6/3/21

Country Roads

It was a beautiful hot day for a drive through the country. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, we needed to pick up a wine shipment. We decided to make a day of it by visiting Adelman's Peony Gardens. The gardens did not disappoint. I have a bunch of peony pictures to show, as you might guess. But first, there were a few things to do at home.

I planted the last of the cucumber seeds. They'd been soaking two days in wet paper towels, but none of them were sprouted. Still, I went ahead and planted them. One of the seeds I planted earlier had sprouted, and that was good to see. Also, I noticed two more zucchini had sprouted, for a total of three plants. I decided I didn't need to plant any more. Three zucchini plants will be more than enough. When I checked yesterday evening, I discovered one of the melon seeds had sprouted, and so things are looking up in the vegetable garden.

Taking a walk around, I'm seeing a lot more flowers of the sage plant. I'd like more before I try starting the sage blossom vinegar.


The cherry trees are loaded with cherries this year, a testament to what can happen when they bloom during a sunny spell. Timing is everything with these. We have a short camping trip planned for the beginning of July, and so I hope they'll consider our needs before ripening.


Also, I spotted the first sauce tomato in the greenhouse. I've been checking daily, but this one was hiding. It's already about the size of a prune.


The dark purple rhododendron is looking its seasonal best right now, and it is alive with bumblebees.


The "Fairy Princess" peony was showing promise of blooming yesterday morning.


When I looked at it later in the day...TA-DA!


Okay, so getting back to our outing, I had PT in the morning. Mike did a little shopping at the local feed store while he waited for me. Then, we got some lunch and headed to the winery. I love the drive on the back roads to this particular winery.


We were headed to Witness Tree Winery, although the winery has changed owners and names. It's now known as Elemental Cellars, which makes me sad. The original name honored this actual witness tree growing on their hillside. I take a picture of it every time we go. You can read a little bit about it right here


Looking across the vineyard, is a very old barn.


Once we had our wine loaded, our next stop was Adelman's Peony Gardens. Our drive started with some roads we hadn't traveled before, then skirting the city of Salem, then east of I-5. I love a field that looks like this, and we saw a lot of this yesterday.


At the gardens, we saw some real eye poppers. Beautiful daylilies were lining the parking lot.


The garden surrounding the residence there is stunningly beautiful and lovingly tended. We saw lupine in all colors.




I think these might be hollyhocks, but I've never seen this color before.


Beautiful dianthus.


This was an interesting plant. Its leaves are velvety soft. It's called Angel Wings.


And, of course, lots of pretty peonies. They were mostly bloomed out, and we should have visited earlier, but we still saw plenty. If I end up replacing my recalcitrant "Rosy Prospects," I'm going to get this one called "Ada Niva." Isn't this incredible?


And there were so many pretty ones. This one is called "Cora Louise."


There were lots of pretty yellow ones, but I liked this one best.


There were so many different colors and shapes, I could have spent the day taking pictures.





The fields were being watered while we were there, and so I didn't venture too far. I think you can get the idea from these two photos.



They had cut flowers for sale too.


As for my own disappointing plant, its one remaining bud is going to seed as the other one did without ever flowering. It's supposed to look like this:


All I've been able to get is this:


It's mainly just the flower center, with no petals. The woman at the garden suggested I take some pictures and email them to the address on their website, and so I'll do that. Maybe they have some ideas about what's going on. We've already determined we'll dig it up this fall and try burying it deeper. If it doesn't bloom next year, we'll replace it. Do you hear me talking, Peony? There's no "for better, for worse" here. Straighten up and do your one job, or I'll divorce you. (Yeah...I'm talking tough now. Pillow talk has gotten me nowhere.)

So that was our day, and it was a good day. We have a quick trip to the grocery store this morning...just enough to get us through the weekend. Also, I need to hoe weeds in the vegetable garden. I'm hoping to see more sprouts this morning. After that, I'll spend the day on my quilting and sewing. It's going to be another hot day today, but we're expecting cooler temperatures by next week. No jury duty for me this morning, and so I've managed to get through the first week of my month-long commitment without having to report even once. Fingers crossed it continues like that.

10 comments:

Barbara said...

Sometimes the most scenic roads in life are the detours you didn't mean to take. ~ Angela N. Blount

The Joyful Quilter said...

Thanks for sharing your beautiful day trip, Barbara! Here's hoping you will be able to get more information about the bloom issue once you send in your photos.

Edith said...

Beautiful pics of your garden and theirs. I think that blue flower is a delphinium. They are pretty and sometimes will spread by seed I think. I didn’t have good luck with them. To dry here I think. Also alkaline soil. They may like acidic.

JCH said...

The purple stalk flowers are delphiniums. I had this color and the pale blue in my previous garden. Very pretty

MissPat said...

That's an asiatic lily, not a day lily and I agree with the others about the delphinium. You're going to be cooler and we're going to be much hotter. The forecasted and much needed rain has not yet materialized to my dismay. Just had 4 yards of mulch delivered and really don't want to put it down on dry soil. Enjoy the wine.
Pat

Carol in Texas said...

Barbara, the blue flowers are delphiniums. In an area of Colorado where we have had a cabin for years, many residents had them growing profusely in beds around their cabins. They loved that cool summer weather and were just breathtaking. Our Walmart here in central Texas has pots of them in the spring and I think it is so silly because they are NOT meant for our climate!

Magpie's Mumblings said...

Such a sensory delight to see all those amazing flowers! I must say I've never seen a yellow peony before so that was interesting. Having said they are all amazing, I have to also say that your Fairy Princess is the prettiest of them all. Hope you can get an answer to your about-to-be-divorced plant.

Joan G said...

Thank you for the beautiful pictures of the peony garden! And how interesting about the witness tree. There is a tree in a field near us that l have always loved and now I know what it is and why it is there. Thank you!

piecefulwendy said...

I had to come hunting for your post this morning, since it hasn't landed in my inbox yet. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the flowers. The peonies are gorgeous - I love the yellow one! I wish I had a good sunny spot for some, but we have too much shade. Hope you get some answers on that peony!

Beverly said...

This is the most beautiful post with all of those gorgeous flowers. I love peonies and have quite a few. I had one in my front bed that somehow went to seed and produced lots of baby peonies of various colors and now I have lots of them. They are all singles. My doubles don't ever do that. I am also a hydrangea lover and have quite a few of them. I had one that was always bitten by frost and seldom bloomed. I placed another one beside it and told it in no uncertain terms if there were no blooms in the spring, it would be pulled up and thrown away. She bloomed like crazy the next spring and has ever since. I have also spanked a flower with a stick to get it to bloom and it worked also. Go figure why that worked. I've been lurking in the background of your blog for years and really enjoy it, especially your kitties.