Rose of Sharon

This spring, I planted a Rose of Sharon Bush.  It bloomed recently while I was in Kentucky.  My husband didn't join me in Kentucky for 3 weeks so I made him promise to take a picture of  my Rose of Sharon when it bloomed.

Hibiscus Syriacus - Rose of Sharon - Minerva
in my backyard August 2011

My Favorite Things - My Daylilies

My Favorite Things - My Giant Hibiscus

Yankee Boy Basin

One of our favorite places to go four-wheeling around Ouray, Colorado is Yankee Boy Basin.  It is an easy four-wheeling trail and is known for it's beautiful wildflowers.  It had been 10 years since I had seen the mountains from this trail and I was spell-bound by their majesty.  It had rained the night before & we left town around 8:00 am, so the weather was sunny and cool - and not very crowded with other four-wheelers (or the dreaded trail bikes & ATV's).  I kept jumping out of our little Blazer to hike up the road and get some good pictures.

to be continued...

to be continued...

Showers & Flowers

On Tuesday night we had a crazy thunderstorm & lots of nature's fireworks.  In the morning, I took these pictures of my yellow lilies (remember what happened to my red lily here).

Seriously!?!

This is a picture of my beautiful red lily last year after a rain shower.  I bought it at Kroger in Louisville, Ky in 2005 when we moved my daughter out there.

This is my beautiful red lily this year.  Either someone was over-zealous mowing the lawn or those little bunnies in our yard are getting awfully big!

Seriously!?!

It's a Picnic!

I recently found the coolest website for photo editing.  It's a Picnik.  Here are the pictures of my lilacs I posted last week and the changes I made...

 Original Photo

 Heat Map

60's 

Neon

Original Photo 

 Heat Map

 60's

Neon

Score!

When I was in North Carolina visiting my daughter in April, she took me to Trader's Joe's.  (I can hardly wait to go back to NC this summer when my husband & I will have our car so I can stock up at Trader Joe's).  But back to the point, my daughter found a beautiful orchid for $8 or $9.  I've been wanting another orchid, but I've been waiting until the price was right.  Yesterday, I was at King Soopers (Kroger's) and orchids were only $9.  They also had myriads of beautiful African violets for $1.25.

Lilacs

I planted my lilac bushes in 2002, but they have hardly ever bloomed.  Needless to say, I was thrilled this year when they bloomed vibrantly.  Unfortunately, I didn't take many pictures.  

Common Lilac

French Lilac

Spring Planting

I'm so excited because it is almost time for spring planting in Colorado. I bought some petunias, marigolds, geraniums, a bleeding heart and a columbine, but the thing I'm really excited about is my Minerva Rose of Sharon (hibiscus syriacus).  Here are pictures of what it will look like...

I can't wait for it to look like this!!!

My Favorite Things - When My Apple Tree Blooms

Peonies and Azaleas and Rhododendrons, Oh My...

 Duke Gardens, continued...

 

Here is a picture of my daughter and son-in-law.  The picture turned out blurry, but I thought it would be a perfect picture for my blog because, while it hides their identity, it shows their love for each other...

Asian Garden

 We arrived at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens around 1 pm on Sunday.  It was cloudy when we first arrived and the leaves and petals of flowers were still sprinkled with morning dew or raindrops from the night before...

 Peony

Azalea 

Rhododendron

Oh my, these flowers are sooooo beautiful!!!

Tulips

Here are some of the tulips I photographed at Duke Gardens...

Yes, it is a tulip!!  A fringed tulip.

Wisteria

I am currently visiting my youngest daughter and her husband who live in North Carolina.  Today we went to the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University.  All week long I will be posting pictures of the beautiful spring flowers I saw there.  Today I am posting pictures of wisteria.  In the Duke Gardens there is a beautiful gazebo with wisteria vines trailing up and over it...