"One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it brings."

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Welcome surprises, up high and down low.

 I love finding surprises out in the garden.  Some surprises I hope will eventually come, but there can be a lot of waiting to see them actually happen.  The seedlings appearing that I didn't plant or a long awaited flower on a plant I was about to give up on definitely surprised me yesterday.


When these Sunflowers started sprouting awhile ago my neighbor asked if I planted them.  I had planted some last year in this spot, but this year I planted them in other places.   I don't know if Sunflower seeds can survive the winter or if the birds found some really nice seeds to drop here.

This is the first one of the surprise Sunflowers to bloom.  I know Sunflowers follow the sun, I was interested to see that even the buds of the unopened flowers followed the sun.

Honeybees love Sunflowers.

Who needs sun when one of these pretty flowers lights up the area.

My other surprise yesterday was this Water Lily.  It's been in our pond for almost 3 years and this is it's first bloom.

Even more exciting is that there is another bud waiting to open.

Nestled near the Water hyacinth, it was close enough to try and smell.  I balanced and hoped my next door neighbor wasn't looking.  No, it didn't smell.

My friend Anna gave this to me when they decided to fill in their pond.  I remember seeing it bloom in her pond and couldn't wait to see it flowering in mine.  I love the rows of petals on it.  I have two other Water lilies in the pond as well.  I had decided I'd just be happy with the lily pads from this one, I'm glad I left it in the pond now that I reminded how pretty the flowers are.

We've had just enough rain falling the last couple of days to wake up some of the plants lying down from the dry heat.  Another nice surprise for sure.
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34 comments:

  1. It was definately worth the 3 year wait.

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  2. Wow, that was worth waiting for. The photos you took are tremendous. The water lily bloom is wonderful, but the lily pads themselves inspired Monet to paint so many paintings. Good surprises to pick up your spirits.

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  3. The water lily is lovely. But oh how I love the sunflower!

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  4. All those wonderful surprises to delight you.

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  5. So beautiful! Yup, it's important never to give up hope on our garden babies (and our human ones); they may choose to bloom in their own time .... and it's worth the wait!

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  6. The welcome rain has made its way over to us today- hooray! The water lily is exquisite, glad it finally bloomed for you.

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  7. Beautiful sunflower and a breathtaking water lily.

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  8. What a gorgeous bloom it has. Worth the wait. That is so great that you got a volunteers sunflower growing. It is doing so great. I have a couple that sprout up from where I feed the birds but they usually do not do well in my old clay soil.
    The Anemone Charlotte that I have does really well and gets two feet high with the blooms reaching about 3 feet.

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  9. Those little surprises are great! Love the sunflower and I'm betting the birds planted it. Great spot too!

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  10. Celestial beauty shining from that water lily blossom!!! Stunning... No wonder they hold such spiritual significance for so many.

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  11. That water lily is beautiful: bloom, pads, buds and all. So is the dahlia from yesterday.

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  12. Beautiful photos....Sunflowers follow the sun until they are fully open and then they are supposed to face East. The water lily is so perfect looking...rain? I want some!!

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  13. Heavenly photos, Catherine! I love your waterlily, even though it took its sweet time in warming up to your pond. Looks like you will be awash in pink in the pond soon. Hooray! The sunflower is so fun, love those gardening birds. :-)
    Frances

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  14. I love sunflowers - they're such happy plants you just have to smile at them! The waterlilies are gorgeous too - can't wait till my tea house is done and I can put lilies in the pond ..... but am I as patient as you or will I give up on them before the three years is up?!! :)

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  15. These pictures are just so pretty Catherine. The pond is such a nice addition. Glad everything is looking perky again. We finally got rain here!

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  16. Sunflowers and waterlillies lovely. I have missed my blogging friends as I have been away visiting Dad now there is too much to catch up on so I will take it slowly a just do a little.

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  17. The birds planted sunflowers here too, but the goldfinches devour them before I can enjoy them! I wouldn't mind if they just ate the seeds, but they tear off the pretty petals. And I keep their thistle seed filled too, the stinkers. My up-high surprise is my climbing Don Juan rose that is about to bloom, and is at least 8 feet high!

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  18. Great sunny surprise! It is gorgeous!

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  19. I love sunflowers! And your waterlily is glorious. Glad you have had plenty of rain!

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  20. That's a nice tall sunflower. I planted some this year and the chipmunks got one don't know what happened to the others. Someone said they germinate like weeds - hmmmm I can't even grow a sunflower. LOL yes, I've grown them before so I know I can. They come back every year at my sisters in eastern Washington. Must be the freeze they get.
    Your water lily is beautiful. What a long wait huh? Definitely worth it though.
    Loving the rain - been outside and didn't even care that I was getting wet!!!

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  21. Surprises are good... as a reminder that some happenings are not necessarily within our own plan .. and it helps our hearts changing speed occasionally. Surprises include reseeding even after two or three years the mother plant has gone... Surprises are gifts.

    A nice day to you Catherine,
    ~bangchik

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  22. I love finding surprises in the garden too Catherine. You certainly found some beauties!

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  23. Wow, those images are beautiful. Everything looks so heathy too. I can see you've put a lot of love and energy into your garden.

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  24. Surprise sunflowers are always the best, the biggest and the healthiest. Beautiful water lily.

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  25. Oh yeah, we're always getting sunflowers coming up from last year's seeds. They're a nice surprise. I've never tried to smell our water lilies, I just always assumed they didn't smell. Now I don't have to try to balance on the edge of our pond to check it out. Nice bloom!

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  26. I had the same thing with my lone sunflower. I had planted an entire package and of course that night we had a torrential down pour and they were all washed away, well at least none of them sprouted. Then to my surprise across the yard in an eniterly different garden, one huge seven foot tall sunflower grew. It was a sight to behold. I assume a bird moved it and I am so glad it did. I was very surprised and glad to have it.

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  27. Great surprises Catherine. Both worth the wait for sure. That water lily is stunning. I hope I don't have to wait three years for a bloom on mine tho. I'll be desperate!

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  28. Now that is one tall surprise! I love the 4th photo close-up ;) What a beautiful water lily, too. Hooray for the return of wet asphalt yesterday!

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  29. Those kinds of surprises are the best!

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  30. These photos bring me such pleasure today. The colors are amazing. Who could not feel happy when looking at these? Thanks Catherine for this.
    XOSue

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  31. That sunflower is awesome and I loved the photo of the water lily too. I would have been like you.....leaning waayyyyyy over to see if the water lily had fragrance or not. I had to smile when you said you did that.

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  32. Hello Catherine (and Gracie cause I know you're there). I love the full-screen sunflower shots. Really brightens things up.

    I'm glad about your new water lily bloom. How our gardens never cease to amaze us!

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  33. GORGEOUS and very healthy looking sunflowers! I've had seeds survive through the winter and bring up sunflowers. Yours is striking. I also love the look of the water Hyacinth. I enjoy surprises in the garden, too. Each year I get lots of alyssum, so I don't have to replant or grow those from seed. I've also enjoyed coneflower. I'm always impressed with your garden. Lovely.

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  34. You do take some wonderful photos. I love sunflowers, last year we were in the campervan in France, driving past fields of them, all turned to the sun. The French for sunflower is perhaps even more apt than the English don't you think (le tournesol).

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