Floral bounty

Oh dear…I am down and out with the worst cold I’ve had in years, plus a nasty work deadline and a ton of travel in the last few weeks. I do have lots of food to write about but it’s all on my camera and in lieu of finding the camera to upload the photos, I am going to show you pretty, pretty pictures of flowers.

And you’ll like it.

When I was home in Oregon a couple weeks ago (catching this cold) my mom and I visited a good friend who lives on a little farm a few miles outside of town. Linda is a fanatic gardener, especially of roses, and she took me on a garden tour that ended with the culling of more peonies than I’ve ever seen in my life. I filled all of her vases and still took home enough to fill my parents’ entire house. Witness:

The water lilies are blooming, and they should be grateful for the chance, since Linda wants to take out their high-maintenance pond home:

water lily

The gooseberries are ripening, in their magically glowy way:

gooseberry

It’s a bower:

wild rose

Our harvest (incomplete):

peonies

peony

We saw this man on our way home. That is a…dirt unicycle?

One of the many tagalongs I found in the flowers (one earwig managed to evade us until falling into a coffee cup the next day!!):

All arranged:

Linda also had 4-foot calla lilies, so I arranged some of those in the Orla Kiely pitcher I’d brought my mom:

Such ruffles:

If that isn’t luxury, I don’t know what is.

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As long as I’m posting greenery-themed photos, I took these in Rome for the darling Germinatrix, who loves overgrown buildings.

ivy covered

6 thoughts on “Floral bounty”

  1. LOOOOOOVVVE!

    You are so right, sweet Kate – if this isn’t luxury, what IS??? Those peonies are exquisite! And your arrangements are lovely! I especially love peonies in bud – I’m a sucker for flowers that look like perfect balls – like toys! Gorgeous! And the elegant calla lilies – super sexy!

    Your friend’s garden looks so beautiful – what a treat to hang out there.

    As for the draped houses – you know me SO WELL! J’adore! I rue the day when I have to take down my ivy to paint the house. Who needs a snazzy colored house anyway, when you have living creeping lushness climbing your walls? Plants everywhere, I say!

    XOXO!!!

  2. Kate, it was such fun to have you and your mom meandering through the garden with me. Thanks for not showing all the WEEDS and BLACKSPOT! Lilies are surviving still as I have been in the midst of haying season and out loading bales of hay to feed horses through the year. The pond remains murky and a conundrum…to keep or not to keep… Harvested a delicious bowlful of fresh peas for Father’s Day pasta dish. Fabulous! Recipe courtesy of Mama Bonamici.

    Warmest Regards!

  3. I’m gonna have to take you off my bookmarks bar…. you hardly ever post. So sorry, I like your writing but you’re not worth the effort if you aren’t there…… alas.
    adios.

  4. Judi – good riddance. Must have been quite a lot of effort to click on a mouse, let alone read some interesting posts. Didn’t you ever learn if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all?

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