Sunday, April 11, 2010

Things Are Startin' to Bloom at Sweet Bee Cottage

Today started with patchy sunshine.  We worked for awhile on the new kitchen garden, but what I really wanted to share with you today are a few blooms here at Sweet Bee Cottage.  

These are some volunteer Dutch Iris growing amidst my William Baffin rose.



These are some of the roses from our front cottage garden.  I see I have an aphid problem starting.  We try to not use any pesticides in the garden so it looks like I'll need to hose these off.  (Baby Bee suggests we get a ladybug to eat all those aphids.  What a sweetie!)
One of my favorites - scabiosa, or pincushion flower.  I have a couple of spots with these.  They have really taken off this year.  
I cannot remember the name of this flower.  I want to say Jupiter's beard?  Do any of you know?  I saw it on a garden tour and loved it.  Planted it a couple of years ago and nothing much happened.  This is the first year we've gotten any blooms.  I seem to recall that after I planted it I heard it was hard to manage.  We'll see I guess.
Ahhh - I just love iris, don't you?  They seem to take care of themselves.  This is the only color I have right now, but I'm planting some more colors very soon.  (I found some iris rhizomes on clearance at Home Depot today - we'll see how they do.)
This is our lilac.  It's specially bred for our warm California winters but it doesn't get quite enough sun so I only get a few blooms on it.  I'm not sure transplanting it would be a good idea since it's about 6 feet tall.
And finally some sage I brought in from the front cottage garden.  We're using that for dinner tonight.  We're having spinach ravioli with a butter, parmesan, and sage sauce tonight.  

We're also going to have some strawberries over angel food cake for dessert.  My mom (the Sewing Bee) picked up some berries at our local berry stand yesterday.  They were SOOOOO gorgeous.  I should have taken a picture of them.  We ate a lot of them last night with dinner.  

What's bloomin' in your part of the country?

Are the strawberry stands up and running?  Do you even have those?  Everybody should have a strawberry stand to go to, don't you think?

Well it's started raining pretty good now.  I hope you are enjoying warm weather or are inside feeling cozy today.  

Love your visits!  I'll go get some more strawberries for us to share the next time you come by.  


Today I'm linking up with Cielo at The House in the Roses for Show Off Your Cottage Monday. Please stop by and see the other cottage delights.

28 comments:

  1. I'm in love with your garden! What kind of camera do you use? and will that lilac grow in zone 9-10? Oh, how I miss lilacs from back east!
    It's all so beautiful!

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  2. Thanks so much for posting your prettys flowers. I can't wait for my roses to start blooming!
    Robin

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  3. Oh how lovely! ENJOY your beautiful garden!!
    Hugs, Lisa

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  4. Thanks for your sweet comments on my cape. I have been working hard in the yard, readying for our move back there. I will need to do some minor things inside, as my bachelor son has been there over a year :) I can't wait to take some pictures when I have it back in shape!
    Robin

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  5. I have the blackest thumb ever so I am quite impressed by all the beautiful flowers that are blooming for you! Happy, happy spring! :)

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  6. YOU HAVE ROSES IN BLOOM!!! The leaves on ours aren't even out yet. Wow, do I live in the wrong place. I do have a William Baffin rose though.

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  7. Oh my Goodness! They are all so beautiful! Your garden must be gorgeous! I loved seeing these photos. Have a great week! laurie

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  8. Love your garden full of pretty blooms.

    Hugs
    Charo

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  9. Your roses are so pretty! They are doing great! You can go to a gardening store and buy a bag of lady bugs to eat up your aphids. Your little bee is on the right track. We did it, and it really does work! We also try to use as few chemicals as possible.

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  10. such pretty blooms you have in your garden! love them all.. thanks for sharing.. have a good week!

    fitty

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  11. Ahhh to have flowers in bloom........ The only thing blooming here in upstate NY is some daffodils! My roses are just starting to pop out some leaves. As far as Strawberries, well I'll have to wait until June for some local ones! Kim

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  12. Dear Sweet Bee,

    I left you a loooong reply in comments on my blog. I am on the run.

    Yes, that is Jupiter's Beard...centranthus. We had it at Heart's Ease.

    Sending love from the airport,

    Sharon Lovejoy Writes from Sunflower House and a Little Green Island

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  13. You ;have such gorgeous flowers blooming. We have nothing blooming as of yet. I live north of North Dakota, so it will be a good month before we see leaves even, I'm thinking. Thank you for stopping by my cottage and leaving a sweet comment. Hugs, Cindy S

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  14. Your flowers are so lovely and cheerful. Not much is blooming here yet except the flowering trees are beginning and some of the flowering shrubs. At the moment the only flowers I have are daffodils, tulips, and pansies. Until I do, I'll just have to stop by and visit yours.

    Love,
    Susan and Bentley
    xxoo

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  15. The roses, iris ... everything is just lovely! My roses have little buds ... I can't wait for a bloom :)
    Blessings,
    Donna

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  16. What beautiful flowers! Tell me please; how did you know you have an aphid problem starting? (I couldn't see anything in the pic.)

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  17. You've got some real beauties blooming right now! I love the Dutch Iris and I bet that yellow rose is going to be gorgeous. I've tried scabiosa a couple times, and it always ends up disappearing. And I can almost smell that lilac! Definitely one of my favorites.
    You managed to make my mouth water when you were describing your dinner. I love anything with sage in it!
    Happy Monday!
    Carol

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  18. Hi! What glorious bloomings going on in your garden. The roses are wonderful and I do love iris. What a pretty color yours is. I can almost smell the lavender.
    Thanks for popping in to see me.
    Be a sweetie,
    Shelia ;)

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  19. gorgeous blooms! I have 1 plant of the scabiosa and want more. I want to find something cool that will live in Texas coastal zone and climb up my olden door that is in the garden.

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  20. Oh so beautiful! I just love all the different colors and pretty flowers! I can't wait to see some blooming around here!

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  21. Love the pincushion flowers! I have a lilac that was here when we bought our house and it finally bloomed the first time in about 5 years! I think because we had so many below freezing days this winter in Georgia. All your flowers are just lovely and I enjoyed seeing them!

    Manuela

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  22. What a treat it is to see all your blooms. I lost all my pincushion plants with the freeze this winter. Seeing your photos reminds me I want to get some to replace them. Love the name! Your roses are spectacular. Thanks for sharing.

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  23. Such pretty posies!!!

    Thanks for sharing them with us.

    Blessings,

    Jo

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  24. What gorgeous flowers! Spring has certainly come to your cottage! I can hardly wait to hear about what's growing in your kitchen garden!

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  25. You know...I often wonder why on earth they don't just clean this silver and see what they have. It's odd. I bought three pieces of silver on Saturday and all of them were black but cleaned up beautifully. It's really odd how little people value their silver...they just seem to want to dump it.

    I have two large boxes of strawberries in my frige at the moment...and they are just delicious. We had them on our cereal this morning...it's this time of year that I just adore my state...I really do! Next come the cherries...oh dear! :)
    Hugs,
    Mona

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  26. Hello,
    What beautiful flowers you have.
    I love flowers, but I don't know much about growing them. I'm trying to learn. The roses are so pretty!
    Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving the sweet comment.
    D (now a follower :)

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