Into the Rose Garden

It's that time of year again. The Rose Garden is in full bloom. Just have a look at some of these beauties.

There was no pruning done this year before the rose bushes started to get going. So the bushes were allowed to grow at their whim and put out a wonderful display. Although this created a mess of branches and runners going every-which-way, it made the garden more natural and honestly, just a lovely riot of untamed colour. 

The bushes will be cut back once they have finished their initial blooming, which will most likely cause them to put forth another growth spurt and more blooms later in the summer. Which is not a bad thing. 
 

First up is our Peace Rose. It's a gorgeous salmon or peach colour that becomes more yellow in the center as it opens up. 

This one starts out dark and then fades to a more delicate pink as it fully opens. It has the most wonderful scent as well.

This is one of the yearly favourites, called "Rio Samba". It has been in the garden for a number of years and each year it puts forth a beautiful display. It doesn't have much of a scent, but it makes up for it in striking patterns and strong stems. And large thorns.

Here is the same "Rio Samba" once it has fully opened. 

This beautifully full rose is a David Austin variety. David Austin roses are known for their fullness, or "double rose" as they often have twice the petal count as other rose types. 

Another David Austin rose; this time in peach (and it the rain). 

This pink stipes-and-speckles rose has the sweetest, almost innocent scent. It has been in the garden for as long as I can remember (which is a fairly long time). We have dubbed it the Candy Cane rose because of it's stripes. It blooms twice; once in late May and then again towards the end of August. It has clusters of flowers that don't last as long as the other roses in the garden, but it makes up for in the number of blooms it puts forth. It's probably one of my favourites in the garden. 

This dark rose is a new addition to the Rose Garden this year. I took Dad to the garden center to pick out a Father's Day gift. He saw this and immediately put it in our shopping cart. It's called "Purple Tiger". It took to it's new home just fine and put out a beautiful display of blooms despite being replanted in mid-June.

This is just a small sample of the roses in bloom this year in the Rose Garden. The weather has been so warm the past week that most of time I am just focusing on staying cool and keeping hydrated. Hope you enjoyed this short trip into the Rose Garden.

The Midst of May

just some pretty flowers to brighten your mid-May day ! (found on Pinterest)

A Year of Pretty - February 22, 2014

Today's Pretty Post is this cheerful flower arrangement with a fun idea for hiding the stems.

To make this arrangement you will need a couple things. You will need a glass water pitcher as shown, and a smaller cylinder (or even a tall, skinny drinking glass) to place inside the pitcher. You will need about two lemons cut into thin, round slices. And you will need your flowers. And water. Flowers like water. Maybe some floral keeper.

Place your cylinder / drinking glass in the center of the glass pitcher. Arrange the lemon slices around the pitcher, sticking them to the inside wall of the pitcher. Make sure they are close and snug together so that you can't see the cylinder behind the slices. If you need to add a couple clear marbles or decorator's stones to hold the lemons in place, you could carefully place those in between the lemon slices and the cylinder.

Move your glass pitcher to where you want to display it. Add your floral keeper to the water if you are going you use any. Add the water to only the cylinder / drinking glass. Add your bouquet of flowers into the water.

And done. Sit back and enjoy your lovely display or present to a friend or loved one. Perfect to cheer someone up on a cold February day.

You could switch up the fruit and use limes, oranges. I like to use lemons, but then add in some cranberries for colour. Or you could skip the fruit all together and use other fun things like gum balls, M&M's, smarties (though that would take a lot whole bunch of smarties). I've used wrapped Werther's toffees or colourful hard candies. Just be sure if you are using food items that they stay dry from the water in the center container.

I also find it easier if I wrap a couple elastic bands around the flowers before I plunk them in the water. This ensures that the flowers all stay in one place as well as makes it easier to remove them if I need to re-cut the stems or change the water or the fruit.

This arrangement makes a big impact and is fairly easy to do in a short amount of time. While I like greenery, I find hiding the stems makes the arrangement more interesting.

Enjoy your fresh flowers and have a wonderful day.

Little Bit of Lovely - version 3.0

 

 

 

Spring is in the Bag (almost)

Warm weather, blooming flowers, birds chirping and Easter only a few days away . . . .

 

Here are a trio of lovely spring tote bags to brighten you day. These bags all feature roomy interiors with six pockets; some smaller for your cell phone, others larger to secure your water bottle or pocketbook.

 

These bags can be put to use for a variety of tasks. Use one as a book bag, another as a diaper bag to hold just the things you need for your little one while visiting a friend for coffee. Load one up with flip-flops, a good book & a blanket and head to the beach (just remember the sun screen). I have one for craft projects that holds everything I need (crochet hooks, scissors, balls of yarn, buttons) which I can toss in the car at a moment’s notice if I am heading out to my nephew's cello lesson or to Oma’s house for coffee.

All the totes are handmade and feature many vintage or upcycled fabrics from . . .oh. let's see . . .a grad dress, a full length skirt that I shortened, Italian dupioni silk swatch samples, cushion covers that I tried to make that ended up being too small. Each has its' own character and no two bags are the same. The unique buttons are from either my mom's or my Oma's collections. . . pssst! Mom, see what happens when you innocently ask "Can you use these fabrics or buttons for anything?"

totes by silverbluedesigns.

Design Inspiration - part 3

 . . . . a good book, a cool drink . ..what a fantastic way to spend the afternoon under these trees.

Can't find who took the photo originally, so I can't give credit where it's due. I know, not very nice of me. If you know, please leave a note so that I can edit the post with the credit.

Under a Canopy of Cherry Blossoms

This past week has been 'moving week' for my partner. His new place in Cambie Village is on a street lined with large trees, which we both love. The photo shown left is of the tree right outside his house.

 

It is the beginning of April, and as many of you have witnessed, Vancouver has been experiencing some rather warm weather. One of the markers that spring is well under way is the blooming of the cherry trees. Many of the streets in Vancouver are lined with these beautiful and majestic Prunus Cerasus speciosas covered in pale pink puff balls.

There are an estimated 36,000 flowering cherry trees in Vancouver. Each year the city holds a Cherry Blossom Festival with several events such as a Haiku contest, a Bikes & Blossoms Tour, and a photo contest taking place around Vancouver. Other cities with large cherry blossom festivals include San Francisco CA, Macon GA, Washington DC, and Honolulu, HI. The largest and most festive celebrations take place throughout Japan.

Cherry blossoms figure prominently in Japanese culture. The cherry blossom is seen as a symbol of represents the transience of life; it is a very delicate flower that blooms for a very short time and so reflects the teachings of Buddhism that state all life is short and transitory. A falling cherry blossom represents the beauty of snow or a life taken too soon by battle.

In Japan, the flowers are dried and used to make tea. The leaves (sakura leaf or cherry leaf) are used in cooking and medicine to make 'cherry tree rice cake'.
  
If you are not able to visit the festival, there is another way to bring the cherry blossoms to you. Have a look at these gorgeous painted wooden bangles by amy987.

Each bangle is hand painted and unique, and is painted both inside and out. What a great way to keep the cherry blossoms with you all year round.

 

Spring Earrings by silverbluedesigns

Spring is definitely in the air, despite the smattering of snow we received today. The crocus and daffodils are in full force, the cherry blossoms are out on the trees . . .and the buzz of creativity is in the air. All this excitement has turned my thoughts towards new beginnings. New projects, new job . . . .new wardrobe, perhaps?

Here are a few new accessories to inspire the new look of spring:

Pink and mauve are two colors that whisper spring. Here they work together in a pair of pink pearl and mauve blister mother of pearl earrings (left). Delicate blue and pink crystals accent the look. How very sweet. How very spring

Another color that heralds spring is soft green. Here green is presented in a pair of amazonite jade earrings with Bali silver flower accents (right). 

Denim blue is a staple year round. A great pair of earrings to match with your favorite jeans are these Montana Austrian crystal and silver pave earrings (below left).  Or try these navy crystal and ribbed silver bead earrings with pale rose quartz (below right).

Just add a spring floral top and a light sweater, slip on your ballet flats and you're set. Perfect for a Saturday trip to the local market or brunching on a Sunday.

Why . . .

. . . can't laundry be this glamourous ?