Monday, March 31, 2008

A Weekend in the Garden

Hello everyone! I was able to spend quite a bit of time getting my gardens ready for spring this weekend. I thought I would share some pictures with you...

Columbine
The first bloom of columbine.

Columbine

Fern
A fern pushing its way up.

Water lilies
There are a few tiny lily pads in my watergarden, but they haven't turned green yet.

Wisteria
The beginnings of a wisteria bloom.

Bleeding hearts
I can't help but share another picture of my bleeding hearts. :0)

Pansies
Since the weather is warming up, the pansies won't last much longer. I picked the best ones to press.

Leaves
I also pressed fern, columbine and ivy leaves.

Phone Book
The easiest way is to put them between napkins or paper towel and place in the pages of a phone book for a few weeks.

Thank you for looking at my spring flowers! I hope you all have a wonderful Monday. It's the last day of March, is it coming in like a lion or lamb at your house?

42 comments:

Dianna said...

Lovely!

We're getting a roaring wind here to bring in April.

Quinne said...

Hi Kelli :) They are pretty! I am so glad you had some garden time this wknd.

Sending hugs for a lovely new week! Love, Q

Debbie said...

Your garden pics are lovely. I thought about your bleeding heart pic Thursday as I strolled though the garden center. *smile* It is beautiful!

Cathy said...

Hi, Kelli, Don't you just love seeing everything coming up. Your flowers are very pretty. It is very cold here right now, but not freezing I hope.

Kerri said...

Kelli, Your pictures make me excited to get started in my garden. It's still under 5 feet of snow though :o I guess March will be going out like a lion here, we are expecting some rain/snow storms. Have a wonderful day. Kerri

Jen said...

The weather here is just not warm warm yet. Maybe next weekend......Madison has one more week before spring break. We are not going anywhere so I'm trying to think of fun things to do around town.

Tracy said...

WOW! Your spring has really sprung!

Just a tip for other readers after looking at your photos: if they use an embossed napkin such as you have with a flower such as a pansy, the dried flower will have that design. It's better to use a plain napkin or paper towel.

Unknown said...

We are expecting 4-8 inches of snow today! Ugh... I love your pics... I can't wait to get dirty!

Unknown said...

Your flowers are so pretty. Spring has sprung it seems! At least in the south.

Well, it is definitely lamb-like around here. We have had incredibly beautiful weather in this area for a week. Just lovely!

Rebecca said...

SOOOO pretty! Such a welcome sight! I really can't wait until the weather outside is warm enough to have flowers growing. We haven't even seen any daffodils yet! Meanwhile, I can live vicariously through you! :-)

dot said...

Hi Kelli! I think it's like a lamb here altho it does look like it might rain.
Your flowers are so pretty!!

Cris said...

I can never get tired of bleeding hearts Kelli! Your garden is lovely, it must feel so much peace walking through it and taking care of those beautiful flowers. I love gardening and can't wait to move to a place where I can just take time to enjoy these wonderful gifts from God to us!

Karen said...

Oh so pretty, Kelli! I miss my wisteria bush. We cut it down when we moved 11 years ago, and I wish we still had it. It always smelled so good!

Tabitha Ashley said...

Beautiful!! I've added you to my favorites so I can stop back in. Thanks for blessing my day.

Susie said...

Hi Kelli!
I've been catching up with you here. I love the pictures of your garden and seeing your wonderful yard sale find that you shared for Show N Tell. I do miss joining in, but know you that you understand how difficult the last few months have been.
Hope to have something to share in a couple of weeks.
I'm so glad that you had a wonderful Easter celebration. Your posts are always so delightful to read.
love and hugs!

Unknown said...

What beautiful photos! I bet it is so nice to have such an early Spring! It snowed all last night and has covered our world with a blanket of white. I am ready for Spring and green - and planting my own garden! Again, lovely photos!!! :) Have a beautiful day today!

Anna said...

You have me drooling now. Such beauty sprouting. What a gorgeous garden.

Needled Mom said...

I love the columbine. All of the flowers look so bright and pretty. It's a great idea to press and save them.

Our March is going out like a lamb - warm and sunny. It doesn't sound like that for the rest of the country.

Lora @ my blessed life said...

What a pretty garden! This weekend I also posted some pics of the beautiful things blooming out in our yard.
We are having a lovely *lamb* day here. I'm so glad April is practically here!

Anonymous said...

Lovely flowers !!! I especially love the pansies and the lemon coloured columbine, thanks so much for sharing !!!

Dianne said...

Thanks for showing your flowers, they are simply beautiful. I love it in the Spring when everything starts to bloom and grow!

GranthamLynn said...

Oh it promises to be such a pretty garden. It was pretty chilly here all weekend. But I did manage to find potato vine I was looking for for that front porch diaster. I looks promising now. Hopefully I'll be able to post a new and improved porch soon. Keep sharing your lovely home and garden with the rest of us that are still needing some help. Blessed Monday.
Sherry

TJ said...

These are just beautiful Kelli! I love Columbines, and hope that some of mine have survived the BigDumbDog.

It's a lion here. After beautiful spring weather, we were hit with snow and record cold temps. We are expected to warm up by week's end. Glad you are enjoying the warm weather.

Anonymous said...

It is calm now but supposed to be very windy and stormy tonight. Loved seeing your garden pictures. We have lots of wisteia across the street and they are so pretty. I am just working on getting flowers planted. Billy planted some new azalea bushes and they are so pretty. have a blessed week. Stopping by your blog is like taking a refreshing break.

Julie said...

Humm - I used to press flowers but became frustrated when they would lose their color after about a year.

Charlotte said...

Love the flowers - especially the pansies. I still have some tupperware pieces full of silica gel (I think that was what it was called. It's been so long since I dried flowers I can't recall for sure.) Anyway, when I lived in California I dried a lot of roses that way. It has been stored in our garage for the last 18 years. My husband asks me periodically if I want to get rid of it (when he cleans up the garage.) I always say "No. I might use it again some day." It was a fun thing to do.

Kimberly said...

*s*n*o*w*i*n*g*

Jennifer said...

ha! it's coming in like a WET lion right now :o)

I love your flowers! I spent the later part of the week in my flower garden as well. It just makes spring all the more desirable.

Unknown said...

So lovely Kelli. We still have snow and cold. I keep sneaking peaks but no green yet.

God bless.

the said...

I wish my bleeding hearts were coming up! Actually, they are coming up but no flowers yet. The snow is keeping them away for now:(
Thanks for sharing the pics, they are very pretty!
Stephanie

Unknown said...

Hi Kelly. I haven't been around much due to all the loss in our family. I want to thank you for your thoughts and prayers to our recent loss of our beloved Scampy. Thank you so much for that. It is and will be a healing process for the kids indeed. I wrote a story on Blurb and had my little child's book published through them about Spring Forgotten. we still have snow here in Washington !!!! Come by and check it out if you have a moment. Blessings. Mica

Sandra said...

Everything is so beautiful Kelli :)

Hugs,
Sandra

Missy said...

lovely garden! thanks for sharing. my husband loves bleeding hearts....they are his grandmother's favorite. she's in her mid nineties :)

blessings,
missy

Anonymous said...

The flowers are so pretty. I have started some garden work also.

Mel said...

Lovely! I like your idea of pressing them in a phonebook, easy peasy! I may have to try that. March is going out like a lion, which makes sense since it came in like a little lamb. It is very cold and it snowed today, still is.

Unknown said...

Beautiful! We had some gorgeous bleeding hearts at our former home. I should plant some here huh? I just love them. Thanks for the inspiration.

A Hint of Home said...

Your flowers are beautiful. We are having several days of rain here in the Carolinas. Our pansies are very pretty at this time but our Bermuda grass is still quite dormant.

Just Mom said...

Beautiful, Kelli. We still have some snow on the ground after our snow storm Monday. Can't wait for Spring to really begin.

Farrah said...

Oooh! I hope we will start getting spring weather soon so I can go out and look for signs of growth! We still have snow!

When I was a child, someone showed me how you can pull off a bleeding heart bloom, turn it upside down, and pull the two petals a little apart from each other. It looks like a lady in a tub! I thought that was neat!

Mary said...

Kelli,

I love ALL of the flowers. We won't see these type of blooms here for quite a while. However, my tulips are about 3 inches high and should bloom sometime in April.

Thanks so much for sharing. Bleeding heart is one of my favorites.

Blessings,
Mary

Heather Anne said...

Kelli- your lovely garden pictures give me hope - we are about a month behind you, but things are coming up slowly! We hit the 50's today temp wise and the children we delighted! I went out for a bit to weed - yes, they dandelions are coming along just beautifully! It was so fun to be playing in the dirt, but I'm so stuffed up that I couldn't enjoy that wonderful earthly smell ... maybe by the weekend I'll have my sense of smell back - I hope so!
Thank you for sharing your pretties - I would love to spend an afternoon in your garden with you!

Anita said...

Ohhhh, your columbines and your bleeding heart are already in bloom, I can hardly believe it! Mother Nature seems to be at least one step ahead in Texas! The weather has been so cold and rainy over here since Easter, what a pity!

Take care!
XoX, Anita