Stopping to smell the hyacinths

Walking through the front hallway is bliss at the moment. The hyacinths are in full scent and flower and the perfume fills several rooms. The bulbs in the round white bowl turned out to be yellow... I had forgotten which colour I got. I'm loving the pastel confection and the frothy spring cheerfulness of it all. Oh, let it be spring now... 

The flower heads are heavy and I've used organza ribbon to tie them to mini chopstick stakes. A few days after these photos were taken I had to cut the heads off because they got so heavy they bent at the neck. I pushed bamboo skewers through the stems so they would stand upright in a vase.

This display will probably last another week, then hopefully the outdoor daffs and other bulbs will start to earn their keep.

Keeping busy

I have several small craft projects on the go for long winter nights. The nights seem unending and sometimes so do the projects, in particular the hexie blanket! (Mr Lui felt that he was more deserving of my attention with the camera on that afternoon, in fact he felt I should put down the camera and go feed him. Now.)

Small crochet rocks are a quick and cute project, the only thing is that as soon as I finish one I have a better idea for the next. Luckily they look good in a group.

Tiny glass flowers in a vintage spool, a stand in while most real flowers are out of season. And a small embroidery of simple things which make me happy. More to show on that in another post.

July flowers

Just a couple of snapshots today. The garden is looking so flattened and soggy that it's best just to turn the other way, and my indoor flower displays mainly consist of big bunches of wintersweet (which I've shown you several times already) and the tantalising spring bulbs in my previous post.

Flowering outside we do have Bellarina primroses, in lacy pink and indigo blue, and the delicate appleblossom flowers of Fairy Blush camellia. The wintersweet is in its final flush and I'll be sad to say goodbye to that lovely for another year. The paper daisy is in full bud however and some of the little flowers are even starting to open up, which bodes well for the next few months! Promises for late winter include buds on the daphne and hellebores, and hopefully the earlicheers and crocuses won't be too far away. Today is the halfway point after all... spring is only six weeks away!

Forcing it

In an attempt to make spring come early, I am forcing nature to bend to my will. I want spring flowers and I want them now! These hyacinth and crocus bulbs were chilled in the fridge and then potted up about six weeks ago. Now they are slowly unfurling.

I am very much enjoying this arrangement on the hall table. It may be too early to be thinking spring, but it lifts my heart whenever I walk in and see it. I can't wait till I have the sweet hyacinth scent to lift me even further.

It's cold

Winter mornings are biting. Frost, ice, frozen mud, breath like smoke. It makes getting out of bed so much harder! I am in hibernation mode at the moment... basically just gritting my teeth and waiting out winter. I have a few little projects I'm working on inside and some larger garden ones that I do a bit at a time, weather permitting. Feeding the birds and watering the houseplants. Cooking endless batches of soup. Waiting, waiting, waiting.

June Flowers

This month's pictures are a mixture of before and after: the snow, that is. The chrysanthemums, sweet peas and bishop's flower are now mostly mush, but the pansies, calendula and wintersweet are still going strong. There's even a rogue petunia mixed in with the carnations that just doesn't want to finish up. The fairy blush camellias are starting to open and hyacinths are popping up. It seems early for those, but I remember they did this last year and the flowers seemed to hang around for a while, as long as slugs don't eat them that is!

I'm picking big bunches of wintersweet and putting them throughout the house. Pansies make cute little posies and last a surprisingly long time. How is your garden blooming at this time of year?

Snow and sand

Ok, well as you can see it did happen! Snow hit on Wednesday and made a big cold mess. I managed to get away before it got too heavy and drove south where eventually it cleared, the sun came out and it was a nice (but cold) winters day.

My poor garden looks quite sad now. The dahlias are soggy black stems and many shrubs and bushes have been flattened. The peppers and chillis that had remained are piles of mush, but the cauliflowers have survived and I even picked the first one of the season today.

I spent a few days spending time with family in Timaru after visiting Dunedin for a funeral. A sad time but nice to catch up with people. Caroline Bay was almost empty on a sunny afternoon, which is my favourite way to find a beach... peaceful, serene, beautiful.

Today was cold and everywhere I went (supermarket, butcher's etc) people were talking about more snow. I'm not listening though... if I don't hear it it won't happen... I'll stick my fingers in my ears... lalalala.

Indoors

When it's gloomy and grey or night outside, I light the fire and put on some fairy lights and take my coffee inside. Sometimes I watch a movie but I always like to have crochet in my hand. The summertime blanket grows slowly but that's what I've come to expect. For a change of pace I make little covers for rocks - they are pretty and quick to finish.

I've been painting a china cabinet to hold my vases and other pretties. It's all done except the leadlight doors. I got some carved bone handles to gussy up the front. (I'll dedicate a post to it as soon as it's actually finished.)

My little feijoa tree outside produced about three edible fruits. Luckily my neighbour dropped off a big bag and I used them to bake a feijoa loaf. Yum... I love this oddly tropical tasting fruit.

The wintersweet is in full bloom and the scent of it is in almost every room in my house. It makes this time of year worthwhile. (Please no snow tomorrow... it's in the forecast but I have to drive to Timaru! Let's hope that snow cloud just up and disappears)

Outdoors

June is here and winter is creeping in. The weather is changeable, frosty nights followed by gradually warming sunny days. Gale force winds blow in followed by sudden bursts of rain and ending up with rainbows.

There are still flowers in the garden. The summer beauties are gone but the winter wonders have kicked in. Winter flowers are always so delicate looking, yet they are the strongest of them all. From fragrant papery wintersweet blossom to the silk-flower allure of the camellia, winter flowers lift my spirits when not much else does.

I work a bit in the garden, in the optimal hours between 12 and 4 pm. It's funny how this changes... in summer this is probably the worst time to be outside, but in winter it's that narrow window of opportunity and you have to grab it. My winter garden jobs include digging up some more flower bed (of course), laying some weed mat in various places and planting lavender seedlings along the back fence line. I've made a small start on one of these jobs. There doesn't seem to be any need to hurry.

I miss going for walks. I was in a good habit right before daylight savings for going for a walk in the evenings. Sometimes these days I go for a walk in the weekend, but often I'm too busy gardening, or else sitting around. I do a lot of that too. Really, you just have to roll with it. Winter is a time for hibernation and I guess that's what I'm going to do.

May flowers

 There are still plenty of flowers in the garden this month. We have had one or two light frosts but nothing too serious, so there isn't much dieback yet. Still lots of seedheads and berries.

This month I tried my hand at ikebana flower arranging. I read a book which got me inspired - I love the sculptural aspect of the arrangements, and the fact that they are always seasonal and inspired by what is growing in the garden at the time. You also don't need very many stems or blooms. 

This is my attempt at a slanting moribana arrangement, using azalea branches, chrysanthemums and an unknown shrub with red berries (it was growing over the neighbour's fence).

The berries are hiding away behind the flowers - they are better viewed from above! The arrangement has been fresh for nearly two weeks now, though I may need to replace the flower heads soon.

What's blooming in your garden this month? For more inspiration, check out Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.