New paintings and regular art updates.
Looking back down the backyard. It was lovely to get out in the sunshine for a few minutes. I decided to take a photo from near our living room window towards the back of the yard which has an overgrown hedge and Russian vine growing through it. Our yard is a sun trap and the hanging baskets and plants are getting very blousy! I must admit we cram a lot in every year.
Suddenly overnight, they are in flower. They thrive on poor soil. Some of the leaves have been munched slightly. These are on the front of our house, but when they grow in the garden you can eat the leaves, seed pods and flowers. They are nice to eat as a garnish in salads.
Nasturtiums come in a variety of colours and with plain or variegated leaves. As long as they get some water occasionally they will grow and scramble up surrounding plants or up walls, but they are not frost hardy and will die back when the weather turns cold.
Right outside our back door, you can literally reach out and pluck them off the bush. We have quite a good crop, although they aren’t fully ripe yet. Unfortunately they keep getting eaten… By hubby! ❤️ I love him, but he can snaffle all the raspberries (and gooseberries) before I even get near them!
Joyous day, we get a few hanging baskets every year, we had a call from the farm today. They were ready! Even though we were expecting them I was overwhelmed at how big and beautiful they are. If yo buy a hanging basket from a shop they often only have one species of flowers in them. But these are packed with petunias, fushias, begonias, lobelia, and other plants I can’t name. It’s not all their work, the rest is our handiwork. X
Imagine a green world, floating through space. Surrounded by a spherical forcefield that holds air and water in and keeps damaging radiation out. It can only survive where there is bright enough sunlight to allow the vegetation to survive unless it is equipped with power to keep it warm enough and keep artificial lights working for photosynthesis to happen. But plants have a limited lifespan, then they die and with the right biology break down and turn into compost. So the sphere needs to have enough space to keep growing, and enough resources to maintain a steady environment. Maybe there are large bodies of water to supply the plants.
I could be describing little spacecraft that could travel across space and seed new worlds? Or maybe it’s our planet. In either case, the environment needs protecting so that it can survive and thrive. If we imagine earth to be just a small spacecraft, where an imbalance could end its life, then perhaps we might take more care of it. X
We’ve got a good crop of raspberries coming on the bushes this year. It’s because hubby cut them right down at the end of last season. We’ve never really followed instructions for growing things. We’re more a ‘bung things in and see’ type of gardeners! This was last week. I need to take some more photos but my hay-fever is making my nose and eyes run so I’m staying inside. I hope we will have enough for a few to have with scones. Our cherry tree has more fruit on than I thought. A lot blew off in strong winds but we should get a decent crop when they ripen.
Just green.
Over the world
More air to breathe
Fresh and clean.
Keep the trees
Grow more forests
Stand back from the land
Let nature take over
Give life a chance.
I have been potting on little plug plants again today. Fushias, lobelia, French marigolds, antirrhinum, trailing geranium and other plants. The garden at the side of the house is full of trees but the back yard is my domain. It is already full of Welsh poppies, a few small strawberry plants, small tomato plants, raspberries and other random plants. It’s getting quite like a jungle! I’m now waiting for a few hanging baskets I’ve ordered. I love my annual riot of colour!
Today’s #bandofsketchers prompt was California. I decided to draw bright orange Californian poppies, Escholtsia? Not sure of the spelling. I’ve tried to grow them a few times but not been very successful. I think they need more sunlight than we have. Anyway this image was off an old seed packet. X
Soon to be over. That must of blue flowers will be gone. I’ve suddenly fallen in love with the romance of flowers! I don’t think I noticed them much last year and now it’s a revelation to see them in bloom. We have some bluebells but they are pink and white too. I think ours are the Spanish variety with blue Bell flowers all around the stem which is more upright and the leaves are wider and strappier. They are worth commenting on because of their gorgeous colour.
Mallaband-Brown