art + photography

all posts related to artwork I’ve created, or photography

Last Days of Summer

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blue bachelor's buttons flowers

I can’t believe that it’s already the last day of August..where did the summer go? I had so many projects I wanted to complete over the warm months, but between the humidity and the heat waves, that didn’t go exactly as planned. (I am working on a furniture refinishing project and have been getting up early in the morning to go and work on it outside before the sun heats up too much!)

We’re currently in one last, well, I hope it’s the last, burst of high temperatures. I am hopeful that when we turn the page to September, the weather will cool off a bit. It’s already starting to feel like the end of summer though; the sun sets earlier, the nights are chilly, the flowers are fading and we’re harvesting vegetables from the garden. There truly is a change in the air and the sunlight that signals the changing of the seasons…and I love it!

Here are some of the flowers from the month of August before it’s time to enjoy the fall leaves.

hydrangea flower blooms

bumblebee in a hollyhock flower

There were so many bumblebees on the hollyhock blooms, but as soon as I tried to take a picture of them, they all left, so this is the best I got. They must be camera shy!

pink hollyhock blooms with light striping

My mom grew so many lilies and they all had such abundant blooms this year!

light pink asiatic lily

orange tiger lily and white asiatic lily

broken heart double asiatic lily

orange and yellow sunflower and burgandy and orange daylily

white yarrow and pink blooming sedum

blue sea holly

blue and burgundy purple bachelors buttons blooms

Social Saturday | July 2 (More Flowers!)

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pink and orange lily blooms

And some more flowers today…the garden is in gorgeous colour right now. This is the first year that the plants are really starting to fill in and my mom has done a lovely job of staggered bloom times, so we’ve got even more flowers coming soon. We’ve also had a lovely summer so far with rain and sun, but not too hot, so the plants (and me!) are very happy.

And… that’s all I have to share for today, I hope you have a lovely weekend!

pink roses

pink roses with yellow flowers in the background

fuchsia rose bloom

white mock orange bloom with pink roses in the background

dark pink painted daisy

multi coloured pansies and white yarrow

purple blue siberian iris

Peonies in Bloom

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large pink peony blooms fading in colour around the edges

This is slowly and unintentionally turning into a flower blog…. there are just so many beautiful flowers in my mom’s garden all bursting into glorious colour, though, and I can’t resist indulging myself in taking tons of photos of them! And then, of course, cutting some of the blooms and bringing them indoors to enjoy. Peonies are probably my favourite flowers (if I had to choose just one), but the bad part about them is the bugs also love them. So, you always have to shake all of them off otherwise you inadvertently bring a million tiny beetles into the house. But that extra work is worth it, because they smell heavenly!

pink peony blooms, one cut and placed on a windowsill in a tiny vase

I love these dark pink ones, since they fade to light pink as they open. They are almost all gone now: short lived, but so enjoyable.

pink peony bloom from the side, dark pink fading to light pink at the tips

White peonies aren’t my favourite variety, but this variety with the dark magenta centre is so vibrant that I do enjoy them. They are difficult to take pictures of, though.

single white peony bloom opening with a dark magenta pink splash in the centre

a white pink peony bloom with a dark pink centre

We have several more peony blooms that haven’t opened yet- one new variety called “Raspberry Sundae” that I’m so excited to see. I’ll try to get some photos to post here…and then photos of all of the other flowers that are blooming right now too.

What flowers are blooming where you live? What is your favourite flower?

small pink peony bloom in various shades of pink

masses of pink peony blooms

a single peony bloom in a vase on a windowsill with a lace curtain

A One Day Bouquet

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lilac bouquet in a tiny bottle sitting on a windowsill with a lace curtain

Lilacs are one of those flowers that are best enjoyed outside on the hedge…but I just can’t resist cutting a bouquet to bring inside! Their large, bouncy blooms are perfect for creating wild, abundant bouquets.

light purple lilac blooms covering a hedge

If you cut lilacs and either smash the stems or cut them vertically, they are supposed to last longer, but I didn’t have much luck getting these to last more than a day. But, even if the blooms only last a day or two, it’s still worth it to enjoy their beautiful scent wafting through the house.

dark purple lilac blooms covering a hedge

And apparently the conditions were perfect this year for lilacs, because we got two full weeks of lovely, scented blooms to enjoy. And when the first bouquet wilted, I just went and cut another!

light purple lilac blooms framing an vine covered roof in the background

hedge row covered in light and dark purple lilac blooms

close up of a dark purple lilac bloom

Do you have lilac bushes, or access to some? Have you had any luck getting lilac bouquets to last longer?

lilac bouquet sitting on top of a bookshelf with a vintage mirror behind reflecting the blooms

bouquet of lilacs sitting on a bookshelf in front of a wall covered in vintage pictures

bouquet of lilacs sitting on top of an antique dresser with a mirror

lilac bouquet sitting on top of a dresser with beadboard in the background

lilac bouquet sitting on a dresser with a vintage hand mirror reflecting the blooms

White And Purple Tulips

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a bouquet of 5 white and 5 purple tulips in a milk glass hobnail vase

More tulips! ‘Tis the season for them, after all. They had them at the grocery store and we just couldn’t go home without a bunch. My mom and sister picked out these white and purple tulips because they were just barely starting to open..and they turned out to be perfect.

purple and white tulips on the first day just opening

tulip bouquet in front of a window with light shining through

These photos above were from the second day, when they were just starting to open.

tulip bouquet of white and purple flowers

They opened fully without shrivelling and they’ve lasted over a week now. I put a penny in the vase to see if it would encourage them to stand upright (considering what happened with my last bunch…) and it worked. The purple ones, in particular, are incredibly pretty; as they’ve aged the tips have turned blue.

purple tulip with blue tips on the edge

Tulips always put me in the mood for spring. It will be a while before any of our spring flowers start to bloom in our garden, but in the meantime we have these cut blooms to enjoy.

What is your favourite cut flower? Are you always tempted to bring home a bouquet when you see them at the grocery store?

purple and white tulip bouquet in a milk glass vase

white tulip fully open

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