Friday, April 9, 2010

Blue Lawns and Blue Lips

It is really dark and cold today - 0C (32F) - this after shorts and shirt sleeve temperatures. Look at this Epimedium its little hairs are standing on end....and is that goose flesh I see? The amazing world of cameras, I didn't even know that the little stems had hair on them.
Hellebore 'Ivory Prince' is moving on to its green phase.

Just to give you a feel for the light this morning - here's a photo of maple tree flower petals all over the sidewalk.

And along the way - Kevin noticed I had snowflakes in my hair. That or I need to change my shampoo.
Here I am, snow gear on, yet again - smile firmly frozen.
The destination for our walk was the corner of Elton Park and Lakeshore Road. I'd spied this great lawn of blue grass while I was driving home the other day. It belongs to a house that's about to be razed.

There's not much in the left in the garden other than the forsythia, and some old orange ditch lilies. If I was a more aggressive photographer, the better shot would have been to clip off a piece of the forsythia, plunk it in the middle of the blue and then take the photo. There's something about these two colours together that just makes me feel warmer.

Take a good look, by next year this will all be house. Perhaps they'll paint the front door blue.

9 comments:

Gail said...

Blue and yellow are classic together! I need to remember to plant blue spring bulbs beneath Hedge...cause I don't think we have the budget to remove him after all! I was looking at the weather map and it looks like winter still has the western half of NA in its icy grip...But, soon it will be REAL Spring....We will have moved into full time summer in a few weeks! gail

Barbarapc said...

Gail - it's a pity I can't dig this all up and send it to you. As I remember, you'll probably need the whole lot as Hedge is quite extensive. Just got a bulb catalogue today where they show some of Holland's finest displays - there's a dandy photo with a river of muscari, edged with a border of bright red tulips and further edged by about 4 feet of what looks like white Thalia daffs - just stunning. I've got my second sweater on....bring on the heat.

Barry said...

Barbara:
Damnably cold today, but that didn't stop me from donning the winter coat [but note the socks and sandals... geesh Teza!] to begin the Spring Inventory. About a third of my inventory is showing...... but yes, there was snow in the air for sure. I love the shot of the hairy Epimedium..... adorable!

In regards to your recent querry: both new trees are headed for pots. The Cornus should be able to winter outside, but the Acer.... methinks it will be joining A.p 'Mikawa Yatsubusa' in the garade every winter.

Gail said...

Barbara...I am going to plant that river below Hedge...great idea. gail

easygardener said...

I hope you manage to defrost soon. Surely your real Spring cannot be too far off. What a pity the bulbs have to make way for a house!

Anonymous said...

I love your title, Barbara. I hope the blue lawn lasts and the blue lips don't. Beautiful!

Victoria Williams said...

Very pretty blue! Too bad the new owners probably won't save them.

Northern Shade said...

I love that expanse of blue, and even the hint of forsythia yellow makes it pop. It must have taken a while to fill in so beautifully. It would be tempting to roll it up and take it home with you, if the new owners didn't want it.

Barbarapc said...

Teza, hope they're argyles - nothing more fetching...it will be interesting to see just how large the cornus gets - they're pretty at the 4 foot stage, but breathtaking when they're 15 feet or more (fingers crossed for you).
eg - the size of houses that people want takes my breath away. Sadly there just doesn't seem to be as much room for garden any more.
Grace, blue lawns reverting to green and lips back to pink - even under the Mac Viva Glam.
K&V & Northern Shade - No doubt there will be moving equipment hauling off all the top soil and everything with it and composting it all somewhere. It is too bad you can't just roll it up and keep it for someone. That would be a great idea.