Nice of it Saturday, Sep 19 2015 

gardening and Modern Photos , acairfearann 21:42

That white Gladiolus, seen in the vegetable garden last year and this year chucked rather quickly into the big garden, has managed to bloom. Despite the late planting in heavy, soggy soil, several of the bulbs have managed to bloom. I didn’t think they would since I planted them in late June; I just hoped that by planting them, I would be able to save them for next year.  So far, a nice yellow and the white. It would be wonderful if the crimson and rose would bloom as well; but the yellows are most probable given last years numbers.  Still, who am I to complain about this!

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Cottage Garden Tuesday, Sep 15 2015 

gardening and Modern Photos , acairfearann 21:00

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From year to year, and day to day, entirely different. The wild, random nature is part of their nature. It is, perhaps, their charm. The flowers are each, individual, a statement of purpose, a testament to eons of change and evolution, ever sure of their path, blind though it may be. But towards what? That defined purpose simply explodes in a riotous, abandoned display of life by chance. Or not chance? Is that one glorious moment the whole point of the exercise?

I do wonder if that white gladiolus is surviving out in the big garden this year, rather than in the vegetable garden of last year….

 

Thistles Monday, Sep 7 2015 

gardening and Modern Photos , acairfearann 20:15

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Lady Margaret Saturday, Aug 29 2015 

gardening , , acairfearann 20:54

First year no less!

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Apple Trees Friday, Aug 21 2015 

gardening and Modern Photos , acairfearann 21:04

always have character. This MacIntosh isn’t that old (mid-1960’s); it is badly in need of a trim. But, photographs like this help to illuminate the overall shape and character that catches and holds the eye. Pruning must take that into account to be aesthetically successful. Interestingly, the biggest limb under consideration for cutting is clearly not important in this picture. It is a minor one heading out to the left, away from the camera, duplicating another branch at a low level. It is lost in the leaves and with apple trees, it seems to me (in theory, poorly executed in practice) the structure should never vanish into the leaves completely.  Which is why the green blob on another lawn (now with measles) is something of a frustration.*

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*The Wolf River is very large, very green, and Very Full of large increasingly red apples! But a blob it is, despite quite a bit of trimming.

 

Peaches Thursday, Aug 20 2015 

gardening acairfearann 16:49

The Chinese associate them with immortality…as for me….I associate them with the poisoned fruit* of the first Mary Stewart novel about Merlin and King Arthur (‘The Crystal Cave’). They are wonderful, without peer, when perfect and ripe. Fresh peaches, peach pie, peach cobbler, peach jam, all glorious.

But fleeting and prone to treachery. For a lovely peach tree can turn to rot. As ours did this year. A long battle with some sort of disease has meant that unless perfectly pruned (which it is not) the peaches mold before they ripen. Consequently, pretty much every available bit of counter space is covered with peaches right now (let its generosity not be questioned). I foresee much freezing, and some canning of the more perfect ones, in my future. Hopefully, as they ripen off the tree, we can work with them.

*I know, it was apricots, but the connection holds! Besides, I have never been sure that immortality wouldn’t be treachery in the long run, or at least a very bad joke, on someone’s part. Or maybe using peaches to symbolize immortality is an illustration of the paradox?

 

Hot or Cold Tuesday, Aug 18 2015 

gardening and Modern Photos acairfearann 20:18

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Rose of Sharon: Rose Chiffon

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Sunflower: Chianti (volunteer seedling no less!)

Aren’t flower colours fun?

 

Yellow Pot Tuesday, Aug 11 2015 

gardening and Landscapes and Modern Photos , , acairfearann 19:51

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Ribs Friday, Aug 7 2015 

gardening and Modern Photos , acairfearann 21:33

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Daylily Sunday, Aug 2 2015 

gardening and Modern Photos , acairfearann 22:22

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