Valentine Flowers

On Valentine's Day I took a walk over to my friend Rita's to have coffee.  What a delight to see some early signs of Spring pushing their way into view.  It was interesting to see more yellow crocuses than blue or white out in bloom this early in the season.

 Snowdrops were making an appearance also.

 This plain yellow crocus was doing battle with some mulch.

 In Rita's Garden there were a few snowdrops in full bloom.

 This ones petals looked a bit worse for wear, but an interesting shape.

 Her Hellebore were coming out to put on a fine show.

 I love how this one looks like an umbrella with the pretty stamens below.

 What an interesting wave design on this cyclamen.

 Rita cheated with a forced daffodil, but had one that was almost ready to break into bloom elsewhere in her garden.

 More Hellebore blossoms and buds.

 A wild looking pincushion daisy along the walk home.

 This fiery red one caught my eye.

 The Rhododendrons are coming into full bloom.

 Some snowdrops in a neighbour's garden beside my entry door.

14 pictures of flowers for Valentine's Day!

Halloween is fast approaching. This wonderful witch was designed by my friend Karen Berry. She did a workshop with us at the beginning of October sharing some of her design techniques. You can see where some of her inspiration comes from colours in nature.This oak leaf hydrangea changes into such lovely colours of red, rust and brown.

We have several varieties of coleus along the gardens, their colours are quite spectacular in the fall sun.

Here is a slightly different colour way in the coleus.

The papyrus looks delicate against the blue sky.

These daisies always look so lovely. the colours so rich in the autumn sun.

This magenta grass is a favourite of mine.

The leaves of the witch hazel have wonderful veins and texture to them.

Another picture of the oak leaf hydrangea.