I have been watching in amazement as my Clivia ‘Good Hope’ flowers for the first time ever.
Its butter-yellow finger-like buds finally opened into big happy blooms this week.
I did not realize that it would get this large.
Even its roots, which slither along the surface, are big.
Another giant houseplant. Hooray!
Flower
I use colorful swizzle sticks to mark where I plant bulbs.
I have found that the twisted kind holds up longer and stays up better.
I thought this color combo was rather nice.
The swizzle sticks match the stamen.
Swizzle stick serendipity!
Flower
I have been too sickly to go out into the garden this week,
instead I traveled down the Amazon with Margaret Mee and her friend Rita.
I would have been terrified running the rapids in a dugout canoe,
if I had not been safely tucked in my bed while doing it.
Not only is she adventurous, she is also an artist.
Her botanical watercolors are famous for their beauty as well as accuracy.
Margaret Mee gets placed on my hero list with Marianne North and Beatrix Potter.
I was almost glad to be sick, so that I could float and forage through the jungles.
Almost..
FLOW
I learned a lot last weekend at the Fairy House Festival at Latta Plantation.
I had no idea that fairy architecture was so complex.
It seems that they like to have paths to their door.
Bark is their favorite roofing material.
Pine branches and pine cone are decorative accents.
Stones are stools and acorns are bowl.
Wisps of grass add flare.
Some like the teepee style of house
while others feel safer under ground
or inside a tree stump.
I must start gathering building materials to build my fairies a new house under the fig tree.
Stay tuned for updates.
FLOWER
I have many hats, but none compares to the Storyteller’s hat.
It seemed to store stories in its castle. There was even a draw bridge on the front.
The storyteller’s name is Wisha Granty.
Storytelling is her part-time gig. She is also a fairy godmother and a pirate named Captain Rowdy.
I met her at the Fairy House Festival at Latta Plantation.
I did not get to stay for her stories, but her hat told some tales of its own.
It seems that Bugs Bunny is friends with Tinkerbell who flies with dragons when Peter is elsewhere.
The Red Ridinghood wolf is the supervisor over the Two(oops) Little Pigs.
Snow White is a security guard who works with a gargoyle to guard the drawbridge.
The wicked witch does advising atop the castle, coaching princesses to be more assertive.
The hat even had a Halloween side with a Jack-o-lantern, graves stones a ghost, and some gargoyles. I sensed some dark magic coming from this side of the hat.
The hat was so full of magic I was afraid to touch it.
Wisha Granty must be one heck of a storyteller and godmother if she owns a hat like that.
It was nothing short of a work of art.
Wisha had a hat like that.
FLOWER
I learned a few fashion tricks this weekend at the Fairy House Festival.
I need to keep up with the trends while dressing my own fairies.
I was happy to see that sensible shoes are in.
I found an assortment of hats to accent any outfit.
Wings come in all shapes and sizes.
Hair embellishments are a necessity.
There was a wide variety of wands.
Those fairies have a magical flare for fashion.
I must pay closer attention.
Flower
If you were wondering where all the fairies had gone yesterday,
they were all down at Latta Plantation for the Fairy House Festival.
I have never seen some many fairies.
All colors, sizes and ages came to construct a magical fairy colony along the wooded paths in the Faylinn Village.
In additions to the construction of dwellings,
fairies could also get their faces painted, make crafts,
play games, listen to stories,
plant flowers, blow bubbles and learn about nature.
There were even flying lessons available for the bravest little fairies.
My next post will be on Fairy Fashion. They have a flare for fashion!
FLOWER
Get out there while the weather is good. Gather your tools and gloves.
It’s clean-up time in the perennial beds here in the south.
There are babies on the way.
New bloom growth of Hellebores and Epimediums are peeking out of the ground.
I also cut down evergreen ferns now so I have a clear view of the lovely new fiddleheads.
Get all those old stems out of the way before new growth emerges.
It is much easier to do this now than have to be careful around the new shoots.
Removing old mulch and fallen leaves also removes disease and insects.
Replace with a fresh light layer of pine needles.
It is not spring, but you need to spring into action.
Like the saying about a horse costume… I’d rather be a head than a behind.
FLOW says GO!
I spent the weekend at Winter Fest in Blowing Rock, North Carolina.
My favorite part was the ice sculpting.
The artists set up huge blocks of ice in the middle of the town park.
This was the finished product .
There were also frozen signs made for different businesses around town.
These pieces were lovely, but did not inspire me to become an Ice Artist.
I was too cold to stick around and watch the artists work.
I did return later for photos.
By then I was rather tired, but there was only this seat available.
So I just stood around with the bear.
Better to stand with a frozen bear, than sit with a frozen rear.
FROZEN FLOWER
floweralley 