Pretty in Pink

Photos taken this week come with raindrops, no extra charge.  Today's colour for the Poppytalk Summer Colours collection is pink. I am very fond of pink in the garden, although you won't find very much of it in my house.

The photo above is of the efflorescence of my Cotinus 'Grace' bush. It looks like a soft pink cloud lately. I've included the photo of this Oriental poppy below in a previous blog post but I'm publishing it horizontal this time. I no longer have any idea of which way is the right way up for it. :)

The false mallow (sidalcea) looked beautiful this morning. This particular one is called 'Party Girl' and I'm thinking she put on her best ruffles when she got up today because she knew it was Poppytalk's pink day. 

Chloé has been quite enthusiastic about Summer Colours week and I had trouble getting the camera out of her hands yesterday.  She took the photo below as well as the one of Meeko. (She took some others that I will include in Red day on Thursday and Blue day on Friday.)

The photo below is of a sweet little strawberry blossom in the square-foot garden. This is an all-season plant that produces strawberries (a small handful at a time) for the entire summer.

And my final photo is one I took a few months ago, but I thought its beautiful soft pink tones would fit perfectly in today's coloured theme: pink-toned rocks with a beautiful hand-dyed scarf that I bought from Margie.

Because I am downloading my photos from Flickr this week rather than from my computer, the vertical shots are less wide than the horizontal ones.  In the past I've made both the horizontal and vertical shots the same width as my column.  I'm curious if anyone noticed, first of all, or has a preference one way over the other.

June Blooms and Harvests

The weather has definitely turned summery.  It almost is summer so that's good! Chloé is officially finished exams and is on a 4-day end-of-year school trip to Tadoussac to see whales among other things. She's never been away for more than one night so it feels quite strange and the house is definitely quiet without her. Emma still has two exams to write.  It's only two weeks now until she graduates from high school.

This week, Chloé and I took Meeko for a walk where we knew there was a patch of wild strawberries growing.  We picked quite a few (Meeko too) and just in time.  The huge municipal lawn mowers appeared on the horizon just as we were getting up to leave.  There was talk of making custard tarts topped with the wild berries but, with exams, there wasn't really time to make elaborate recipes.  We ate them on cereal and mixed into yogurt instead. I particularly love their sweet smell.

Proof of my strawberry picking time (the hole was already there)

My square-foot vegetable garden is doing beautifully.  

The above photo was taken the day the vegetables were planted.  Here it is four weeks later:

Yesterday I picked some lovely French breakfast radishes and ate them. Delicious. The mesclun is beautiful right now and ready for a lovely salad tonight.

Yesterday afternoon, I thinned out the beets, swiss chard and turnips, planting the seedlings I removed in some squares I had left empty.  I also fed the tomatoes some organic fertilizer.

In our front yard, the 'Royal Wedding' Oriental poppies have just bloomed.  I showed them to Emma yesterday and she said 'You show them to me every year.' Imagine how boring I am to live with. :)

And finally, here's a photo I took this morning of some tangled shadows.  I love this.

I hope you are having a lovely weekend. Happy Father's Day to all of the dads out there!

Peonies, Poppies and Pea Gravel

This week so far, we've had intense heat, rain and cold.  I'm glad I took some photos of the Oriental poppies and peonies before the rain yesterday, because some of them have definitely suffered since.  I cut some peonies today to put in a vase, as the weight of the rain broke their stems.

But despite certain tolls in the garden, it really is starting to feel more like summer. Emma and Chloé finished their classes last Friday. Now they only go in on days they have exams.

I have to work extra hard to accomplish things in the studio between acting as taxi driver, pool lifeguard and lunch monitor.  Aside from those extra daily duties now, I really find my focus goes out the window as soon as others are in the house. I have to work on that.

Here's a little tour of my garden this week (some pre- and some post-rain):

'Kansas' Peony

The peonies bowing down to the turtle were the ones I had to cut. Note the lovely Meeko-proof irrigation sculpture.

Peony 'Duchesse de Nemours'

Oriental Poppy 'Princess Victoria Louise' behind a Meeko-proof fence

Poppy smushed by the rain, not Meeko

This would be the perfect reading spot if the bench wasn't so darn uncomfortable.
It's hard to find weather-proof garden furniture that's comfy.

I built this pea gravel pathway just before we got Meeko two years ago. I had visions of Meeko running back and forth on this path, playing fetch with me and dutifully avoiding my flower beds. Little did I know that he would be claiming the whole back yard and all of its contents as his kingdom.

"None of the stories Kathleen tells about me are true."