6/3/13

More Peonies


Looking for the May NewFO linky party and giveaway?  Click right here.

Over the weekend, I read that the peonies are in bloom at Brooks Gardens Peonies in Brooks, Oregon, near Salem.  Apparently, the gardens have been open for touring since Memorial Day weekend, but our local newspaper is only just now getting around to letting folks know.  It sounded like fun to me, and an opportunity to take some pictures.  This morning, I packed up my photography gear and headed out.

Brooks Gardens is only about half an hour away from where I live, which was a nice surprise.  I expected a longer drive.  On the way, I passed through St. Paul, Oregon (population 322).  Whenever I pass through St. Paul, I admire this little church.  There always seems to be some reason why it isn't a good day to photograph it.  Maybe the rain.  One time there was a truck parked right at the front door.  No idea why.  Today, it was a perfect day, and I finally was able to take a picture of it.  This is the Catholic church in St. Paul.


The windows are stained glass.  I don't know when the church was built, but it appears very old.

After that I headed on down to the peony fields.  They were so beautiful and fragrant.


This was the first one I saw up close.


Of course, I took a lot of pictures.  I'll just let you look.












I spoke briefly with a woman who was cutting flowers for sale, and asked her about the area where I live.  She seemed to think they would do just fine at our elevation and with our winters.  She told me there used to be a peony farm right near by where I live.  I'm seriously considering ordering some bare root stock to plant this fall.

They also had iris.




Did I ever tell you I love bird houses?  I do.  I have a collection in my kitchen greenhouse window.




This is one of the seed pods from a peony that has lost its petals.



On the way home I stopped at a fabric store to pick up a couple of fabrics I needed for my June NewFO project, which is this pattern from the October, 2006, issue of Quilter's World, called Forest Giant.


I needed the green on the right and the brown at the bottom.  The rest I was able to pull from my stash.


When I got home, the power was off.  From what I could tell, it had been off for a couple of hours.  It didn't come back on until after 5:00 p.m.  So...no sewing for me this afternoon.  No blogging either.  No taking my pictures off the camera.  No nothing.  I took a nap.

Yesterday, I finished the last of the petunia blocks for the Quiltmaker's Garden quilt.


These are the eight petunia blocks.


Also, I repotted all but one of my tomatoes.  I ran out of potting soil, but the last one is too small to need transplanting just yet.  These are set for the season now.  Today I stopped in and got more potting soil too.  Even though I want to hold off on repotting the last tomato, I still want to start another round of lettuce, and I needed the soil for that.


And that was my whole live-long day!  Oh yes, I found the first of the Oregon strawberries.  As I write this, I'm waiting for the oven to heat up so that I can bake some short cakes.  Strawberry short cake is on the menu in about half an hour.

I had a wonderful day despite the power outage.  How did your Monday go?

17 comments:

Babbellotta said...

i love these pionies... they were my mom's favorites aswell! oh and when i told my girl that you have strawberry shortcake on the menu she reacted with: oh no she can not eat her, she is way to darling to be eaten alive! [ yes referring to the only strawberry shortcake she knows: the cartoon icon! ] hope you have a wonderfull time today!

hugs from the Netherlands!
Winda

quiltzyx said...

Aaaaahhhhh, BEEEutiful! So much color & texture. The first iris looks about the same color as mine :D
Yay on getting past the partial seams & getting those flower blocks finished too.

Kathy Felsted Usher said...

Is one of your fabrics a Tonga Back to Nature- the batik with the orange/red leaves? I think this is the same material I am using for the big quilt I have been making forever. I really like the Forest Giant pattern, very pretty.

Ray and Jeanne said...

What gorgeous pictures! Sounds like a great day with a great reason to take a nap! Love the fabrics for your Forest Giant. ~Jeanne

legato1958 said...

Beautiful!! Wow... a peony field!
Thanks for sharing your experience!!

Susie

Sandy Panagos said...

What gorgeous photos!! Looks like you and your camera had a lot of fun.

Dana Gaffney said...

Yes to the peonies, they are the most decadent flower, so showy. I can't grow them so you must. :)

Mary said...

Your pictures are all beautiful. Thank you for sharing.

Lou said...

The peonies are beautiful!!!
I would of gone with you if I lived close by:)
My peonies didn't fair as well this year. Here in TX we got a very late spring rain so I only had 2 blooms:( Oh well there is always next year! The Hydrangeas are just gorgeous right now:)

I would love to harness some of my babies energy!!! They run laps through the house a few times day:)

ytsmom said...

I love the peonies. You should go for it! They are really tough.

Marei said...

Peonies are my VERY favorite flower in the whole world and your photos were so beautiful that I could smell the blossoms in my house. Do get some peonies...you will be so happy you did. Be very sure about the planting depth (too deep and you'll get plant but no flower) and have some cold days in winter and viola` you'll get flowers. I planted peonies when I lived on the north coast and used iced water on them the first few months they were in the ground (it didn't get too cold there) and it worked. I got flowers every year that were as big as my whole hand! No power outages here...just lots of heat, and more to come. The weather says 111 for this weekend. Just shoot me now!!

Diane Wild said...

My peonies are not in bud, yet, but will be soon. I always have an abundance of ants on the flowers. They must be attracted to the sweetness. My mother always said the ants were needed to open the flower. Somehow I don't think that to be true. I didn't see any ants in your photos. Rainy and cool in Minn. this week but the garden is doing well in spite of it.

Brown Family said...

All the flowers are beautiful! So are the block flowers!

Nan

Lyndsey said...

All the flowers are so beautiful and it must have been so fragrant. I love your fabric choices for your NewFo.

Kate said...

Gorgeous flower shots! It looks like it was a beautiful day to be out photographing such perfect subjects.

KittyAnn said...

I never tire of looking at your wonderful flower photos, the peonies are so lovely! The pink one with the yellow tipped frilly bits in it's middle are my favorite, so girly! =0) I like your plant growing setup, some day I need to build something such as yours so I can grow things from seed. Best, Ani in NC

Muv said...

Hello Barbara,

I cast my European eyes at the picture of the church and thought 1850. Not far off, it was built in 1846 and is the oldest brick building in the Pacific Northwest - it's on wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Paul_Roman_Catholic_Church_(St._Paul,_Oregon) I love stained glass. Will you take some pictures from the inside next time you pass?

Love,
Muv