Sunday, May 17, 2009

Deep into Spring, and telecommuting May 15

I took these pictures Thursday evening because we were forecast to get rain on Friday and my peony flowers often get beaten to bits by heavy rain so i wanted to catch them before that happened. This is the red peony that was in bud last week. It's always my earliest peony to bloom. I found my notes...it's called Jean Bockstoce, an oldish hybrid from 1933 (i got it in 1992 from White Flower Farms in Connecticut as part of a 3-peony special).
This is one of my new babies that i bought last year from Country Flower Garden. This is the first single flower peony that i've planted. Her name is Scarlet O'Hara!
Not quite open yet, this is Pink Hawaiian Coral, also bought last year from Country Flower Garden.

This plant is the reason why i started planting peonies in the first place. It's Festiva Maxima, an old old cultivar, with huge frilly white blooms that open with a fleck or two of red in the innermost petals, and the delicious peony fragrance. The three-peony selection that i bought from White Flower Farm was just supposed to be "one red, one white, and one pink" but i really wanted the white to be a Festiva Maxima, which i had seen in a garden in upstate NY and fallen in love with (but felt i couldn't afford to buy an individual plant). They said they couldn't guarantee which plants would be in the collection, but they were pretty sure the white would be a Festiva Maxima, and sure enough, it was! It has done wonderfully year in and year out, although sometimes the bloom time is cut short by a downpour that knocks the stems down or knocks the petals off. This one will be blooming in a week or so, depending on the weather.
I'm pretty sure these are Siberian irises that i bought from my friend Sally Mello a couple of years ago. Last year they did nothing and i thought they'd perished; this year's bountiful spring rains brought them up tall and blooming!

I think this is Iris Black Knight from Country Flower Garden. Irises have trouble in my garden because the beds get too overgrown with groundcover and honeysuckle for their rhizomes to have the nice clean surroundings they thrive in. I hope i'll be able to keep this one happy!
After unloading all of my father's household goods on Tuesday, the small moving truck followed me to my town (i could see the driver thinking "where the heck are we going??"). On board they had the student desk and bookcase that my father made me many years ago, a box of books, and two boxes of small tools, nuts, and bolts, that my father set aside for me.

I didn't really have a good place to put the desk since my study is cluttered with boxes in the center and two desks already against the wall, but i really really wanted to keep that desk that he so lovingly made for me and which i sat at to do my homework all through junior high and high school. So i moved some boxes of "stuff" to the basement and had the movers put the desk in the middle of the room. Gingy immediately explored and declared it was a wonderful perch just for her.

This is my telecommuting Friday, with Fuzzy snuggling (after thoroughly washing my face with his raspy tongue).

Then he turned himself around and lay with his head on the keyboard. This is always challenging especially when i'm telecommuting :).
Another picture of Gingy enjoying "her" new desk.

And of course Louie had to snuggle, too, during an hour-long teleconference.

Here's the bookcase (i should have moved that flooring remnant out of the way before i took the picture!). When this was in my bedroom in my parents' house, it used to hold my collection of National Geographic magazines as well as a bunch of books, including some favorites that i brought back with me, like Margaret Mead's People and Places.

11 comments:

  1. Lovely peonies. The single ones are en vogue since a few years here. Before, everyone went crazy for the heavily filled ones. The magenta couloured very old peony we have in the patio is long finished (and hasn't got a smell). I have a single white one with an heavenly smell, but it seems to me the two buds have dried as they aren't growing anymore. Ah well, next year.
    The Siberian Iris doesn't strive in the pot I'm having it, maybe I should find a space in the earth for it. Yours is wonderful!
    I love Gingy on the desk.
    Have a good start into the week!

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  2. It's amazing that just 20 miles west of me your peonies are open already! It'll be a few days for mine - which is later than usual thanks to the cold winter and cool spring. This year, peonies will definitively last past Memorial Day.

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  3. More pretty flowers and cats! Do you get to telecommute often?

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  4. We love the flowers. And that desk looks a great place to snoozle!

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  5. I'm so glad you're back and it's great to get caught up on your garden, kitties all that you've been doing.
    Happy to hear your Dad is settling into his new home. I hope you get to share many nice visits together.

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  6. Just catching up with your blog, Quiltcat. So much going on in your garden! Beautiful peonies!
    Sounds like you've been very helpful to your Dad - hope he does well in his new residence.
    Nice to see your kitties and a picture of you!

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  7. I came over to see your blog because of the name - my blog is mostly cats, but has some quilting and gardening in it also. The peonies are just lovely (but I know what you mean about them getting beaten by rain).

    I hope your dad enjoys his new home. We moved my mother-in-law out here two years ago from Seattle (that was quite a move!), and she has adjusted quite well - plus it helps that we are closer to her so we can help out if needed.

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  8. Ooh, lovely lovely garden shots! I do love to see them!And as for the pictures of the cats! They are so sweet and funny! Gingy is a real character, isn't he? And the one of you being licked - priceless!!

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  9. We love the flowers. You must have a wonderful garden.

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  10. Gorgeous blooms!!! The PM just transplanted five peonies this weekend. The idiot who had our house before planted them under a willow facing north! They were so straggly but their roots were like small trees! They are still standing so we hope they are OK. The PM wants to get some more, these ones are the plain fuchsia.

    Gingers are always so silly!!!

    Purrs Shade

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  11. Rudy loves to wash Mommy's face too!

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