Sunflowers!!!

Here comes the sun!!
The sunflowers have been blooming for a couple of weeks now, but I have been waiting until I had many of them to take pictures of.
I love the row of them along my driveway, every time I pull in, its such a beautiful, colorful greeting! I cant help but smile.

 This is what greets me every time I pull into my drive way :)

There is not much to say about sunflowers.  They are tall, they are colorful, and they are all over my yard!!

Here is a collection of sunflowers I have, in a range of color.

 I always find it so amazing that these giant things come from such a tiny little seed!! And when the begin, they are so small and delicate, requiring constant protection from slugs and other bugs.

Here is sunflower row back in June

 And here it is last week!

Dahlias!!!

Last week mom and I went to the Dahlia farm in Canby, Swan Island Dahlias, and I wanted to share some of the pictures I took.
It was so gorgeous there, row upon row of Dahlias, of every color imaginable!

Spots of Color 2 of 2

This is the second surprise I had recently.

My mom gave me some passion flower starts, and while they have been eagerly climbing my trellis, the two buds have been taking their sweet time in opening.

Here they are in the beginning, back in June, on the right hand side.

Climbing away.  The ones on the left side were the only who produced buds, and there were only two.

For weeks now I have been watching and waiting, when will they open and what will they look like.

Then, suddenly, Taylor and I were standing in the driveway talking, and I glanced over, and guess who had joined us!!

 It is my favorite variety of Passion flower, and probably the most well-known.  I absolutely love the complexity of it. 

I immediately started snapping pictures, trying to capture it from every angle, noting every detail and petal. 

Here is what we have:

There are so many interesting and captivating details, I took more pictures than I needed to, but its such a fascinating blossom, I coulnt help myself :)

What a beautiful flower!! It almost doesnt look real!!

Spots of Color 1 of 2

The first of two very exciting developments!

These both caught me by surprise, I had been checking and checking for days, not knowing what to expect, and then, all of a sudden, they were there.  And they were so beautiful!! I could not have selected more beautiful flowers if I had tried.

The first who bloomed was a poppy.  I have no idea where this poppy actually came from.  There was a bunch of dirt in a small container that had held my lily bulbs, and it looked like it could have some more flowers in it, so I spread it out in an area and have been lovingly watering it.  Some violas have come up, as well as some gorgeous white flowers with delicate, papery leaves. But the most surprising was this poppy.  

It started small, then just started growing up, not branching out much, just up.  Then a bud appeared.  All nestled in some of the leaves, it looked so cute and cozy.

Then the bud started growing up.  It developed a small stem, then the stem started getting longer and longer.  Then one day I came out, and the stem had tipped over!!

Oh my gosh!! What did I do!!?? Was I supposed to put a stake in it to hold it up? I had no idea what happened. It didnt look like it was breaking, so I left it.

Gradually, the bud started to change color.  It started a pure green, then some color started creeping in from the base, as you can see above.

Then, one day, I walked outside, rounded the corner to check on my bud, and this is what greeted me

So gorgeous!! I cant believe the colors!! I love it!!

And so, of course, I took more pictures.

Oh my!! What could be next????

Looks who's blooming!

I have to start with this.

I was sitting inside, working, peering longingly through my blinds at the gorgeous afternoon, and decided I had had enough.  I needed to be in my garden!!
I went out and took some pictures, which of course inspired me to put up another update.  Well, that and the fact that I have not put up anything new in a week!!
But, alas, that meant going back inside to the computer *sigh*
Wait!! I have an idea.  Why on earth should I go inside to write about my garden.  Would it not be a better idea to sit among my gorgeous flowers as I write about them? *Lightbulb*
And so, I gathered up the essentials and headed outside, to sit among my pride and joy and draw inspiration from them as I type out the updates I am sure you are on the edge of your seat waiting for :)

So whats going on? I'll tell ya!! There are so so so many wonderful, exciting things happening.

Fist, my first lily has made an appearance!! I am so excited!! I love lilies, and have been holding my breath waiting for them to bloom!
here is the first peek she made the other day:

coyly poking her beautiful face out, deciding its the right time to show.  Today they are both in their full glory, proudly opened up to the sun soaking in its warmth while sharing their gorgeous colors with us

That is just one of many.  I dont know how many lilies I have, but there are many, and this is just the beginning of the beauty they will bestow upon us.

Sunflowers!!

They are starting to show!! These are two of the tallest variety.  You can see, the one on the left will be yellow, and the one on the right will be reddish/rusty colored.

I have 4 varieties of sunflower, I think, but these two are the only ones suggesting they might open up soon. These were a couple of days ago,

And here the red one is today

Its a little hard to get the coloring quite right, the sun was behind them.  Tomorrow morning will be better.  You can see though that it is going to be a fiery flower!!

The other day I had a bunch of "buds with ambition" that were my up-and-comers.  Well, now many of them have opened up to show us what they've got :)

We have here my be-au-ti-ful red rose, with many buds fully opened.  It is such a happy rose bush.  It makes my heart smile when I see it, so beautiful, happily blooming away.  

 There is a gorgeous collection of poppies springing out of the white alyssum.  They are so pretty.  After the first couple bloomed a month ago, I was not sure if any more would show.  There were not any more visible buds. But I think they were hiding in the alyssum, because each day a new bud will pop up out of the white, and within a few days its another gorgeous flower.  I love these poppies, so bright and colorful, with tissue-paper petals.

My mom's begonia is in full bloom, merrily opening up beside my own begonia (hers is on the L, mine on R)

And here is the Dahlia that was covered in buds before.  Those little buds have begun to pop out all over, producing pretty pink petals :)

I thought this was fun, I took a series of pictures of the buds in different stages, and thought it would be neat to have them strung along, to show the progression of the flower's opening.  These are all taken in one day, from the above plant.

The beginning.  The two buds on the left were very accommodating, huddling together so I could get the bud stage and the beginning of the blossoming in one shot :)
I love the pink sticking out of the end, almost looks to me like it has its lips puckered for a kiss XXXX

On the right, above, slowly peeling back the green leaves to allow the pink petals to breathe.

I love in the picture on the right, below, how the petals look like little tubes.  Or maybe trumpets, announcing their arrival :)

On the left, nearly there, demurely covering the center with a few last petals. and on the right, proudly opened up, displaying itself in full splendor.

This is on my coral rose.  I couldn't help myself, I love how there is just the tiniest peek of color.  A subtle tease of whats to come. 

And now, for some general glamor shots!!

All along the S side of the house, W---->E

Every time I see these I cant get over the gorgeous saturation of color!! They are in the pic above, on the R, under the bushes.

A little closer on the snapdragons.  

My passion flowers are really climbing away!!

Another angle down sunflower row, and a shot of me behind the sunflowers, so show how tall they are!!

I think this is called a flamingo orchid.  Doesnt really matter, its very graceful.

More of the red rose :)

and moss roses

My "sunset" dahlia

 

a little row of color.  Pink snapdragon, fuscia sweet pea, purple foxglove (or something like it) and the sunflower towers above.

 Snapdragons in front of the poppies and alyssum.

Ok ok. I could go on and on.  I think I may go a little overboard with the pictures I take, but I just cant help myself. I feel like each day there are so many changes, and I want to capture them all :)