Hellebores, February 8, 2016

The Hellebores have finally started blooming in my garden.  I'm presenting the first one today for In A Vase on Monday, to meet Cathy's challenge to find something in the garden to plonk in a vase on Monday.    Each flower is accompanied by buds for more flowers, so I only cut one flower, and I tried searing the stem in boiling water to seal in sap and keep the flower fresher longer but didn't notice much effect.  Here is the Hellebore in my small pinched vase, with some berries from the evergreen shrubby plant Pernettya mucronata, and sprigs of Vinca 'Wojo's Gem'.  

I also had a small lidded bowl I wanted to try them in-

I'm always impressed with the green ring of nectaries in the center of the Hellebore flower.  My Hellebores were pass-a-longs from a friend and come in a range from white to deep blackish purple, most with speckles on the petals as here.   They are one of the super adapted flowers for this climate since they are evergreen with leathery leaves, like the Pernettya, bloom at a time when little else is blooming, and self-sow to an amazing degree so have filled in an area well with many differently colored flowers.

Searing the flower stem didn't seem to help much with one flower, perhaps it would be more successful with a bigger stem but I don't like to cut the small buds as well to get a bigger stem.  So I'm enjoying the flowers outside for the most part.  So many have an early spring or winter bloom, so I'm happy to finally have some flowers!   Hannah

Today I am linking with- 

In a Vase on Monday hosted by Cathy

Today's Flowers hosted by Denise

Macro Monday 2 hosted by Gemma and Magical Mystical Teacher

I Heart Macro hosted by Laura

©Weeding on the Wild Side, all rights reserved.   I enjoy reading your comments, and will visit your blog and leave comments there if possible, but I am not able to do so if google + is the only option, unless you leave an URL to your blog or email address.

Orchids are Surreal, February 1, 2016

One of my favorite houseplants is a Phalaenopsis orchid.

Welcome to my blog, today I am linking with-

In a Vase on Monday hosted by Cathy

Today's Flowers hosted by Denise

Macro Monday 2 hosted by Gemma and Mystical Magical Teacher

I Heart Macro hosted by Laura

I get a lot of enjoyment from various houseplants that bloom several times a year.  One of these is a Phalaenopsis orchid given to my mother-in-law, so I think of her when it blooms.  I cut a flower for In a Vase on Monday, answering hostess Cathy's challenge to find something to put in a vase to brighten my house.  It has a very short stem so I placed it in a gold glass candle holder-

Then I tried adding a Cyclamen hederifolium leaf and some Lamium-

Then I tried some Hebe pinguifolia with silvery green foliage as well-

Orchid close-up-

The orchid has interestingly surreal flower parts, I see what looks like a tiny bird skull at the top of gaping jaws, what do you see?  I wonder what insect would be drawn to this?

My Hellebores have lots of buds so I'm looking forward to having some to cut soon.  What signs of spring are showing in your garden?    -Hannah

©Weeding on the Wild Side, all rights reserved.   I enjoy reading your comments, and will visit your blog and leave comments there if possible, but I am not able to do so if google + is the only option.  I would like to return your visit so leave an URL to your blog or email address.

A Day with the Grandkids, January 25, 2016

Welcome to my post, today I am linking with-

In a Vase on Monday hosted by Cathy, accept Cathy's challenge to find something to put in a vase on Monday

Today's flowers hosted by Denise

Saturday's Critters hosted by Eileen

Macro Monday 2 hosted by Gemma and Mystical Magical Teacher

I Heart Macro hosted by Laura

Today I spent the day babysitting my younger grandkids while the older kids were on a field trip to the state capitol, so I photographed my DIL's flower arrangement from a store, I don't know the names of all the flowers, but there is some silver dollar Eucalyptus, sprays of a small purple flower, orange daisy-type flowers, and orange Alstroemerias.  In the first photo is one of the Perler bead creations, which tend to be from Minecraft, that my grandkids are fascinated to create at present-

More Perler bead creations,

A fish, I think-

Their real Gourami fish, rather shy-

Their Silkie chickens, they look like Dr. Seuss chickens and are too bright to photograph well; they delight in each other's company-

Here is one when she was a chick, they actually have bluish-black skin and beaks, even bones, I've read-

Looking at the silkies makes me think of snow and snowdrifts, I hope the winter weather is treating you well.    -Hannah

©Weeding on the Wild Side, all rights reserved.   I enjoy reading your comments, and will visit your blog and leave comments there if possible, but I am not able to do so if google + is the only option.  I would like to return your visit so leave an URL to your blog or email address.

Bleak Midwinter Can't Stop the Flowers, January 18, 2015

I must beg your indulgence for the presentation of my flowers for In a Vase on Monday this week since I can't bear to cut them but must present them as they grow, where they last a long time.  I had never succeeded with African Violets before, but I inherited these from my Swedish Mother-In-Law, they were favorite plants for her she always had to grow.  I put them by my west-facing sliding glass door and to my surprise they got very lush and started flowering wonderfully.  Here they are in a milk glass stemmed goblet and with a vintage little Viceroy China plate for displaying delicacies, both also from my MIL, who collected many things over her 102 years.  We were her caregivers for her last 10 years so ended up with many of her things by default.  These turned out darker than I thought, thanks to white china glare.

A vase I did earlier for Cathy's In a Vase on Monday challenge to find something growing in my garden to put in a vase every week featured evergreen foliage from Lonicera nitida, which is a strong grower that likes to sucker and make a thicket.

The vase stuck around quite a while and I started to notice the Lonicera was sprouting out new leaves, so I pulled it out of the vase to find this-

I think it deserves to get planted.  What a grower!  Last week's little cup still looks good now, to my surprise, I used one of my favorite green rocks to hold down the stems-

After the holidays were over and I was putting decorations away, I realized I didn't make use of a glass mosaic candle hood, and tried it on a lamp of mine with this effect-

I miss the Cardinals of my childhood so I tend to collect them.  No live birds this week, but I hope you enjoy the dancing bird below.    -Hannah

Today I am linking with-

Today's Flowers hosted by Denise

In A Vase On Monday hosted by Cathy

Macro Monday 2 hosted by Gemma and Mystical Magical Teacher

I Heart Macro hosted by Laura

©Weeding on the Wild Side, all rights reserved.   I enjoy reading your comments, and will visit your blog and leave comments there if possible, but I am not able to do so if google + is the only option.  I would like to return your visit so leave an URL to your blog or email address.

Blue on Blue, January 11, 2016

Welcome to my blog, today I am linking with-

Today's Flowers hosted by Denise

Saturday's Critters hosted by Eileen

I'd Rather B' Birdin' hosted by Hootin' Anni

In a Vase on Monday hosted by Cathy

Macro Monday 2 hosted by Gemma and Magical Mystical Teacher

I Heart Macro hosted by Laura

The blue Steller's Jays have been showing up 5-6 strong lately.  They tend to run the smaller birds like Chickadees, Juncos, and Nuthatches off.

They like to hammer at the seeds to open them

Fancy feathers-

My little perennial seedlings have finally been getting transplanted.  Pulling the tiny plants apart without damaging the root systems is a delicate operation, but rewarding.   The pinkish color is my new red and blue LED plant light.  Here are Lunaria, 4-6" tall-

and Dahlia 'Harlequin'-

And for my In A Vase On Monday entry, looking high and low around the house for something to put in a vase this week, in pursuit of Cathy's challenge, I decided on a few of the flowers from my Polygonum capitatum (AKA Persicaria capitata) that I grew from seed.  It turned out to be marginally hardy here, so it lives in a large pot with a small lemon tree and trails over the pot.  I picked just a few since I enjoy their long-lasting little blooms and chevron marked leaves.

Here the tiny flowers are displayed in a petite demitasse teacup in a blue onion type pattern by Blue Danube, for the pinkish photos I used an added lens cover that was tinted, marked FLD, I like the colors-

I'm not a pottery expert but I suppose it is copying the matching Hutschen Reuther teapot-

We bought the teapot on a trip I and The Motorcyclist took to Europe BC (before children), where he purchased a BMW motorcycle in Bavaria, Munchen, and we rode it up through Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, and to The Motorcyclist's uncle's house in Sweden, north of Stockholm, where the sun only kind of gets a little dark between 11pm and 1am.  I have always wished we could have gotten to Paris on the way up but we didn't make it.  But the trip was also complicated by having to get required servicing when breaking in a new motorcycle, and it was very difficult to find a shop that could do the maintenance on a moment's notice.  We did manage to take a large suitcase on the trip and bought a number of collectibles, toured castles, observed how different countries mowed and baled hay, ate lovely pastries and wonderful little scoops of German ices, swam in the Bodensee at night looking at statues, and met my husband's Swedish cousins.

And now a few of the vases I posted last year for In a Vase on Monday-

Crystal vase-

my ceramic vase-

ceramic vase and chicken-

mosaic glass vase-

 Vase from my MIL-

 My ceramic vase and Mexican box-

Red mosaic glass vase-

Iridescent mosaic glass vase-

My ceramic vase-

What are you planning for your garden next summer?    -Hannah

©Weeding on the Wild Side, all rights reserved.   I enjoy reading your comments, and will visit your blog and leave comments there if possible, but I am not able to do so if google + is the only option.  I would like to return your visit so leave an URL to your blog or email address.

Happy New Year- Snow! January 3, 2016

The surprise this morning is the first snowfall of the current fall-winter seasons.  In view out the back window, huddled under a tree-

Today I am linking with-

Today's flowers hosted by Denise

Saturday's Critters hosted by Eileen

I'd Rather B' Birdin' hosted by Hootin' Anni'

In a Vase on Monday hosted by Cathy

I Heart Macro hosted by Laura

Macro Monday 2 hosted by Gemma and Mystical Magical Teacher

A rarely-sighted bird visited for some seed last week, a Varied Thrush, Ixoreus naevius, what a name.  Pardon the window glare.  Similar in size to an American robin, and with my favorite rusty peach and bluish grey coloring-

Last year I enjoyed a new bloghop that added a new dimension to my gardening, a challenge by Cathy of Rambling in the Garden to go looking for flowers and foliage to put in a vase.  For this Monday, I looked outside and found some Nandina berries still clinging to the icy bloom stalks, and stuck them in some snow in an iridescent bowl and horse set I inherited from my Swedish Mother-in-Law.

I'm also featuring a sampling of my vases from last year, and more next week-

Daughter's teapot

My pinched vase

Mt. St. Helen's ash ball-

Blue glass vase-

Antique globe with my DIL's pottery cup-

My handmade slab vase-

My handmade slab pinched vase-

Glass swirled knobby vase-

My handmade slab pinched vase-

My winter gardening activites are planting seeds under lights for flowers I want to grow next year, hoping at least some will bloom this year, though some may wait until next year to bloom.  Gaillardias, Platycodon, Dahlias, 

Lunaria, getting the biggest fastest and needing transplanting soon-

Streptocarpus- what a surprise to see a few smaller than 1 mm, plus Asters, Echinacea, and Salvia-

I have 3 shelf set-ups for starting seedlings, they are made from 3-shelf metal units which hold 4 standard 10 x 20" nursery flats.  I suspend 4' fluorescent light fixtures from the top and middle shelf,  and the seedlings can grow about 11" until they hit the lights.  The nursery flats each hold rows of 4 x 9 rose pots which are 2.25" square, = 36 plants x 4 flats= 144 plants per shelf unit x 3 units = potentially 432 seedlings.  I don't want to start that many plants, but in a couple of past years I have actually needed all the shelves plus had overflow.  If I transplant to 4" pots the flat holds fewer plants.

I hope you had a fun and meaningful New Year's Eve, I spent the evening with my 5 local grandkids and niece's family with one great-niece, and then went home before midnight to see the New Year in with the Motorcyclist.  -Hannah

My wish for the New Year-

©Weeding on the Wild Side, all rights reserved.   I enjoy reading your comments, and will visit your blog and leave comments there if possible, but I am not able to do so if google + is the only option.  I would like to return your visit so leave an URL to your blog or email address.