I would say that my garden is nearing its peak for the entire year. Which is exciting and kinda sad at the same time. I'm always torn between cutting the flowers and leaving them on the plant. But I know that cutting them encourages more blooms - so cutting wins.
My allergies are also right there. This bouquet will not be able to stay in the house for long. The scent is overwhelming and I start sneezing.
It always amazes me what a vase of flowers can do for a room, so chic. And don't even get me started on the classic but simple power of blue and white.
The Hawthorne is going strong too. My goodness these branches last a long time indoors. What's blooming in your neighborhood? It seems like everywhere I go everything is going crazy. It's all so beautiful and sweet. x
Your roses are stunning! Nothing blooming here, the polar vortex came back and we have snow, quite a bit actually. The sun was out today though so I'm not complaining, I do like the cold, good thing or I'd go mad. I'm planning my garden for the summer too which is exciting, I'm growing garlic this year in my herb garden, along with lots of other things, some normal some weird. Always a good mix I think.
ReplyDeleteLove your posts Janet and how right you are about blue and white. XO
What's blooming in our neighborhood? Not a blasted thing. Had three inches of snow yesterday and it is 30 degrees today. Do I sound cranky? You bet. Actually, the trees had begun to bud and I was ecstatic, but back to square one. Leaving Thursday for a trip south. Thank God!
ReplyDeleteSo lush, so disciplined, all at once.
ReplyDeleteJanet- I simply adore the simplicity and beauty of your cozy home. Blue & white has always been a favorite of mine. Couldn't agree more that fresh flowers always add a freshness to any room. Love those blue & white ginger jars on your desk- I have searching high & low for a pair for some time now. Thanks for posting these lovely posts- they literally make my day!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful roses and I love your blue and white accents....spring has sprung here and we have tulips and fawn lilies and lilacs. More to come in the following months. May is our garden month as the roses bloom and everything seems to be blooming at the same time.
ReplyDeleteSorry that your allergies are acting up...your garden and home are such an oasis of elegance.
An oasis of elegance. What perfect words!
DeleteThe biggest mistake the Robert Redford/Great Gatsby debacle made was fumbling the scene where Gatsby sent over a battalion of flowers to narrator Nick Carraway's humble abode in preparation of re-introducing himself to Daisy. That scene could have been so beautiful and romantic if they only had your touch of showing how flowers can enhance a room like nothing else.
ReplyDeletemy seduction roses are blooming and I am still getting a few gardenia blooms and my geraniums look beautiful. I hardly garden these days though which is a shame. I am too busy elsewhere! Your home looks gorgeous. x
ReplyDeleteI planted 100 daffodil bulbs a few years ago and they have multiplied like mad and I've so enjoyed clipping them this spring. Arranging flowers (and baking bread) on Friday morning is my favorite time of the week. Your house is looking fresh and light. Sorry you have allergies. That's supremely annoying. Also I've been employing your CL tip about cutting branches. What a great tip for this time of year that is. Oooh. Also I took 1/4 trunk full of stuff to goodwill today. I'm practically a minimalist!
ReplyDeleteStephen, if only I could insert all the laugh ~ crying emojis right {here}.
DeletePractically a minimalist...my favorite thing I have heard all day!
The roses have been unbelievable this past couple of weeks, I can hardly keep myself from snatching them from my neighbors' yards :)
ReplyDeleteJust gorgeous
ReplyDeleteNot so much blooming here in eastern PA either. Some of my daffodils are coming up & I'm anxiously watching the redbuds to see if I will get any blooms on these new trees this year. I love all the seasons, but get so anxious for spring. Some trees are starting to bud or bloom, but not much in flowers yet. But I just love seeing the fresh green starting in the yards, fields & tips of trees...sometimes as beautiful as blooms.
ReplyDeleteAnita - the cabin on the creek
It's lovely dear!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.hogmu.com/
Here in the Fraser Valley in B.C., tulips are blooming and our rhododendrons are starting. We have 54 rhodos, so it is quite the show when most of them are in bloom! My roses are looking well ( except for hosting a bunch of troublemaking aphids) but they are a little ways from budding, never mind blooming. I just love spring! Your roses are exquisite.
ReplyDeleteNot much blooming here yet (although my Ranunculus are on the way!). I shall enjoy yours and of course, a glimpse of your stylish abode! xxx
ReplyDeleteOur gardens are so confused here. It's autumn and the leaves are turning red and yellow. But today the temperature reached 31C. My tomato vines have collapsed and are turning brown. The miniature gardenias have begun blooming again. We picked our last cucumber from a dying vine about 5 days ago. It was delish. But sad. While the soil is still so warm we're planting a couple of plum trees tomorrow with lots of goodies to build up the terrible Canberra clay. Fingers crossed all goes well.
ReplyDeleteYour roses are heavenly, Janet. So sorry they give you hay fever. G has the same problem. He doesn't like flowers in the house for the same reason. Such a shame. Pammie x
I'm loving my abundant rose bushes right now. The yellow ones are the most vigorous. Like you, I am blessed with some really old roses; magenta ones grafted from my grandparents' in L.A., from like 1916-17; precious to me; a hundred years old.
ReplyDeleteWe just planted a lot of veggies and herbs (can't wait for the apple mint and chocolate mint; the smell of basil and rosemary is intoxicating); hard to believe, but we have volunteer tomato plants and squash coming up, when we didn't even have a good yield from them last year. I just potted a bunch of colorful zinnias and gerbera daisies. The zinnias are actually planted in an old wheelbarrow from the 1930s which belonged to my great-uncle. I also potted, in plain 'ol terra cotta (clay, unglazed) pots (still my fave, always), numerous pink geraniums that I got on major discount because they were wilted and going to be dumped at a local chain store (whose garden center isn't too successful; they just don't employ people who know how to take care of plants). The clay pots were easy; I'm using the same ones I've used for years; some were my mom's. Not too many cracks in the clay, which is amazing considering how old some of my motley collection of pots are!
My husband had planted tons of bulbs, so we also have iris and a lot of daffodils although the tulips have gotten fried in the Southern Calif heat. Callas (white lilies) have been gorgeous for weeks; they're age 60 and such a treat at Eastertime. My lemon verbena isn't doing so well, but my hillside Copper Canyon daisy (yellow) is going crazy. Baby-blue ceonothus (California lilac) is just stunning in my yard right now. Hibiscus, not so much; I don't know why. Also, conventional/spreading 'ice plant' is alive with colorful orange, red and dark-pink flowers on our back slope. You can't beat ice plant; it's so drought-resistant and hugs the dirt so that it doesn't slide.
We are so used to being a colorless, scentless, dry-dead-brown moonscape in multiple years of water-deprived Southern Calif that I think we don't know what to do with all this new color! So much growth, even in vacant lots and the near foothills (I've recently felt real joy with seeing the return of blue lupine and poppies; even mustard scattered here and there; so great to have wildflowers again!). Not enough rain to break the drought, but enough to change our landscape for the better in Spring '16. Just looking at the green hills/mountains against the blue sky is such a daily treat. Enjoying it while it lasts. We've been back on water restriction for awhile now. Home gardening gets a little tricky with water usage; have to be very careful with consumption.
Thanks for all the recent posts, Janet. Wishing you continued healing and peace. I know your garden gives you contentment. It's always so lovely. I feel lucky I have some moderate amount of gardenspace where I can get out and tune up my senses.
Another local garden store has been swamped with people lately, every time I go in there. They had a big 3-day blowout sale of soils...those huge sacks...and they sold out the first day, which completely shocked them. But, you know, you can basically grow a tomato in a pot or stick it in the tiniest amount of ground, so there's no reason not to grow a wee bit of your own food; organic and fun. We have good luck and bad luck with gardening, but we still always do it. I know someone who lives in a small apartment with virtually no gardenspace and instead a patch of concrete patio but she still grows a lemon tree in a container! And berries in a wood container box!
DeleteWhat's been also nice to see in daily travels are the flowering ornamentals, like pear trees. I can't imagine how wonderful it must be to be in other parts of the country where the cherry trees may be blooming by now. It must be a glorious sight! Soon, we'll have our jacaranda trees exploding in blue-purple everywhere. I always look forward to it!
And a few weeks back, wasn't it incredible to smell all the citrus blossoms, Janet? Evening comes on and, yes, the sneezes but, oh, those orange blossoms!
And what I'm REALLY looking forward to is the prospect of rain for the next 5 or 6 days; it is looking promising, so I'll keep checking in with the weather service. (How can it be, when we're so hot and windy today? It's heading toward noon here and already 93 degrees [f]...and I'm northwest of you, so I can't imagine how hot you must be right now in Redlands! I really didn't think we'd get April showers in SoCalif but maybe, yes, we will...and it will be so, so good for all the new spring gardens! A real boost...
I live in Southern California and like yours my garden is amazing right now...so much is happening that it is a bit over whelming. And this weekend we are supposed to have more rain. Hooray!!!
ReplyDeleteI love your roses. sorry to hear you suffer from seasonal allergies. My husband and one of our sons does, too. It prohibits lilacs from coming inside. Which is a shame! Thank goodness peonies are okay. I, too planted 100 daffodil bulbs years ago and they are going strong. It was a mixed assortment and I have found the variety is wonderful. It is quite cold still in IL these days, but tiny leaves are pushing through nonetheless. Happy Spring!
ReplyDeleteJanet, I was a friend of Melinda in North Carolina. Would love to talk to you. Please contact me. dkincade@ec.rr.com
ReplyDeleteHere at the Jersey Shore we are enjoying the daffodils and tulips as well as Japanese quince, cherry and plum trees blooming. Spring has come about 4 weeks early! Looks like the lilacs will bloom next week (usually they bloom right in time for Mother's Day) so spring is definitely early this year. Would love to see MORE of your garden. Maybe you can put Baby Lily in some of the pictures! Bet she is growing cuter and cuter every day!
ReplyDeleteWe are behind YOU my GARDEN should POP in another week!I agree to CUT or to remain on the plant........it is VERY hard for me to CUT!I too have had ALLERGIES this year like NEVER Before............I bought some daffodils this year at Trader Joe's to put beside my computer.........I had to REMOVE THEM!!! I find that HORRIFYING!Afraid I will be allergic to the garden as well this year.........I have close to three hundred roses and jasmine and mock orange.......all HEAVY BLOOMERS!
ReplyDeleteWHAT ARE WE SUPPOSE TO DO?
ANY ADVISE for the GAL who LOVES to wander and PUTZ in her garden??
XX
Your photographs, as always, are lovely and I really like the pink branches in the blue pots in the last photograph. Absolutely stunning! Here in The Netherlands it is still a bit cold, but I do have some violets in little baskets on my balcony and these already give me a hint of spring.
ReplyDeleteKind regards,
What a beautiful bouquet!
ReplyDeleteOh Janet,
ReplyDeleteI just cut my first blooms and early buds, it was truly way to soon for any budding with another cold storm on the rise. And being here up on the mountain weather is unpredictable so awaiting warmer days will just have to come later, and I will baby the new blooms.
Your home looks so beautiful with fresh clippings, it romances your space beautifully.
Love that desk, it's the one you brought up from the basement right! And it looks amazing with all eyes on it.
I live years over 17 years with my desk painted and distressed in white. One day I needed a change for it, I needed a side table for my sofa with some storage, and enough suface space to accommodate all my collections.
Finding a new side table was a hard find, one with all the rightness in what I needed, it hit me if I cut off the top secretary 16 inches off each side and the back paneling right above the top drawer, and on the surface desk top I added Alder plank tops by just sanding the edges and wood gluing down in place and then wood screwing the planks in place along the edge and down the center.... My desk has now become a new side table , a piece I get to love all over again, and can be seen in the last few postings.
This small French cottage I live in added more use for an oversized side table then the use of a desk that did not get used.
See you soon and all the beauty you create.
Xx
Dore
Hi Janet, your roses are beautiful. Waiting for my Sweet Peas, rose bush( I have only one) and my dinner plate dahlias to bloom. I can't wait!
ReplyDeleteHello Janet...your house always looks serene with the golden light spilling from your windows. I'm always tempted to decorate with an elegant palette so that seasonal joys become center stage. I'm much more ecclectic and love individual pieces that grow into one another like an eccentric family. Though, I, like you...like to live small. Thanks for the added inspiration and cheer! -Esther
ReplyDeleteWell, my garden is currently yielding just hyacinths, daffs and tulips,all in their last throes. We must be way behind you in the Channel Islands. But you've got me thinking about allergies, my 'hay' fever has started early this year but after reading your post I'm thinking, duh, it could be down to the lovely bought flowers in the house. So, thanks, you could just be saving me many days of itchy eyes etc.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful roses - we have weeks to wait until ours burst forth (London, UK). I have loads of roses in both my front and back gardens, many David Austin and hybrid musks and a Cardinal de Richelieu which I planted last year and am yet to see in bloom. Can't wait. At the moment I have bluebells and primroses and a solitary tulip but the green of the perennials is pushing up through the soil so fast you feel you can almost see it growing! Great blog!
ReplyDeleteHere in Holland we have the usual suspects doing their thing for a while now - have a look here: http://www.keukenhof.nl/en/ - we just live 10 min away from there - our own little garden is waiting for it's new planting to go in this weekend - the previous owners of our house used to have a farm in Zimbabwe and went a little over the top with the planting scheme, so in the last 7 years we have been mostly taking things out.... and look what just popped up on my fb feed: http://www.housebeautiful.com/home-remodeling/renovation/g3421/home-features-sell-fast/ - kitchen looks familiar? xxx Mireille
ReplyDeleteI adore your garden roses Janet! It will be a while before we have roses! xx
ReplyDeleteLooks heavenly! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous rose arrangement. We are seeing a lot of phlox and tulips here.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful roses! I have been reading your blog for some time. We have a similar 100 year old house. I've been using yours as inspiration. Curious about your porch windows. Did you add them?
ReplyDeletethanks stella. no we didn't they were already here. but we did remove a wall that cut the porch in half. the portion of the porch that has the windows (where the chairs sit now) was enclosed as a little room that had a separate entrance into the house. so the house had 2 front doors! i think in the past they probably rented the tiny space out? not sure but we opened up the porch and closed off that door. x
Delete