Yellow in our garden

The power of color yellow! The color of the sun! The color of gold! The color of richness! The color for jealousy?!
I love the color yellow in the garden! Of course I do! I was born under the sign of Leo! But have you ever taken the time to look at the intricate forms and the details of many kinds of yellow flowers?

Monday's Favorite Flower Combination #9

Here is another soft combination from May 2013 that I absolutely loved.  I didn't put this one together! The nature did! I only planted these beauties in the same bed..but I guess they wanted to get closer and be friends.

Columbine with yellow fumitory

 botanical names: Aquilegia "Winky rose" and Corydalis Lutea

Corydalis lutea (zone 5-8)

This species of Corydalis is a woodland perennial that my neighbor gave me years back which typically forms a mound of ferny, medium green foliage to 15" tall and 18" wide and produces bright yellow, short-spurred flowers (3/4" long) over a long May to September bloom period.  It resemble the leaves  of bleeding heart (Dicentra) to which it is related. If you provide the right growing conditions (part shade to shade and good drainage of a rich moist soil)  this plant will grow for you like a weed.

Aquilegia "Winky rose" (zone 3-8)

Plant this Columbine with its series cousins, and you'll have a spring-time display that will be the envy of the neighborhood! Its rosy blooms are nothing short of stunning, drawing in hummingbirds and butterflies but proving unpalatable to rabbits and deer.  Zones 3-10.

I shared this post with Today's Flowers  where beautiful photographs are shared by bloggers around the world.

Blue in our garden

Soft blue, dark blue, indigo blue. There are many kinds of blue in the garden.

White in our garden -part 1

How delicate and tender! How sweet and sincere all the white blooms look! You just have to get close! Closer! Even closer! Ok! That is enough!

There are many kinds of white blooms in our garden. Some are as white as paper, some are greenish white and some are creamy white. Aren't these all beautiful?

White in our garden -part 2

This post is a continuation the series of Plant Portraits by color and today you get to see part 2 of White flowering plant portraits.  To see White in our garden -part1  just click on the underlined words.  

Winter anti-depression treatment #4

I know you needed this! You need color! You are sick of the white of the snow and you are not looking forward to the meltdown of March and the April's rains, so this is the reason I give you a July plant combination from 2013!

The booms are: Purple Coneflower or Echinacea purpurea (zone 3-8), Blue Balloon flower or Platycodon grandiflorus "Sentimental Blue" (zone 3-8) and Hosta "Friends"

I originally planted this bed with Echinacea "Twilight" ( a cross of E. paradoxacrossed with E. purpurea), which was supposed to be close to a red color.  Over the years, the original plants disappeared and the seedlings that appeared look very much like the Echinacea purpurea I have in other beds. It might be that this hybrid was not stable and reverted to one of the stronger genes of the mix. I don't mind is so much since butterflies, hummingbirds and golden finches like it as much as in red.

Birds in our winter garden part 3

During last week we noticed two large birds flying around the woods but could never get a good clear shot of them.  We suspected hawks but the coloration on the belly was very light tan. Two days ago when my camera happened to be in my hand I thought I saw a large woody in our evergreen. And then it flew out of the shrubs and landed right above the sun room giving me a pretty good angle.

Hawk - suspecting that it may be Red-Shoulder or a Sharp-shinned but not sure.

For more birds photos in my garden, check out: part 1 and part 2

Sharing with I'd rather be birding   , Wild Bird Wednesday blogs where magnificent pictures of birds are being shared.

Garden Blogger Bloom Day - February 2014

Blooms? Did anyone say blooms?  What blooms? It is the middle of February and this is Ohio for crying out loud!

 I can't see anything because of the frosted windows! Is anybody there?

 Oh, here is some of the garden covered in snow!

 And here are the shrubs covered in ice!

Do birds visiting the garden count since there are no blooms in the garden?

House Finch, Female Cardinal, Male Cardinal, Chickadee, Red bellied Woodpecker and a Tufted Titmouse

I am giving the Cardinal a special spot in this post since it is the Ohio State Bird!

Thanks for stopping by my somewhat new blog. If you want to see what is happening indoor, please check back the Garden Blogger's Bloom Day from January. Not much has changed indoor other than the number of lemons left in the lemon tree: One
Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day is hosted on the 15th of each month by Carol at  May Dream Gardens. Visit her blog to see what is in bloom this month in gardens from many climates and countries.

Winter anti-depression treatment #3

Oreo the lovely female cat and Darwin Tulip "Apeldoorn" - April 2012

Birds in our winter garden part 2

This is new to me but I absolutely love it! Watching the birds that come to our feeders.  Weather I work on my laptop at the kitchen's table or wash dishes at the sink, and I have a great view of the bird feeders and what wonderful surprises we had this winter. Woodpeckers are the biggest surprise. We spotted three varieties so far, two of which we managed to capture in photographs. The large Ohio woodpecker, a very large specimen has been escaping the camera so far.

Here is what I want to share with you today:

Downy Woodpecker, Male Cardinal, American Gold Finch, Carolina Wren and again the Red Bellied Woodpecker who is a daily visitor at the feeder this winter

You may also want to visit part 1 of the series Birds in our winter garden click on the underlined word.

Sharing with I'd rather be birding  ,  Saturday's Critters , Wild Bird Wednesday blogs where magnificent pictures of birds are being shared.

Monday's Favorite Flower Combination #8

Today I am sharing with you a favorite April blooming favorite flowers combination from my USDA zone 5b garden:

A softer and more delicate combination in pink, baby blue and mauve hues.

Woodland Geranium (native) with Forget-me-not and Trillium (native) at the end of its bloom turned pink

I shared this post with Today's Flowers  blog where beautiful photographs are shared by bloggers around the world.

Monday's Favorite Flowers Combination #7

This Monday I will give you a plant combination so bright and rich in colors that is going to knock your socks off. Or so I hope.

May is the perfect month to take pictures in our garden especially if the spring season is a rainy one. The foliage is so rich in shades of green. So crunchy looking. But the flowers in this scene pop against the greens

Winter anti-depression treatment # 2

Our crab apple trees in full bloom in 2010. Every single one has a different shade of pink.

Winter anti-depression treatment #1