Thursday, April 12, 2012

{p,h,f,r} Alleluia, alleluia!

{pretty}
Our first gardenia bloom in a long time! I'm not sure why this bush took a couple of years off. Someone told me that gardenias need acidic soil so we've been dumping coffee grounds on it occasionally, when we remember. Maybe that's made the difference.

{happy}
Easter eggs make me happy. We don't hide them. We just color them and then eat them. This is our second batch of red cabbage dyed eggs. We did a little experiment with them which I plan to post about later.

{funny}
Chocolate bunnies from Grammie!
 Tell me your kids like to poke the eyes out before they eat them. Mine think it's more humane.
I think it looks kinda creepy.

{real}
My roses are bleeding! Seriously... anyone know why this is? The kids say it's what they do when they start to fade but I don't remember seeing this before. Maybe I'm noticing it more because the blooms have been ginormous this year and because I am really tired and can't remember what I had for breakfast much less what these roses looked like last year. Has anyone seen a John Paul II rose do this at the end of the blooming cycle? Is it normal?


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~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~
with the lovely ladies at Like Mother, Like Daughter

11 comments:

  1. I think I have seen my John Paul II roses do that, but i can't tell yet this year because i did a major late prune and transplant so they haven't recoverd yet. Just as with many flowers, it is common for the color to change upon wilting, it is also common (though less so for roses i think) for the color to change with soil ph.

    This doesn't look like any rose disease that i have seen before, but roses are prone to disease and though the color seems notmal the pattern looks suspicious. below i have a link to a good general rose disease fighter. I would be concerned most about this being an odd presentation of mildew or reaction to mildew. http://www.rosemagazine.com/articles02/pages/rosediseases.asp

    Good luck! You can't grow roses without encountering disease at some point.

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  2. I love gardenias. We need to plant more since the best ones around here (not the only, ) were recently lost in a fire.

    I love love love the color of those eggs! If I don't do any other vegetable dyes I will have to do those, and soon!

    I will have to watch my JPII rose for this. It's still pretty young, so I haven't gotten to see a bloom yet.

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  3. Your gardenia is lovely! I've heard ashes are good for dumping in beds too. Maybe ashes also add acidity? Your eggs are so beautiful!!! Happy Easter!

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  4. Yes, I agree, that bunny really does look creepy! That is too funny!!

    Can't wait to read about your egg experiment! Those eggs turned out such a pretty color!

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  5. Your gardenias are beautiful! I love gardenias, many years ago I used to work at a hotel and there was an enormous gardenia bush. I loved walking past it, and that smell always brings me back to that season of my life - which was wonderful, since I met my husband around that time (he worked at the same hotel) :)

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  6. I stopped trying to grow anything that requires acidic soil - blueberries, hydrangeas, azealeas. Our western soil is alkali and I'm not going to fight anymore. I want to say that roses look like that because of sun burn. Roses like sun, but I've found that in really hot climates too much sun really stresses them. My experience is that roses fade pretty gracefully and just fall apart. But mine aren't blooming yet, so it may be faulty memory. Come to think of it, it may be the predominate white color.I have a miniature white rose bush that blooms abundantly but looks ugly as the blossoms fade. I keep thinking of pulling it out with colors that do better.

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  7. Your eggs are beautiful! I keep thinking I have to try the vegetable dying thing one of these years.

    Yes, the bunny is definitely creepy :-) I always feel weird chopping my kids bunnies apart bit by bit.

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  8. The bunny withe the missing eye is definitely creepy! Looks like something from a Tim Burton movie . . .

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  9. Hi Charlotte,
    What a pretty gardenia bloom. Does it smell as pretty as it looks? Interesting how a red cabbage egg dye turns out blue? Love the shade of them and yes, the bunny is a bit on the creepy side.

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  10. The coffee grounds will definitely make the difference between blooming and not for the gardenia. When I was little one of my jobs was to dump coffee grounds and tea leaves on my mom's gardenia. I love the smell of gardenias. Haven't thought of that in a long time.

    Those eggs are lovely. One of these days we'll have to try vegetable dyes. I always love seeing the pictures of your experiments.

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