The blog of Canadian author Cynthia Reyes
The peonies are blooming in different shades and varieties. A bit late here in the sticks, but it’s been a splendi-florous week.
Yes, those are the legs of an insect in the centre — it didn’t move so maybe it’s asleep, as this was early morning.
Happy Juneteenth and I wish you a lovely weekend,
Cynthia.
Well, it would be garden porn but we’re at that in-between stage right now.
Flowering plants are still budding up…
Vines are twining up…
And if it weren’t for the Jack In The Pulpits, cuddling up to an overwhelmingly tall hosta…
And these sweet little wild anemone flowers cozying up against the stone wall ….
And the vegetable garden, with tomato plants and eggplants and peppers and herbs shooting up in the hot sun….
Or the annuals in pots, under the guardian’s unwavering gaze….
Or the empty coffee mug forgotten on the Muskoka chair….
And green stuff on the ground or climbing up the walls….
And this one and only bloom on this most reluctant tree peony…
Overseen by a multitude of ferns and other shrubs not yet blooming…
I’d have nothing to show you at all!
~~
Gundy Schloen is passionate about photography.
So: add her passion for photography to her passion for flowers and what do you get?
Beautiful photos of flowers, of course.
Over the years, Gundy has taken thousands of photos of flowers.
Flowers in her own garden and flowers wherever she goes.
Like the Oshawa Peony Festival a few weeks ago. (Oshawa is a city east of Toronto.)
So I asked her if I could feature just a few of the photographs she took there.
But choosing just a few was very difficult. I really liked this one, above.
Then again, I liked this photo below and the one below that.
Gee whiz – I liked a lot of them.
And aren’t these ones below just luminous?
Beautiful flowers…. and beautiful photography.
Well done, Gundy and thanks for allowing me to feature “a few” of your stunning photos.
Photos copyright of Gundy Schloen.
“How typical of Jean,” I thought when she sent me cheery photos (including the one above) of spring flowers in Vancouver. “To do something nice for me when it’s her birth-week.”
Jean does this kind of thing.
But it’s Jean’s birthday, so these flowers are dedicated to her.
If asked to name something that comes to mind when we think of Jean, her friends would probably say:
Family.
Faith.
Friendship.
Good Food.
Flowers.
(We might also add Athletics, Books and Music but those words don’t begin with an ‘F’, so they don’t make the cut here.)
These flowers are in honour of a special birthday.
Jean loves flowers. She’s actually studied gardening. Recently, she created a whole new garden from scratch.
Peonies are among her favorites.
So are Bleeding Hearts. These below are grandchildren of a plant she gave me years ago.
A few of Jean’s gardener friends have contributed flowers and garden scenes to this birthday greeting.
Ornamental grasses from Linda’s garden:
And a lovely white peony:
Jan sends this yellow beauty and the pink lady’s slippers by the lakeside:
And from Val’s garden come these peonies and scene of the lush countryside northwest of Toronto:
Thank you, Jean.
For your friendship.
And for being you.
A blessed birthday and birth-week to you.
Cynthia Reyes 