Jennifer @Home

Here comes the rain again

Remember that old Eurythmics tune?

If you haven't heard that one in awhile, there's a nifty acoustic performance of it from two years ago.  (Just hang in there past the interview-en-francais.  Even better, use it as an excuse to practice!)

We've just had another stormy afternoon here, enough to wash the pollen out of the air (and off our cars) and water the garden, so it's all good.  I hope everyone got away without tornado damage.

The roses are already blooming!  One of the fun and interesting things about old roses (and maybe any roses) is that you never know which ones are going to bloom first.  So I am always excited to see which ones bloom, in what order, a kind of (yes, it's dorky) rose-blooming contest.

Now that I have a blog, I can announce publicly the results of my contest!

This year's First Bloom Winner (April 9) is 'Safrano,' a Tea Rose bred in 1839.  Ours went from being a rather puny bush last year to a large, robust one, about 4 feet high but spreading quite far in every direction.  One of the striking features of this plant, besides its beautiful blooms, is the very red-plum early foliage, visible in the lower left of the photo.  This is a rose to enjoy for a day, because the delicate blossoms only last that long (the perfect excuse to cut them and enjoy them indoors!)

The Second Bloom Winner (April 10) is 'Georgetown Tea,' heritage unknown, found in Georgetown, Texas.  We planted this one two years ago and it has become a cheerful, upright plant with lots of buds.  The flowers are interesting - darker pink on the edges and a kind of peachy-cream-pink in the middle, with darker pink again at the very center.

The Third Bloom Winner (April 11) is 'Mrs. Bosanquet,' a Bourbon rose introduced in 1832.  Have you ever smelled a Bourbon rose?  Think of an old New Orleans garden -- one of those hidden courtyards you might stumble into by accident -- and imagine some of these roses growing in the center around a wrought-iron birdbath.  The scent is heavy and sweet with an edge of clove and some sharpness almost like magnolia.

  Oh - and before I go, I can't resist sharing a photo of the purple iris, which were spectacular.  Here they are about 5 days ago.  By now, already gone.

Bonsoir, mes amis. 

Spring favorites

Well, folks, it's Holy Week.  And it's March!  And while I'm in some degree of shock that both are here so quickly, this Spring Break week has been a great time to get out in the beautiful weather with the kids and photograph some of my garden favorites -- (all the photos can be clicked to enlarge - they're even more luscious full size).

The lower, damper part of our oak-shaded front yard is full of these lovely little Erythronium, which are also called  Trout Lilies, splash!  They look like speckled trout, leaping out from nothing all over the yard.  Isaac helped me "fish" for them yesterday.  Look at the gray-green spots!  Look at the contrasting brown-maroon!  And the golden flowers, which incidentally have a soft maroon-lavendar color on the back.  I think it may inspire a batik sometime soon.

We're in the season now for the mid-to-late daffodils and narcissi.  There is a rather stunning old-fashioned narcissus that has popped up here and there.  It's a pheasant-eye (Narcissus poeticus, although our particular type, with its narrow-twisting-petal shape, is not one I have found documented on the web yet), particularly spectacular in that there is a bright red-orange rim on the central cup, while the rest of the flower is all whites and pale yellows! This photo doesn't quite capture the vividness of that red color, but you get the idea.   (Maybe I"ll try another photo on a brighter day.) Yes, this is another set of colors that would be fun to batik. 

  And now for the final one (Eve is on my lap saying "pretty! pretty!")  I was amazed yesterday at how the purple iris, which is always spectacular in bloom, looks like rolled silk while it's still in the bud!  Don't you just want to unfurl that and wear it?

  These, too, have naturalized all over, and there are more each year.  I love this kind of "gardening," where I don't really do anything but walk around with a camera and pick daffodils.

ISAAC SHOW

Now it's time for Isaac Show.  Isaac wants to show you his new suit!  We tried it on first thing today, at his suggestion, complete with tie and shoes.  Isn't he dapper!  Isaac will hopefully not destroy this at the Easter Egg Hunt preview this for Easter, and then will wear it again to be a "Ring Barrel" at Catherine's wedding.  I have suddenly realized he is going to need a belt!  So we're headed out to shop for belts this morning.