Tag: #Fandango’s One Word Challenge

Plants – Fragrance in Winter

On By TimelessladyIn Plants20 Comments

Brightly hued-flowers surround me at any venue I visit this time of year. I love them but also enjoy the simplicity of Paperwhite blooms. The fragrance is authentic Spring at the beginning of Winter. The flowers are small, the size of a half-dollar, but they have a strong and resilient scent. Mine have been blooming for several days and they still are very fragrant.

The Paperwhites are my entry into Cee’s Flower of the Day challenge.

It is gratifying that all the work involved in forcing the bulb was done for me. I purchased the plant already growing, near bloom, and anchored in a sturdy bulb vase. My responsibility has been nothing more than enjoying the beautiful scent.

In another room, I have a Hyacinth bulb beginning to grow. I have done some tweaking to bring this flower into bloom. In early September I bought the bulbs. There are five in all, and I placed them in their package in my refrigerator produce drawer. When I put the bulb in a vase with the water level just touching the bottom, the roots quickly began to grow. I’ll update the blog when the plant blooms.

Whatsoever is lovely in my life this week is flowers blooming in November, filling my home with sweet fragrance.

Writers have written many an eloquent word and quote about the beauty of fragrant flowers, and although the quote below doesn’t specifically mention fragrance, I like the image it suggests. How fragrant life would be if we looked at the whole world as a garden.

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.” — Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

Phlowers & Quote – Roses and Emerson

On By TimelessladyIn Phlowers, Quote23 Comments

Sometimes, much like today, I need to focus momentarily on something simple and beautiful, and set aside every nuance that might darken my day. Ralph Waldo Emerson’s quote, this flower, both do me good during a day of running around, cleaning, and cooking. God bless you all on Thanksgiving Eve.

The roses are a mirage of my memory now. Photographed a few years ago in the Longwood Conservatory, the rose hall has been torn down and is being replaced by a new, more modern structure. I will miss walking alongside the beautiful bushes, and hope rebuilding will not be a protracted project.

My roses are part of Cee’s Flower of the Day.

Planting – Putting the Garden to Bed – The Butterfly House

On By TimelessladyIn Planting4 Comments

We had a hard freeze last night. The white frosting was still visible on the zinnias after the sun came up. It’s time to put the garden to bed.

The hardiest butterflies were cabbage whites and the skippers, but even those are gone now. Hopefully, the offspring they left behind are in their chrysalises over-wintering in sheltered spots.

Ten Black Swallowtail caterpillars, within the butterfly house, formed their chrysalis in late summer.  We had a couple cold nights in August and this set off diapause, a state of hibernation, in the butterflies. Three of the caterpillars formed their chrysalis on objects within the butterfly house. Seven of them formed on the screening. Those who chose the screens were easy. I checked on them, tied a string to the top, and hung them from the garage ceiling, quite an exclusive high-rise to rest in for the winter. They are far enough up that they would be hard to find by a wandering rodent. When it rains I will climb a ladder and spray a little bit of misty water into the house to mimic what’s going on outdoors.

Three of the caterpillars formed their chrysalis on other items. Two of them on a piece of landscaping stone I had at the bottom of the house to keep it secure when storms struck.

The other formed on a stem. These also need to be in the garage but must have some kind of protective covering. Recently, in the grocery store, I picked up several mesh bags sold for fruit; the perfect solution. I placed them around the objects holding the chrysalis and put them on a garage shelf for the winter. 

The raising of butterflies has never become commonplace to me. I enjoy seeing the butterfly house hanging in the garage. It reminds me Spring will come again and hopefully a bevy of butterflies will emerge.

“Butterflies that go through diapause enter into a hibernation-like state, where physiological processes are suspended. After adverse weather conditions clear, they will come out of this state of suspended animation and return to normal functioning.”

Bugs Under Glass

Phlowers – Six on Saturday/Longwood Conservatory Winter

On By TimelessladyIn Phlowers16 Comments

Here’s a sampling of the hanging baskets in the Longwood Gardens Conservatory yesterday. It’s hard to capture the size/scale of the flower baskets. To say they are large is an understatement.

Some of the plants are: Cape-primrose (Streptocarpus), Anthuriums, Cinnamon-Wattle Acacia, Bromeliads.

My favorite walk was along the acacia passage. The Cinnamon-Wattle acacias were in bloom. The fragrance was incredible. There was definitely a feeling of enchantment present as we gazed down the corridor. Periwinkle is one of my favorite colors, and the combination of the streptocarpus with the soft yellow of the acacia was stunning. The streptocarpus are part of Cee’s Flower of the Day.

I also had some moments of inspiration. I don’t know if this is a hanging basket of some type for displaying flowers, a light fixture, or something totally unique to my imagination. I am determined to create better hanging basket arrangements this year for the porch and outdoors and this will be my artistic muse for the project.

As we walked within the walls the soft winter sun outdoors illuminated everything inside with a glow of Royal Silver. I wish I could somehow capture and copy the indescribable atmosphere in a watercolor painting.

Here’s a silly self-portrait of us in the conservatory; a visual description of our joy. It’s a little distorted, the mirror had a funhouse quality, but it still captured our happiness in being in a place filled with flowers and fragrance.

Phlower – Crown of Thorns

On By TimelessladyIn Phlowers2 Comments

I love the soft pink of these dime-sized blooms on my Crown of Thorns, the color almost a copy of cotton candy. The plant lives outdoors on the screened-in porch for five months of the year. Through the Autumn and Winter it delights me with flowers when everything outdoors is dormant. No coddling needed, the plant is easy to grow and maintain. This beautiful flower is part of Cee’s Flower of the Day.

Phlowers – Camellia Blossoms

On By TimelessladyIn Phlowers, Photo Challenge at Wordpress11 Comments

Camellia flowers – what a perfect way to start the week. Cee, host of Cee’s Flower of the Day Challenge, posted a beautiful camellia today. Inspired by her photograph, I looked through my flower files and found a few vibrant Camellia photos taken in the Longwood Gardens Conservatory. Nothing banishes winter blues quite as well as the indelible hope and beauty of flowers in bloom.

Even the buds are beautiful.

What’s better than a perfect Camellia blossom? Why, two of course.

Planting – Winter Sowing in Photographs

On By TimelessladyIn Planting14 Comments

Imagine growing hundreds of seedlings for your garden without the need to tend them indoors. It’s almost like magic! Winter Sowing is the answer to hands-off seedling success. I’m illustrating my steps to winter sowing with step by step photos. You can find amazing articles throughout the web and videos on Youtube if you need more information. I noticed there is even a Facebook group for Winter Sowing now. Today, I sowed and put my first container outdoors for the 2019 growing season. I planted beets from a dollar store packet that only cost 25 cents. I thickly sowed the seeds to take advantage of both greens and beets. Today in the supermarket one large beet was considered a bunch and was selling for $3.49. Outrageous! Winter Sowing is the brainchild of Trudi Davidoff. Detailed information and links on beginning winter sowing can be found here: Winter Sown

I’ve saved milk cartons in the basement for months.

Begin by inserting a paring knife into the carton 3-4 inches from the bottom, near the handle.

After I make a small slit with the paring knife I cut around the bottom with scissors.

Stop before you cut all the way through, leaving a bit of carton near the handle to join the top and bottom. This makes taping the carton shut easier.

I place the bottom of the carton in my kitchen sink over the drain. I push my paring knife through the carton bottom in four spaced out spots.

I insert the scissors in the slits and twist. This creates four large drainage holes. In the past I used a hot screw driver to make holes, but this process is easier and you don’t inhale toxic fumes from the melting plastic.

I fill the bottom of the carton with 1 1/2 inches of sterile organic potting soil. On top of the potting soil I add an equal amount of organic seed starter soil.

I water this until it is soaked and then let it fully drain.

I sow my seeds and cover with a thin layer of seed starter. If I keep the top layer very thin it will usually wick up water from the layer of seed starter soil beneath it.

I label the top with permanent marker. I have to keep a close eye on the labeling. The letters will fade in just weeks. It’s vital to reapply the marker when the letters lighten or I’ll be guessing as to which seedling is what. Tape the edges together with duct tape and place outside in a sunny spot. The wet soil in the carton bottom has always kept my cartons grounded, even in windy winter weather. I will remove the cap later today or the seeds might become too hot in warmer weather. I usually don’t quit my winter sowing madness until every spare milk carton is filled. You can find lists of which plants do best started this way on the Winter Sowing site. Happy Gardening!

Perspective – Restorative Power!

On By TimelessladyIn Perspective5 Comments

Saint Francis Xavier Church was founded by Father Thomas Mansell, S.J. in 1704. It is one of the earliest Catholic establishments in the English Colonies and is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

History of St. Francis Xavier Shrine (Old Bohemia) Years ago, before the age of digital cameras, my husband and I drove around Cecil County, Maryland. We came upon a beautiful church unawares. I was struck by its beauty and took a snapshot with my camera. The photo above is a digital copy of the beautiful moment I captured.

The Old Bohemia Church was built in 1792. The church was established in 1704 to battle the repression of Catholicism in the English Colonies. In 1953, a group formed to renovate and restore the building. To me, the coming together of three such separate denominations is a testament of what Christianity should represent.

In 1953, the Old Bohemia Historical Society was formed by a Catholic, a Quaker and a Methodist who purchased the property’s core 120 acres with the goal to restore and maintain the historic site. Since that time, members have worked to bring the property back to its original state.

The month of October for me was a month without church. Between vacation and a dental surgery I missed every Sunday at my place of worship. This past weekend I was once again worshipping with the members in our church. When we entered we were greeted with the sight of almost every seat taken in the sanctuary. Hallelujah, what a blessed sight. We made our way to the balcony where there was still room, and I said to my husband, ‘It’s a full house today.’ When I left I felt uplifted and full of joy…I had been where I belonged on Sunday morning…in God’s house.

Yesterday I visited the blog ‘Tales From the Mama Duck.’ She perfectly put into words exactly how I felt on Sunday about the restorative power of church attendance. Here’s a quote and a link to her amazing post. ‘I Didn’t Want to Leave Church on Sunday.’

“Church is not a social gathering for me. Sure, it provides fellowship, but more intimate relationships are experienced in small groups. Church service is restorative. After six days in the world, I need a reprieve from the depravity, the images, the diseases, disappointments, and this Babylonian culture.” ~ Tales From Mama Duck

“He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” ~ Psalm 23:3