Saturday, April 30, 2011

Mushrooms


Today I was happily weeding in my front yard when I saw these cute mushrooms.  I don't think they would normally have caught my eye except for their golden color.  All day I have been looking for something gold to submit to Jillsy Girl's Color My World Challenge and these little beauties were perfect.

Below is a close up of part of that mushroom family.  And I love how that little pine cone was just perfectly positioned there as if it wanted to be shaded under the mushroom umbrella too.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Blue flower



I noticed these incredible flowers in my backyard but I don't know what they are.  I love the way the buds are pink before they bloom.  I took these photos April 6th so they are a fairly early bloomer.  If anyone out there knows what they are please let me know! (To look at them closer click on the image.)

(It also just so happens that Jillsy Girl's Color My World Challenge is now accepting blue.)



Monday, April 18, 2011

Bunny Platter


A couple weeks ago my dad and I went shopping at Pottery Barn and I spotted this super cute bunny platter.  I'm not sure if you can tell from the photo, but they are holding up an egg-shaped platter.  You can't get much cuter than egg-shaped servingware at Easter and just look at those bunnies!  Thanks to my dad this cute platter came home with me that day and now greets me every time I walk in the house.  

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Pale Pink Blossoms



If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly,
our whole life would change.

-Buddha's Little Instruction Book by Jack Kornfield

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Plants for Bees


Last week George and I went to see a movie called Queen of the Sun.  The movie is about the recent population decline of bees.  Many bees around the world have been suffering from colony collapse disorder and scientists are struggling to understand the causes.  Some suggest a combination of factors might be causing the collapse of many colonies including mites, disease (often spread by commercial bees), pesticides, and habitat loss due to large monocultures.

You might ask, "But how does this affect me?"  Did you know that 4 of 10 bites of food you eat were pollinated by bees?  It does not bode well for us if the bees die.  As Einstein put it, "If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live....No more bees, no more pollination, ...no more men!"

I almost didn't want to see the movie because sometimes I feel overwhelmed by these kinds of movies.  I have a tendency to want to bury my head in the sand and hope that it goes away.  But the movie had a message of hope and I highly suggest you see it if you get the chance.

"But what can we do to help?"  you might be thinking.  Well, if you are interesting in bee-keeping I encourage you to look into it.  There are many resources available for those interested in raising both honeybees and native bees.  For those of us who aren't quite ready for that I suggest planting plants in your yard that are good nectar or pollen sources for bees.  I came up with the list below as a starter (the list is not exhaustive!).  This list includes plants that are good for bees and native to Ohio (except for Mahonia which is native to the northwest). 

Native Ohio Plants Beneficial to Bees
American Basswood - Tilia americana
American Elderberry - Sambucus canadensis
Beard-tongue - Penstemon
Beebalm - Monarda
Black Huckleberry - Gaylussacia baccata
Black Locust - Robinia pseudoacacia
Black-eyed Susan - Rudbeckia hirta
Bladdernut - Staphylea trifolia
Blazing Star - Liatris
Blue Wild Indigo - Baptisia australis
Butterfly Weed - Asclepias
Crabapple - Malus
Cup Plant - Silphium
Giant Hyssop - Agastache
Goldenrod - Solidago
Honeylocust -  Gleditsia tracantus
Ironweed - Veronia altissima
Joe-pye weed - Eupatorium
Lobelia - Lobelia
Lupine - Lupine perennis
Milkweed - Asclepias
New England Aster - Aster novae-angliae
New Jersey Tea - Ceanothus americanus
Obedient Plant - Physostegia
Oregon grape (native to northwest) - Mahonia aquifolium
Purple coneflower - Echinacea
Rattlesnake Master - Eryngium
Redbud - Cercis canadensis
Rhododendron - Rhododendron
Sage - Salvia lyrata
Spiderwort - Trandescantia
Steeplebush - Spiraea tomentosa
Stonecrop - Sedum
Sunflower - Helianthus
Tulip Tree - Liriodendron tulipifera
Willow - Salix

If you don't live in Ohio I suggest googling native plants to your area.  The following websites are great resources:


Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Grape Hyacinth


One of my favorite spring bulbs is grape hyacinth.  Technically speaking they are not a hyacinth but are in the genus Muscari.  I love to make mini flower arrangements of these and my tiny daffodils.  The yellow and purple looks great together.  I also love the way the flower turns white and flairs out at the bottom of each "grape."  You can't get much cuter than that! 


Submitted to Jillsy Girl's Color My World Board.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Spring Blossoms


I walk almost every day and I always see things that I want to return and photograph but almost never do.  But these pale pink beauties actually made me return.  I took quite a few I want to share but I decided I will sprinkle them here and there throughout the month.  You can click on the images to see them larger.

For those interested, the font is Legendaria and you can see more of it here.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Octopus Fabric Design


I came up with the above sketch for a fabric competition at Spoonflower called Project Selvage.  The competition called for a baby boy fabric and I ended up entering the design below.  Only the top 75 designs were able to compete and I didn't make it to the voting round, but you should check out the wonderful designs that did here


The design below was called "Suckers" and was my second favorite option.

Friday, April 1, 2011

Lenten Rose

Another sure sign of spring is Lenten Rose.  The flowers on these are beautiful but you don't often get a good look at them because their heads hang down.  I had to mush my head agains the ground to take the photo above.

I also love the variation in color.  In my yard they vary from dark pinky purple to rose to white.  They are actually hellebores (not roses) and there is a very nice description of them over on the Birds and Blooms blog.

Again, I have to credit Jillsy girl's blog for getting me out there to take some photos.  The above photo was inspired by Jill's April Challenge - Color My World.