Baptisia / False Indigo

Here's the blooms of the false indigo in the garden :)

Plants, Flowers, Colour

Recently we've planted a bunch of new things in the garden, some herbs, vegetables, and flowers.  One that I was looking at last season was false indigo (Baptisia).  I just added a small one to the garden last week.  It can, apparently, be used as a dye plant, like 'true' indigo, though does not produce as good a blue colour.  I will have to wait until the plant is a bunch bigger, at least 2-3 growing seasons I think, before it's big enough to try it. It's got buds on it so once the flowers come out I'll share a picture.  I've also got rhubarb, beets (not a dye plant, but maybe a good stain?), red onions, and possibly other things that might make good dyes or stains.

Also, I'm going to be changing the layout of the blog shortly, so if you notice anything that isn't working properly, let me know?  Thanks!

21-30 of 30 swatches

11-20 of 30 designs

Swatches 2

11-20 of my 30 Spoonflower swatches!  8 by 8 inches each, on quilting weight cotton, my own designs. 

Royal Botanical Gardens

Afternoon walk

At the back end of yesterday afternoon we went for a walk in the local conservation area, Rattray Marsh. We saw a deer, a great blue heron, and a swan on its nest. There was also a baby bunny in our yard earlier on.


Nesting Swan

Mayapple Flower

Great Blue Heron

Busy bee!

With a family wedding on Saturday, and the events and activities surrounding it, I've been less bloggy than I would have otherwise been. It's our first very hot day of the season here, and I'm quite glad of air conditioning. On Sunday we had a little time in hand between places we had to be, so we took a little walk around Acton, and happened across a gorgeous garden. One of their neighbours said it's apparently a 90 year old gentleman who tends it.

Daffodils

Pretty daffodils from my garden. :)

Yellow Flowers

Just a couple of flower snapshots from my recent holiday. Enjoy!

End of the Week

I was out and about this afternoon, and pointing out different flowers and plants along the roadside.  I thought about how few people my age (or any other age for that matter) can actually identify alot of these roadside plants, backyard birds, etc.  It may not be in the category of essential knowledge, but I do think it's a shame.  My gran and mum have always been interested so I grew up assimilating some of their knowledge, and now I'm quite grateful for it.

Colour

I have taken over the floor space with my paints.  Yesterday and today I've worked on this piece (detail of piece in progress shown above) and I'm almost done now.  I started it a while ago, but set it aside.  One of the things that I remembered being taught, which helped, is to turn the painting upside down and look at the problem spots that way. 

Much of yesterday was rainy here, though during a clear patch in the weather I went outside to snap a couple of pics of the flowers.  The day lilies are out, which are a lovely shade of orange.  The flowers below I chose to post because they're such great colour combinations together.