham Thomas

Mysterious Dark Lady

predicting weather in Ireland

2009-05-29T09:34:00.005+01:00

Looking at the weather forecast for today, I was expecting a bright, warm, and sunshiney day. But the sky is overcast, and it's quite chilly. The symbol on my Google page didn't correspond to the actual weather.
Yesterday, the symbol was a cloud with rain. But it was a lovely sunny day all day!
So I decided to put my own Irish weather reports to the Google symbols, I think it comes pretty close to the truth. ;-)

a gloriously sunny morning

2009-05-26T09:38:00.007+01:00

Not a cloud in the sky, and the flowers are positively glowing this morning.
William Morris rose with his nodding head.

Back-lit columbine

Tree lupin

Forget-me-nots

Poppy-rupifragum

Columbine against a glorious blue sky

strawberry farm

2009-05-23T18:01:00.005+01:00

While visiting my Mom in Holland last month, her neighbors and ourselves went to visit a strawberry farm. The greenhouse was humongous!

Rows and rows of strawberries in all stages of ripeness hang lusciously.

There were boxes of bees every few rows, to help pollination.

Delicious. Unfortunately we were told not to eat any. Did that stop my Mom and me sneaking a few? *grin*

Life is like a rainbow

2009-05-21T17:09:00.012+01:00

"Life is like a rainbow. You need both the sun and the rain to make its colors appear."

White columbine with pink blush

White flowers with purple freckles

red tulip with white fringe

orange poppy rupifragum waking up

yellow tree lupin

yellow welsh poppy

green tellima with white lashes

blue columbine with white lashes

purple oxalis with darker stripes

beautiful mauve flowered tree

2009-05-16T18:28:00.008+01:00

What is this tree? Does anyone know?
*edit* I've got an ID from LionRedwood at the BBC Gardening Message Board. It's a Royal Empress tree, paulownia. Thanks Lion!
Reading the description, I think it would be too large and fast growing for my garden, unfortunately. Sure is a beauty though.

I saw this tree in the Netherlands, in someone's garden. I've noticed it for a few years off the freeway, and finally went looking for it. I thought it was a large lilac, but had never seen one so big. But a closer look showed me bell shaped flowers in a pale shade of purple-pink. And clusters of brown seed pods. This photo was taken in early May, so it's a late spring bloomer.
Unfortunately, the full shot of the tree is blurry, but hopefully someone can ID it for me from the closer shots.

pastels, brights and whites

2009-05-15T19:57:00.010+01:00

It's Garden Bloggers Bloomday in May. In my garden are an assortment of colors:
Pastels:

The three amigos.

The very first rose bud in my garden is on my Celestial.

Chives
................................................
Then there are the brights:
Poppies, oriental and welsh

Calendula

A tulip my husband calls "threadbare".

.........................
Whites:

flowers on the rowan tree

Strawberries

Woodruff

There are more flowers in bloom, but didn't get to taking thier photos today, but I'll post more later. Visit Carol's blog for more links to flowers blooming in May all over the world.

Luscious colors

2009-04-27T15:46:00.010+01:00

My apple trees are blooming in a most luscious color of pink. I stood there for a while, inhaling the perfume, smelled like roses and apples. I'm sure I must have fertilized a few flowers with my nose!

These tulips, I think they look like parrot tulips, are also that same delicious pink color, like strawberry and vanilla. I used to not like pink flowers, no idea why. These are just delightful!
*Identified as Angelique Tulips*

A cherry red oriental poppy takes off its hat in the warm sun.

The poppy glows like an ember in flame colors of reds and oranges.

The cactus on my windowsill is blooming in a creamy white color. It's as if a little faerie came by during the night and stuck a bunch of mini flowers all over the cactus.

Late Garden Bloggers Bloomday - April

2009-04-18T22:50:00.017+01:00

Losing track of time... I thought the 15th was still a few days off, and here it's already the 18th! I completely missed Garden Bloggers Bloomday, so I'm posting a few days late.
These pink tulips just opened this morning, they're so beautiful. I don't know what they're called, they came in a cheap bag of mixed tulips.
*edit* Edelweiss Transplanted has identified this tulip as Angelique, and I think she is correct.

Pippin keeps me company while I take photos. The chives are ready to burst into bloom any day now.

Another shot of the pink tulip, Angelique. it looks like a water lily to me.

White daffodils, backlit by the early morning sun.

my three red tulips, backed by blue forget-me-nots.

An insect on a yellow daffodil, warming itself in the sun.

Oxalis.

Part of the front garden.

Tinkerbelle joins me here in the front.

A lot of the front garden is taken over in the springtime by my Mickey Mouse tulips. I've had these for years and years.

They seem to multiply a little bit each year.

There's even one growing in my veggie garden next to the thyme. How it got there, I've no idea.

A blue theme going on.

Some pretty yellow flowers with fancy leaves.

Yellow wallflowers.

That's it, sorry this is late. I would have posted this morning, except it was a beautiful sunny day, and I didn't want to waste it sitting in front of my computer. So I got a lot of gardening done, lots of weeding!

See what's blooming all over the world, visit Carol's blog for links to Garden Bloggers everywhere. Hope you all have a lovely weekend in the garden.

flowers under a rainbow sky

2009-04-13T06:32:00.009+01:00

We've been having a lot of sun showers these last few days, and rainbows have been arching over us.

Drops of rain cling to the tulips.

Daffodils nod their heads.

Wallflowers look all tousled and unkempt.

Bright and ruffly daffodil.

Shaking their heads and tossing off the rain.

A Sunday walk

2009-04-06T22:28:00.010+01:00

My husband and I went out for a walk again, was a bit chilly, but walking made us warm. The hawthorn hedgerows were beginning to bloom.

Some beautiful horses came forward to greet us.

Primroses, with a lovely scent, on the roadsides.

An old gnarled piece of wood, captured by barbed wire.

Barbed wire with bits of sheep wool, hanging like a line of laundry.

A tv set for the sheep to watch their favorite program. Wonder what that might be?

I adore this front garden! Such personality!

These branches looked fiercely creepy.

An ivy clad tree, surrounded by daffodils and celadine.

bird chorus before sunrise

2009-04-05T09:20:00.006+01:00

I woke up early this morning to a dawn chorus of birdsong.
Hear the rooster? (at 28sec) He had to add his voice to the song as well.

blue blooms under a blue sky

2009-04-04T08:53:00.006+01:00

The sky a few minutes ago, looks like it will be a lovely Saturday for gardening.

grape hyacinths

hyacinths

violas

I don't know what these are, but I wish I had more.
*edit*Thank you June for the ID. Yes, these are Glory-of-the-Snow (chionodoxa).

forget-me-nots

Glowing red

2009-04-02T17:53:00.003+01:00

The mystery tulip has opened, and it's such a bright red color, it almost glows! This was yesterday.

And here it is today, opening up to show a black center spot surrounded by a yellow ring.

Twisted Tulip

2009-04-01T16:04:00.001+01:00

A tulip grown on the moon. Its twisted and skewed petals are regarded as beautiful over there. I too, find this moon tulip beautiful.

Colorful and fragrant

2009-03-28T13:15:00.009Z

The magnolias are blooming in St. Stephan's Green again. The trees look amazing, their flowers glowing from the distance, inviting you to come for a closer look.

Thalia daffodils in my garden, I forgot they were in that spot, and the wind entangles their blooms into the nearby rose thorns. Must move them!

Some adorable little daffodils, they came in a bag of mixed minis.

This daff is also in St. Stephan's Green, looking a bit frayed.

Forget-me-nots spread themselves all over my garden.

Some tulips my hubby bought for me, from a mixed bag. Anticipation.. what will they look like when their petals open?

Why?

2009-03-28T13:10:00.000Z

poor tree...

wild celadine

2009-03-18T18:14:00.003Z

Yesterday we took a stroll around the countryside, and came across several patches of celadine by the roadside. It makes a lovely carpet of color.

Slantje

2009-03-17T10:52:00.001Z

Here's a common view all over Ireland on St. Patrick's Day.. grass and daffodils. Have a crackin good day!

Garden Blogger Bloomday for March 2009

2009-03-14T15:53:00.020Z

Happy Springtime from Ireland!

The weather has been getting a bit warmer, flowers are popping up all over, especially the yellow colors.

Our cat Pippin enjoys the warmth against the fence, behind the daffodils.

The last of the snowdrops still blooming in the shady spots. The snowdrops in sunny spots are faded already.

Wallflowers are beginning to open.

The forsythia has opened up a sprinkling of yellow flowers.

Euphorbia octapus-sucker-like flowers have been out for a while.

The heather too has been blooming for more than a month, still looking lovely.

There's a teeny tiny blue wildflower blooming here and there. This might be a veronica of some sort? Not sure. There are 4 pale blue petals, and it's very very small, maybe smaller than my baby fingernail.

Daisies blooming in the grass.

Another unknown wildflower. It's very pretty, looks almost like buttercups. Maybe celandine?

Crocuses...

And more daffodils.
See what's blooming all over the world, visit Carol's blog for links to Garden Bloggers everywhere, as we welcome in spring in the north and autumn in the south.

Last month's flowers in the snow

2009-03-10T20:41:00.005Z

I've been neglecting my garden blog. So, I'll take some photos of my spring flowers over the next few days, just in time for the Garden Blogger's Bloom Day. Meanwhile, here are a few photos of flowers in my garden during mid Feb., during a rare week of snow.

a few winter flowers

2009-01-07T08:51:00.007Z

Witch Hazel (hamamelis mollis)

Wallflower (erysimum)

Euphorbia

Primula

more witch hazel

Dona Nobis Pacem

2008-11-04T06:00:00.002Z

We look forward to a time when the Power of Love will replace the Love of Power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace.

Blog for peace on 6 November 2008.
Join us, get your own peace globe here, at Mimi Writes.

Maple colors

2008-10-20T10:52:00.001+01:00

This maple started life as a "weed" in one of my flower pots. I've got a soft spot for acers, so I let it grow. Now it's a little tree in my back garden's little woods. And it has rewarded me with these most gorgeous colored leaves this autumn.

Faeries paint the garden red

2008-10-18T09:13:00.007+01:00

My forsythia has developed the most intense red leaves this year. It has never done this before, and I wonder what miracle of nature has been working its magic to create such a beautiful color.

Would it be the boggyness of the soil? The large amount of rain this year? Or have the faeries got hold of some lovely red pigment, and gone wild in my back garden?

The faeries have also blessed this elstar apple tree with tons of fruit, so much that it's bending the tree down to half its height. And of course, they also painted each fruit with their newly found pigment!
What have faeries done in YOUR garden?

Wet October Bloomday

2008-10-15T16:12:00.018+01:00

Droplets of water cling to this Love-in-a-Mist, and it is truly in a mist today, with soft rain falling on all the flowers blooming today. As we say here, it's a soft day in Ireland, on the Garden Blogger's Bloomday for October.

The rain causes all my roses to hang their heads, so I need to do upshots of them. I like how the petals are almost see-through on my Marinette.

Nasturtiums still bloom all over the place, cheerful even in the rain.

Wet William Morris hangs his head even more today.
...drip drip...

And Dark Lady feels even darker today.

A lone pansy by the shed unfurls its first flower this autumn.

There are still several sweet peas clinging to their supports with their curly tendrils.

Verbena standing high above the nasturtiums.

Oregano has decided to bloom again.

Sedum, bright as usual in the cold mist.

The wild fuchsias still in bloom, they've been blooming for many months, and still going strong. There are still bees coming to visit them.

This geranium by my back door too has been in bloom all summer.

The wallflower that thinks it's spring.
See what's in bloom this October, all over the world, at Carol's May Dreams Gardens.

Spider webs everywhere

2008-09-25T19:41:00.010+01:00

This foggy morning, I went outside to pick an apple for breakfast. Saw a nice big red one, and headed toward it. But alas, it was covered in webs. And I didn't want to disturb the spiders, so I had to choose a lesser apple.

While the apple was stewing, I went out with my camera and took pictures of webs, webs, webs everywhere.

Webs on the Moyesii rosehips...

Webs in the purple plum...

Webs on the contorted Hazel...

Webs on Harry Hawthorn..

Maybe tommorro, I can have that big red apple.

Hips and Berries

2008-09-23T08:43:00.013+01:00

Lisa at Greenbow has invited bloggers to post their berry photos. I recently saw a post of berries at Mr. McGregor's Daughter's blog and found several garden bloggers had joined in as well. So here are the berries and rosehips in my garden.

The above two photos are of the big rosehips on my wild rose, Moyesii.
*edit* This rose is from David Austin Roses, R. Moyesii 'Geranium'

Green hips on Scintillation Rose.

My blond raspberries are forming a second crop, the first was during July.

Blackberries ready for picking and turning into jam.

A honeysuckle berry.

Himalayan Honeysuckle forming its weirdly alien berries.

This might be cotoneaster, I'm not sure. It's a cutting from my old garden, which was a volunteer shrub under a tree, maybe from bird droppings? I always liked the bright berries, so took a bit of it with me to put by my shed.

My Neighbor's yellow rowan berries.
My rowan has red berries, but it didn't produce any flowers this spring, so no berries. And same with my hawthorn and pyracantha, no flowers, no berries.

William glows in the morning sun

2008-09-21T07:49:00.004+01:00

Beautiful William Morris, a David Austin English rose. He was positively glowing yesterday morning, as the sun came out of the fog.

The moon still shines behind his soft peachy petals.

William is very healthy this year, growing quite large on the fence. Can you see the faint strands of a spider web?
If anyone asks me today, which is my favorite rose, I might just say it's my beautiful William Morris.

September Garden Bloggers Bloomday

2008-09-18T08:44:00.007+01:00

I'm a couple days late posting my September blooms, I just got back home last night. I walked around the garden this foggy morning, and here are my best shots.
Above is a borage flower. My borage has been in bloom for a few months now in my vegetable garden.

One of my wallflowers has decided the weather is cool enough to bloom again, accompanied by a little snail.

Another snail crawls on a pink flower, transplanted from my Mom's garden. I've no idea what this flower is.

I like the web on this fuchsia. There are webs everywhere during late summer here, little spiders flying through the air on their silken threads, landing where the breeze takes them.

Blythe Spirit, still blooming.

Mirthfull, still looking lovely.

There are several more flowers out, I'll go out in a little while and take a few more photos when the fog lifts.
Visit Carol's May Dreams Gardens blog to see what's blooming in September all over the world.

Rainbow Sunflower

2008-09-02T20:26:00.003+01:00

My sunflower has had some day today. First thing this morning, he was enjoying the early morning sunshine, backlighting his pretty head, as in the previous post. He had bees and insects visit all day, and after a spot of thunder and rain late in the day, he had a lovely rainbow appear over his head.

I'll be away for two weeks, visiting my Mom again. I hope to do Gardener's Bloom Day 2 days late, on the 17th, hope Carol won't mind. *wink*

Sunflowers

2008-09-02T09:07:00.000+01:00

This morning, my two sunflowers looked magical, backlit by the rising sun.

Yesterday was cloudy, but this flower shone like the sun.

Tess Of The d'Urbervilles Rose

2008-09-02T08:33:00.001+01:00

My new rose, Tess, is starting to bloom in its first year. That's quite unusual for me, all my other roses began blooming in their second year.

She is a beautiful shade of red.

Another rose from David Austin, I think he grows the most beautiful roses in the world.

William Morris Rose

2008-09-02T08:18:00.000+01:00

William is giving its second flush of flowers this summer.

He is a lovely apricot color, and has a beautiful strong scent. This shrub grows very well, a very strong and healthy plant.

An english rose, bred by David Austin.

Windyroses

2008-09-02T07:33:00.005+01:00

My windy roses, whom I have named "Mirthful",
as I don't know what their real name is.

Press the play button to see the windyroses being mirthful!

moss and flowers on old walls

2008-08-24T12:30:00.004+01:00

Moss and plants grow on everything around here. This moss is on a shady side of Trim Castle, just a few minutes drive from my house.

Lovely purple wildflowers by a ruin on the castle grounds. I think this is rosebay willowherb.

These flowers are Herb Robert, a type of wild geranium, and sometimes grows in crevices wherever they can find a foothold. This is a wall behind my kid's house in Dublin.

More Trim moss.