joene's garden » May Dreams Gardens

Tweaked blooms for Bloom Day

joenesgarden — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:05:43 +0000

Violet blossoms are still my only contribution for February 2010's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. You can see them in my January post. Rather than take similar photos of them again, I thought I'd share what photoshop tweaking can do. You get some amazing effects with some flower photos.

Compare the pre-tweaked violet photo on the left with the tweaked one on the right.

The difference in the violet photos is subtle … the following less so.

Gerberas become an abstract art print.

Hydrangea takes on surreal hues.

A viburnum in snow with a watercolor look.

Any my favorite of this bunch - the sweet peas - glow with enhanced accented edging.

Head on over to Carol's place at May Dreams Gardens to soak in blooms from other gardens and feast your eyes with cyberspace's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.

Categories: Bloom Day, Focus on Flowers.
Tags: flower photos, Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, May Dreams Gardens, photoshop.

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January’s velvety violets

joenesgarden — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 10:00:00 +0000

During warmer months my Connecticut gardens provide a wide variety of blossoms. Not so in January, when windowsill-grown African violets take center stage.

Though these tiny wonders offer few blossoms, I don't mind … their limited quantity insures greater focus on each. Makes me wonder why I don't have more.

Want to read an amusing African violet post ? Visit Is Petting Your African Violet a Good Idea?

Enjoy the photos and flowers in gardens elsewhere by visiting all the linked garden blogs at May Dreams Gardens, where Carol posts her Garden Blogger's Bloom Day photos and offers others a venue to do the same.

Categories: Bloom Day.
Tags: African violets, Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, May Dreams Gardens, The Garden Professors.

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Gardening Oops (GOOPs)- last of 2009

joenesgarden — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 10:00:00 +0000

December 1, 2009. Welcome to the last of my gardening blunder posts for 2009. I started writing about my gardening faux pas back in May. After being inspired by the outpouring of garden bloggers who post photos of what's blooming in their gardens on Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, the brainchild of Carol at May Dreams Gardens, I figured it might be fun to tweak Carol's idea a bit and declare the first of each month as Gardening Oops Day, GOOPs for short. On GOOPs Day, I rehash one of my gardening blunders, and ask other gardeners to do the same – come on, admit it, you've made some blunders too. Admittedly, GOOPs has not taken off like GBBD, but I really didn't expect it to - I don't have near the number of readers as May Dreams Gardens. Still, one person, Debbie at A Garden of Possibilities, has stood steadfastly by my GOOPs idea and joined in nearly every month. To Debbie, and others who have stopped by to add their GOOPS – thank you.

So here's the gig. After I confess one of my GOOPs, you can either write one of your own on your blog, leaving a teaser and link in a comment below, or simply fess up your own sordid GOOPs tale below.

Here's my December GOOPs. I'm pretty sure I will regret this in the spring. I chose not to trim the seed heads off all my coneflowers this year. The birds love to pick at the tiny seeds throughout the winter and I just did not have the heart to cut down all of these tiny birdfeeders. If lucky, I'll spot a bright little goldfinch roosting atop a prickly globed coneflower seed head while its mate feeds happily in neighboring grass. So, using fall-season reasoning, leaving the seed heads intact is worth it. I have already spotted a flock of about 15 or so bluebirds that like to feed on and under the untrimmed coneflowers – there is something very special to sipping morning coffee while glimpsing electric bluebird blue on nearby fencing. Too bad I'm not a good enough photographer to catch these bluebirds digitally – now that would be a picture! But I digress – back to GOOPs. Once spring-reasoning sets in, and all the unpecked seeds become sprouted plants, I'm pretty sure I will have a few choice words for my autumn seed benevolence, particularly if I have limited time to keep up with early spring weeding. My Echinacea purpurea collection started with just a couple of plants. I try to be thrifty when I purchase plants by spending cash on only one or two until I know how they will establish in my gardens. I was thrilled with the first set of flowers, and by the fact that I managed to keep deer from eating them – something I'm not always successful at - and I left the seed heads to self sow and help feed wintering birds. I now have huge clumps of coneflowers growing hither and yon – all self sown or transplanted to their current location after self-sowing elsewhere. I've also managed to pawn a few volunteers off to neighbors during our spring plant swap. But, a non-deadheaded blossom can quickly become a garden thug. The coneflower area I opted not to deadhead this year is currently full and expanding to parts yet unknown … and I already have many, many coneflower thugs in areas I rather they not be. Plus, I spend a fair amount of time each spring pulling the tiny seedlings to prevent my gardens from becoming completely overrun. Boy I hope the bluebirds visit in the morning – I need to plant more blue-sightings into my memory plot to draw on when I'm feeling less generous toward these seed heads next spring.

Now it's your turn. Tell what Damn-I-Wish-I-Hadn't-Done-That move you've made in your garden, yard, or farm. What better way to learn if not from each other?

Categories: GOOPs-Gardening Oops.
Tags: A Garden of Possibilities, Echinacea purpurea, gardening in Connecticut, gardening oops - GOOPs, May Dreams Gardens, purple coneflower.

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November 2009 - Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day

joenesgarden — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:00:00 +0000

November 15, 2009. It's a stretch to find bloomers in November in south central Connecticut. Mostly you have to look low, where this thyme hugs the ground and nearby steps so it can soak up any lingering warmth.

The cosmos certainly did not stand up to a recent frost. And the coneflowers have long since gone brown. Now they stand as ready snacks for overwintering birds, as does nearby Winterberry.

From now till spring, the most colorful blossoms come from inside plants, like this gerbera blossom liberated from it's parent residing in a garage window, and the holiday cactus that thrives in bright indoor light.

Enjoy these blossoms, but also visit May Dreams Gardens, where Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day originated. There master-mind Carol shares her gardens' bounty, and hundreds of other bloggers post links so all can get a peek at their gardens as well. Visit as many as you can, it's a great way to brighten a fall day.

Categories: Bloom Day.
Tags: coneflower, cosmos, Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, gerbera, holiday cactus, May Dreams Gardens, thyme, winterberry.

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