[OT from cottage renovations]

What does one do for one's dear sister's birthday?
Give her flowers, of course.

These were taken out on the Circle and in the cottage garden while wishing you birthday greetings by (very) long distance 'phone.

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)

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[OT from cottage renovations]

November in the Grove is our time for the annual leaf crop harvest, or it would be if it had any market value ( Read more... )

[OT from cottage renovations]

the Grove's hostas often have variegated leaves, some of them quite spectacular.  give them enough time and the hydrangeas can often do nearly as well though only at end of life.

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)

Bittersweet Cottage garden

Monday's watery sunlight passing through the ( Read more... )

[OT from cottage renovations]

in the side yard there's a forsythia that often fumbles the seasonal transitions by flowering in the fall as well as in the spring.

one difference is the year's first blooms come before the leaves are out whereas the second round turns up when the leaves are going through the annual colour change.

(click through ( Read more... )

[OT from cottage renovations]

it didn't all of it fall on Baltimore: the Grove seems to have gotten its share of the rain too.

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)

Bittersweet Cottage garden

red poppies:  lush, gangly, downright outrageous. 
add water and the texture gets even better, worth revisiting ( Read more... )

[OT from cottage renovations]
[image crossposted to texture]

there's a reason this red poppy gets to be appreciated in situ ...

(click through this thumbnail for higher resolution image)

Bittersweet Cottage garden

... it stayed tight in its bud until two hours after the deadline for flower show submissions ( Read more... )

[OT from cottage renovations]

it's sad but inevitable that each season the Virginia bluebells get to the end of their run.

(click through this thumbnail for higher resolution image)

Bittersweet Cottage garden

the blossom falls away from the center stalk, leaving behind the makings of a seed pod. 

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[OT from cottage renovations]

the last few days of rain were preceded by a warm and sunny day.

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)

Bittersweet Cottage garden

morning light brings both shadow and texture to these dogwood blossoms.  the rear petal of the foreground blossom curves over it like a sail filled with wind.
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[OT from cottage renovations]

the Virginia bluebells are nearing the end of their run.  it's been a good year for them but not a great one; certainly they've done better in the past.

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)

Bittersweet Cottage garden

a couple of warm days and some hard rain seems to have been enough to ( Read more... )

[OT from cottage renovations]

the onset of a a couple of warm days in a row was what it took to get the hydrangeas to start leafing out, which of course they endavoured to do all at once.

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)

Bittersweet Cottage garden

the leaves first emerge from the bud as a tightly crinkled ( Read more... )