The Soft Side of Easter

While I naturally tend to gravitate toward vivid colors, I also like the whisper of soft pastel shades. 

There is something beautiful and romantic in the muted voice of delicate shades of 

pink, yellow, blue and green.

I bought this bunny a number of years ago. Isn't he a handsome fellow?

These are tissue paper roses my Mom gave me once upon a time.

To create the eggs above, first remove the contents through a small hole of either end. 

Years and years ago, I took a quilting class with my Mom. At the end of the course, a fellow student invited all the ladies over for a luncheon at her home. 

This woman's husband had been in the services and so they had traveled extensively in Europe. As souvenirs of the countries they visited, she had collected colorful, hand-painted eggs. I remember being struck by the beauty of these eggs, which had been gathered into large bowls. Scattered throughout the living room, the clusters of bright colored eggs were as fresh and cheerful as bouquets of spring flowers.

The quilting did not stick with me, but the egg painting did. Every year, I paint a few new Easter eggs. 

The three eggs in the foreground of the picture above are created by painting a natural egg with light washes of watercolor paint. I finish them with a clear coat of water-based varnish. (I prefer a spray application for this project.)

These eggs were made using a decoupage method. Cut out pretty floral illustrations with a fine pair of scissors and glue them onto an egg shell. (You could easily use papier-mâché eggs for this method.) Finish with clear water-based varnish.

The eggs in the jar were purchased, but you could easily replicate them by first painting an undercoat of a deep colored paint. Then, apply a transparent crackle medium ( Michael's). When the crackle medium is dry, apply a lighter colored top coat of paint. Cracks will appear as the top coat dries. Finish with clear, water-based varnish.

The eggs in the foreground are made using artist's pastel crayons. Color the eggs with a few complimentary shades of the crayons. Smudge the crayon lines with a tissue or soft cloth. Then, take some acrylic watercolor paint and apply a light wash over top of the blurred crayon lines. The crayon will act like a resist. Finish with clear, water-based varnish.

Today I am participating in Texture Tuesday with Kim Klassen. I added her Sweet Treat and Silence textures texture to my images. Click the link here to see the other entries.

Temptation

With spring so late this year, there is not a blessed, bloody thing blooming in my garden, but a few diminutive crocus. There are no pretty daffodils, no colorful tulips. Even my magnolia has refused to open in the cool weather.

I figure, that if I was to present pictures of my pretty, but oh-so-common crocuses for GBBD, you would probably roll your eyes, while struggling for the words to write in a comment about blooms that are so profoundly unexciting. So, in search of a more interesting post, I made my first foray to the local nursery to see what was blooming there.

Money for new garden flowers is in short supply this spring and I want to try to stay within a very limited budget. I am determined to stick to the spring wish list I have drawn up. (We will see how long that lasts!)

So when I arrived at the nursery, I quickly walked by the displays of Easter flowers, so as not to get distracted. 

Okay-I got a little distracted! I stopped for a second to admire the paper thin blooms of some Ranunculus bulbs in flower.

I have been admiring all the hellebores in everybody's blog posts and really would like to have some in my garden. The selection available at this nursery however was disappointing however, so it wasn't hard to pass them by. (My favorites have been dark plum hellebores.)

The first plant to wink at me was this Jacob's Ladder. What is not most striking about this plant is not the flowers which are a soft blue, but rather the foliage, which is a soft green, with a rose colored accents.

Jacob's Ladder Polemonium "Stairway to Heaven' (Blue flowers May to July. Full sun to partial shade in well drained soil.I have always wanted a Brunnera. Next, I wandered over the the Brunnera. It has been on my list for a few years. I just wish it wasn't so darn expensive! The flowers are nothing to right home about, but the leaves are very handsome.  And Brunnera likes shade, which I have in abundance in the back yard. There were many varieties to choose from:That is Brunnera 'King's Ransom' on the left and Brunnera 'Emerald Mist' on the right.

That is 'Brunnera marophylia varirgata' on the left and the more commonly available Brunnera 'Jack Frost' on the right.

In the end, I decided it was a toss up between 'Jack Frost' and this variety called 'Looking glass'(shown above). I couldn't make a decision, so I decided to wait and get one on my next visit.

White Bleeding Heart 'Dicentra spectabilis alba'

I so pleased with my white and pink bleeding hearts, that I want to add one of the more unusual varieties to my collection. Sadly, I have tried these smaller varieties in the past, with limited success. I am not at all sure where I have gone wrong.

At my garden clubs monthly meeting, we had David Tomlinson as a guest speaker. He has the most amazing garden (called Merlin's Hollow) in Aurora, Ontario and is a plantsman with years and years of experience. David grows most of his perennials from seed. 

When he does buy plants at a nursery, he takes them home and washes all the soil from the roots. He is convinced that the perlite, in the growing medium that most plants are potted up, with is hugely detrimental to the new plants chances of over wintering. Apparently, the perlite encourages air pockets to form and that puts the young plant's roots at risk when the ground freezes. After he washes the roots, David re-pots the plant in good soil and allows it to recover, before planting it in the garden.

This is the first I have ever heard of this, but I wonder if he is not correct.

Dicentra Formosa 'Adrian Bloom'

I really liked the deep rose color of this variety called "King of Hearts', but in the end, I decided on the variety named 'Luxuriant'. Given my poor success rate with these varieties in the past, I wonder if I should I re-pot it as David Tomlinson suggests.

Foam Flower Tiarella 'Sugar and Spice'

Here is a pretty temptress. Foam flower is great plant for shade. I have had limited success with it because it is so dry here in late summer, but if you have a shaded, consistently moist spot, it is real charmer.

I saved a visit to the vast display of pansies for last. Who can resist their happy faces? I bought several colors for my urns and window boxes.

Next month, I hope to have some blooms in my own garden to show you. Many thanks to Carol for hosting GBBD. To see other gardens have in bloom click here.

Have a great weekend!

Pussy Willows

Spring is finally here!

Despite the fact that she is late this year, spring is not offering any explanation or making any apologies. She is, after all, a force of nature who does just as she pleases.

On Saturday, we enjoyed a wonderful sunny day here; the first really warm day of the season.  With the last of the snow now gone, my spring bulbs are finally brave enough to poke their heads up out of the soil.

Pussy willows have appeared along with the fine weather.  Every spring, the lady across the street gathers them in bunches and puts them out for sale on her front lawn.

What kind of good neighbor would I be if I didn't buy a few bunches?

 So soft and furry! Were you fond of pussy willows as a child too?

I took a few of the branches and twisted them together. I fastened each of the ends with a twist tie, bent the branches into a gentle curve, and inserted the ends into a small bucket of water. The pressure of the curved branches against the side of the bucket seemed to be enough to keep them in the shape of a handle. Then to finish it off my little arrangement, I added purple hyacinths.

The rest of the pussy willows went into a tall, cylindrical, glass vase.

In the past, I always put my pussy willow branches into water. Tiny yellow flower buds and leaves quickly emerged. 

When I bought my branches last Saturday however, I noticed my neighbor had them standing in empty buckets. No water. I surmise that this method keeps the branches in stasis. So I am going to give it a try.

Pussy willows (salix discolor) are easy to grow from a cutting. Give the branch a fresh cut and place it in water. When roots develop, plant the branch in the ground. (You don't take my word for it- visit Martha for the goods on multiplying pussy willows.)

Today I am participating in Texture Tuesday with Kim Klassen. I added her Warm Sun texture to my images. Click the link here to see the other entries.

Color Essay Number 11: Burgundy

The bouquet of carnations in my front hall has got me thinking about the color burgundy and its uses in the garden. (Carnations are so common that you can forget to appreciate them for little beauties they are. Not only are they inexpensive, I find they last forever as a cut flower. I always try to pick a bouquet that have a rich, spicy scent.)

In the garden burgundy is a color that can be found not only in flowers, but leaves and stems as well. Without further delay, let's take a look at great places to find burgundy in the garden. 

In my garden and elsewhere as noted, I hope you will find a few ideas of how to inject a bit of burgundy into your planing schemes.

Burgundy hollyhocks in a neighbor's garden.

Burgundy hollyhocks look pretty mixed in with different shades of pink here in the Lucy 

Maud Montgomery garden in Norval, Ontario.

A daylily from my own garden. Sorry, I am not sure of the variety.

A birdhouse to break things up a bit.

Japanese Blood Grass in the background with the burgundy stems of Heuchera (coral bells)

 in bloom in the foreground. Private garden in  Eramosa Township.

Deep burgundy mix with peachy pink dahlia in this bouquet from the local farmer's market.

Late in the summer, sedum can be counted on to add a show of pink and burgundy colored flowers. Last two images are from Edward's Garden in Toronto. 

Dragon's Blood (left) is a great burgundy colored groundcover in my small rock garden and an unknown variety (quite possibly Sedum 'Autumn Joy') from my circle garden (on the right).

"Purple Petticoats"a new Heuchera that I added to the front garden last fall.

The grey-green leaves and burgundy stems of the the Sedum on the left and the Heuchera on the right do a nice job of breaking the expanse of green leaves.

If you are thinking of adding a splash of burgundy to your own garden this spring, don't forget to consider some shrubs. The Ninebark shrub on the right really makes a nice backdrop for this bed of annuals at Edward's Garden in Toronto.

I have been trying to resist Barberry because I hate their fine, sharp thorns, but when I see a planting like this, I find my resolve weakening. Lost Horizon's Nursery, Acton, Ontario.

Barberry effectively injected into the sea of green on the left and up close on the right. Lost Horizon's Nursery, Acton, Ontario.

In terms of trees, Japanese Maples are a great way to add a hit of burgundy into an 

expanse of green leaves. Lost Horizon's Nursery, Acton, Ontario.

A personal favorite, Euphorbia 'Bonefire' covered in frost crystals in late fall.

A final bit of burgundy in my front garden. Mums, which I add to my beds in the fall, help to keep the flowers going into late October.

The dark stems of my Dogwood carry the color burgundy right through the winter. 

This shot is from Canada Blooms.

Have a great weekend!