one good thing about having so much rain (and we’ve had so very much) is that everything is blooming in multiples of hundreds, it seems. and . . .
it brings out the greenest green.
that really is the true color of our grass right now—yes, our grass. it’s so lush and velvety, i hardly recognize our (so-called) lawn.
our tulip patches really outdid themselves this year. these purply ones that bloomed this week were simply gorgeous; i brought a bunch into the house last monday and i just threw them out today, though they probably could have held one more night. i want to wash the vase though, so i can put out a fresh bouquet for tomorrow’s knitting class . .
the epimedium is so vivid right now that it kinda looks fake, doesn’t it?
around back of the house, things are happening a lot more slowly than usual, due to the chilly shade we have there; not much sun has hit that area and my hostas are really behind. many of them are just now poking their tips out of the ground. but what is happening is magnificent, i must say
there are my green fern fiddleheads, finally uprising.
i have other ferns too, but i don’t usually catch them in the fiddlehead stage. today though, i went looking and uncovered these stunning dark-headed ones under the autumn fern
still curled tightly, but when they do unfold, they’ll open with a fiery surprise—they are the opposite of the maple trees; they unfurl in spring bearing vivid orange/gold/red fronds that fade into green as the summer warms up. they stay bright green through the fall and early winter, until the hard freeze kills them back.
i always miss the fiddleheads of the japanese painted ferns—they must be very delicate and small because i never see them until they are almost completely uncurled (which is usually quite early).
the ground covers are starting to spread out and flower, too. besides the epimedium, which seems to LOVE our sun-starved back yarn, we have beautiful sweet woodruff that was gifted to us by our neighbors when we first moved in.
it’s really starting to look like a carpet here and there by now. their tiny white flowers have a faint scent of vanilla, which is really hard to detect right now, between the pervasive scent of the lilac and our newest blooming beauty . . .
aren’t they precious?? they are just barely starting to bloom; i found three or four stalks with fully-opened flowers that i picked to bring indoors (where honestly, they are creating a cacophony of scent).
but this is really just the beginning—we’ve got a fully-developed carpet of them which are still pushing up buds
seriously gorgeous, yes??
i’m telling you, the smell is indescribably strong when i kneel right in the center of it—it makes me feel a little faint, it’s so strong, sigh.
i think i’ll try transplanting some of these to other parts of the beds surrounding the house; i would love to have a whole swath of them encircling the foundation, waving their shapely little leaves in the breeze. mmm.
we’re almost there in the back and if the solomon’s seal i planted around front is any indication, we should be able to cultivate them all the way around.
here—smell them
and as if all that wasn’t enough, there was one more treat out there that almost made me swoon with delight; something i’ve been trying to grow for years with no success.
but finally this year, our luck seems to have turned—as i was walking through the barren vegetable patch and checking for any signs of life, i saw these curious, cone-shaped mounds in the heavily-mulched asparagus bed. when i investigated more closely, i saw we actually had many returnees from last year’s overhaul and replanting experiment—hooray!
the purple ones are barely visible here, but if you look closely, you’ll see a row of them in there, yippee.
and most of them have multiple stems coming up. david’s effort of tearing that bed down completely and rebuilding it with fresh, amended soil worked a treat.
i think we’re going to try some of them tomorrow. we can’t cut too many this year, but half a dozen or so will be enough to eat with eggs. yum.
and hey, you know what else is open as of today?? signups for the pattern-only option of our fall in full colors club—come join the fun!
since most of my weekend knitting was devoted to my secret project (i am so close to done), all i really have to show you in the fiber department today are the results of friday’s blocking session
and what beautiful results they are . . . spring flowers for indoors.
the woolen rabbit lucent yarn makes a lovely finished fabric, with a surface that is smooth as silk and drape to beat the band. every stitch fell right into place, aligning perfectly with the ones surrounding it.
(well, agnes’s beautiful stitch work had something to do with that too . . .)
agnes’s grafting at the center of the scarf couldn’t be more perfect either, creating mirrored patterning which only occurs in that one special place, at the back of the neck. look how even that is—dang woman, you are good!
here’s a little closeup of how i threaded the hems to make sure the pleats lay the way i wanted. nothing overly special there, except that i took care to thread the edge stitch of each pleat and to skip the stitch in the “ditch” next to the pleat’s crest, so that it recedes.
just look at the gorgeous stitch definition that yarn produces—and what an improvement after blocking, too. you would never guess that knit/purl pattern would be so defined by looking at this “before” photo.
the light was just right in the late afternoon today to take some nice photos on the dress form, too
the setting sun defined the pleats to a “T”.
i am thrilled with how both these pieces turned out—they are, each of them, the perfect companion pieces for the eliza mitts.
something for everybody—we like that right?
and see what i mean about the incredible drape this fabric has?? wow.
that is woolen rabbit lucent, in colorway lady’s slipper
and now i must go off to edit the rest of the photos so i can release this pattern tomorrow.
28 thoughts on “flowers all around . . .”
Love the new scarf. Thanks for showing a close up of the graft…it is always nice to see what it is supposed to look like.
I ADORE sweet woodruff…it was once used to scent may wine…..
I love hearing about your garden, Anne. Keep showing & telling.
wow!
Oh, how I love your garden! I wish I had some lilacs, though they probably wouldn’t bloom until July, with our cold, wet spring.
Your garden is looking beautiful Anne. It is so interesting to follow Mother Nature’s progress in different parts of the world. (In our garden we have the first flowers on our tomatoes and strawberries getting bigger by the day! I posted some photos on my blog yesterday.) That scarf is absolutely beautiful, and Agnes’ knitting is amazing. You can’t see that graft! Looking forward to the photos tomorrow!
Oh, I am very jealous of all the lily of the valley! I need to get some of those for my yard too! We seem to have the same ferns though and just today I bought a lilac.
The scarf pattern is beautiful.
I so like the way you walk us through your garden’s reawakening and blooming… Beware of the lily of the valley though, this is an actual poison beauty as you know, no wonder you feel dizzy when you get to smell her scent for too long…
Hi Anne. I love the trips around your garden, though I am lamenting the end of our beautiful lilac for this year. Lily-of-the-valley is one of my favourites and I have huge envy of your swathes! Off to look at shawl patterns on your site now x
wow, the scarf is stunning.
While the knitting is lovely – I especially love the neckwarmer – the pictures of your flowers are stunning. Thank you so much for sharing them. Where I live, the lilacs have long stopped blooming, it’s so nice to be able to revisit them here.
Agnes just rocks; that’s all there is to it. That scarf is gorgeous!
The leaves of the sweet woodruff also have a strong vanilla flavor/scent and were/are used in making May Wine. I believe the plant contains coumarin, if I remember correctly. I love your garden explorations, I miss my gardening a great deal, but your photos help me bring back some of the scent memories.
The Lily of the Valley pictures are just precious! And I love Sweet Woodruff too, though I never noticed a scent before (off to go and check it out).
Can’t wait for the new pattern! An excuse to get more Lucent!
Looking at your pictures I can almost smell the aroma of lilac and Lilly of the walley. They are one of my favorite flowers. You garden is amazing. I am looking forward to the release of the shawl. I think I have just the yarn for it.
Spectacular garden and spectacular knitting!!!
THANK YOU for the pattern only option in the club! 🙂 I snapped one up. I’d love to do the whole membership but the truth is I’ve got more yarn then I can probably knit in one lifetime so I’m excited to get to use it with your gorgeous patterns!!! 🙂
Lily of the Valley and lilacs are some of my favorites. At the BBG yesterday, sadly, the lilacs were almost over–peaked during the week between the Cherry Blossom Festival and Mother’s Day. But the peonies were outrageous and the wisteria was lovely.
Wow! That new scarf is so pretty! And perfect for spring! We are at a little quiet time in the garden. Lilacs are out and bluebells are out, but tulips & daffs are done. Peonies just getting ready to pop.
OMG! Anne your garden pictures are gorgeous. I have a black thumb and am so envious of your plants.
And speaking of gorgeous – love, love the Miss Doolittle scarf and neckwarmer. Even with hot flashes, I’d make that neckwarmer – and definitely the scarf. Agnes did a great job! Thank you for the close ups of how you blocked. Just beautiful.
So beautiful flowers, scents, and colours ! Thanks to you !
Beautiful–all of it! The flowers, the ground cover (never knew about epimedium before), and the gorgeous knitted flora, too! Thank you!
I’m loving all the green growing things that you have coming up in your garden this year. I just moved this spring and the little space that is available to plant things right now is one big mess – but I see that as a clean slate – if the lawn guy would quite chopping down the poor Hosta’s that someone before me had planted!
The knitting is beautiful, too – as always! I’m off to sign up for the club!
YEAAAA!
whoa absolutely gorgeous pattern anne. into the queue it goes. i just love the combination of stitches.
and the garden goes without saying…magnificent.
Lilacs and lily of the valley blooming at the same time?? You lucky duck – those are my two favorite flowers 🙂 Love the upclose shots of the blocking fabric – the stitching is so even and perfect and those pleats look so lush.
Lovely all the way – from flowers to asparagus to knitted pieces. Thanks for bringing us such beautiful pictures.
Anne your garden is so beautiful this year! Spring is finally starting to make an appearance here in the mountains. Seeing your flowers makes me want to start digging around in the dirt. 🙂
Thank you SO much for your kind words…your new patterns are stunning!!! I love what you do with my yarn. 🙂
LOVE the flower pics and the knitting too! One small thing – when I clicked on the pattern only option it didn’t give me the option – only full memberships???? love ya anne!
Thank you for the beautiful garden tour. I hope to introduce lily of the valley to my garden next year. It was in my front garden as a child and I love it.
I sometimes wish you’d slow down on the new knitting patterns… I can’t keep up with you! 🙂 I love the drape!
Comments are closed.