Winter Flowers --Indoors and Out

We seem to enjoy flowers here all year round.  This winter the camillas have been outstanding all around town.  We have two bushes in front of our shop, Mr. Bandman Music.  They have been loaded with double pink blossoms. Mimi has a lot of camillas interspersed with the azalea bushes in her yard.  She has several colors, including the special purple dawn.  Unfortunately, the purple dawn had very few blooms on it this year.

Last Saturday I went out and picked a bouquet of camillas to take to a friend who is shut in. There were pink ones, red ones and candy striped ones. I tried to get pictures of all of them. I also thought that the bushes looked neat with the fallen blossoms around them on the ground. It was like a red or pink shadow below the plant.

camillas

We have also been enjoying the red amaryllis that Mimi's friend brought to her as a late Christmas present.  Paul put it in the dirt in the pot and we've watched it grow and bloom. In 10 days it shot up to about 18 inches in height.  It has two beautiful blossoms that we've wnjoyed for over a week now.  Paul plans to pollinate them so that we can grow more from seeds.

We may just put one of Paul's white (pale pink) double amaryllis bulbs in a pot so that Mimi can enjoy it here in the living room.

Mimi's Red Amaryllis from different angles and on different  days.

Flowers, Flowers, Flowers....Where have all the Flowers Gone?

Here it is the dead of winter and we wonder where have all the flowers gone?  Soon it will be spring and our town will be a showcase of azaleas and other flowers as evidenced in Our Town in Spring. Actually I might say All the Flowers are gone to Silsbee.  There is always something blooming here. The beautiful spring flowers are followed by the crepe myrtles in the summer.  There are huge crepe myrtle trees of various colors in yards around town as well as the small ones in the median of Highway 327 aka as Tiger Lane. This year the fall roses were absolutely gorgeous and of course we had the October Daisies.  Now we are enjoying a pot of pansies under Mimi's carport.  And the camillas are blooming by our front porch and in Mimi's backyard.  A nice harbinger of spring is a clump of paper whites (narcisscus) blooming in our back yard.
You also might say All the Flowers are Gone to ESN.  Our scavenger hunt this week takes us on a search for flowers..flowers to help us look forward to warm spring days.  There are as usual so many to choose from.  Here are a few.
I love Daisies and here is a beautiful fabric from Lil Bit of This N That.

Isn't this cheery? 
It would be neat in a kitchen or for something for a child.

In fact, Lil Bit of This N That has more floral fabrics. It is hard to decide which one is prettiest. You might choose several if you are a "sewer".

If you are not inclined to sew or make something yourself, have a look at I M Designs for lovely floral handbags.  This beautiful flowered bag for spring is one example.

Beautiful roses, daisies, buttons and lots of pockets!

Colors of Silk has a lot of gorgeous silk scarves and pillow covers with big bold flowers. Like this one with red and blue poppies.

Big Bold Summer Flowers on rich silk.

 Hang in there. Look at the Flowers on ESN and Dream.  Spring will be here sooner than we think.

Mimi's Birthday

Minta Allison Freeman

September 22,1920-September 22, 2010

90th Birthday

On September 25, 2010 we celebrated Mimi's 90th birthday.  Her birthday was actually on Wednesday, September 22, but we choose to have the party on Saturday.  She actually had some visitors all through the week before and some friends called and visited the next week.  No telling how many phone calls  she received from friends and relations wishing her a happy birthday.  Plus she received scads of cards and several beautiful flower arrangements.

Here are some pictures of the cake and flowers she received and the decorations.  Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of the guests  as her neice Diane did.

The delicious and beautiful cake was made by Valta Crosby.

The table with cake and many floral arrangements.

The dining room table and back drop.

Silk arrangement with goose made by her neighbors.

Spring in Our Town

Silsbee is so beautiful in the spring. Everywhere you turn there are gorgeous azaleas in all shades of pink,red, white. The dogwoods are in full bloom and there are patches of bluebonnets here and there. We also see brides wreath and purple and white wisteria along with an occasional grancy graybeard. We have been noting patches of dewberry blossoms, so we can come back to pick the berries later in the spring.

Imagine your playground in a field of bluebonnets. That's what we found at one garage sale this morning.

The red clover by Dr. Tennyson's office has been beautiful this year. There are lots of paintbrushes and verbenas along the highway and evening primroses in the ditches. Even the "weeds" by the backdoorstep are pretty flowers right now.

Here are some of our floral "treasures" for you to enjoy!

Click on the picture below to see all of our flower photos.

Spring Flowers