Abloom

Hydrangea serrata Blue Billow

Nothing reminds me more of summer, the ocean and beloved Nantucket than lacecap hydrangeas.  They’re not particularly common as far inland as I live, which is why I planted this special Korean strain which tends to be more hardy in my part of the planet.

Mountain hydrangea (Lacecaps)

Unlike the ubiquitous macrophylla with its snowball-shaped blooms, the lacecaps drift in an almost ethereal way.  Seven years after planting, my one-gallon shrub is nearly five feet in diameter and nearly four feet tall.  They don’t bloom every year, but most years, and this has been the most spectacular show so far.

Drifting blooms

With the horridly high temps early in the season, the whole garden went on an accelerated schedule.  Everything is blooming two weeks ahead of schedule.

Lilium Casa Blanca

Between Friday night and Saturday afternoon, nearly forty Casa Blanca lilies popped open.  You can smell them several houses away.  (Hold your nose, Luann!)  Most years, I can set the calendar to August 1 for this event.  Not so in 2010.  The lily plot started with a single bulb from CleoLion’s garden and has taken over the southeast corner of the screened porch.

At left, ready to pop

It appears that I’ve staved off the evil beetles at least temporarily.  They almost completely defoliated the roses when I wasn’t paying attention.  Applications of milky spores are definitely in order this fall.  Nonetheless, the phlox crop is stunning, too.

Lotsa phlox

The white Phlox paniculata David (also from CleoLion) are in their second bloom of the year, now nearly five feet tall.  Behind them are two varieties I’m hazy on the names of – the darker is Franz something, the lavender are Katherine or Laura – brain is not retaining that at the moment.  There’s another plant next to the screened porch, among the lilies and roses.  To say that time outdoors is perfumed does not begin to describe it.

On the knitting front, I am so relieved to report that the dreaded back of my test-knit is done.  Soldiering on …

Hoots!

Lilium Casa Blanca 8-3-09

Back home again, to find that the whole stand of Casa Blanca lilies is in full bloom. I would have known this without seeing them: as soon as I opened the car door in the driveway, I could smell them.  Serious staking was necessary, as the 8-inch blooms – as many as 6 to a stalk – were bent over to the ground in many cases.

In full bloom

It’s a bumper crop, to be sure, and they are now in every room in the house.  The blooms will last a week or more.  A wee helpful note: If you should grow these and cut them, you must cut the anther filaments off the stamens.  If you get this powder on your skin, it takes days to come off and I have yet to be able to remove it from clothing!

Now, back to your knitting programming.

As a mostly single mom who works full-time, my “virtual life” is the place where my friends are.  KnittingKittens, NanciKnits, SandyT, Luann, Deb and many others keep me sane and provide me with so much friendship.

Early this year, I met a new friend through Ravelry who is following a path I trod many years ago.  Miniknitter is a link to my past, and a terrific knitter in her own right.  I wanted to do something special for her, though the deadline to complete it was thoroughly beyond me.  Thus, we have Hoots! – properly titled Give A Hoot Mittens.

Give A Hoot mittens

These are worked up in AslanTrends Invernal, one of my favorite yarns on earth.  The 50% angora content makes this yarn truly cozy and deliciously fuzzy – perfect for mittens worn in the winter walking along Lake Michigan. Yardage is generous: I will have completed 2 pairs of adult mittens with yarn left over when I’m finished.

I did like the pattern, but found that the finished mittens were a little small for my liking.  I have a second pair OTN for me, and I added a few additional stitches to make them a little larger.  The pattern does feature an absolutely lovely thumb gusset.

Thumb gusset detail

Frankly, the hang-up here was finding the right eye buttons and actually sewing them on.  This took as long as knitting the thumbs!  But we cannot all be good at everything, right?

In any case, cheers to my new sister, Miniknitter, and here’s a hoot to you, too!

Lilywatch

I don’t need a calendar to know when July is coming to a close.  The crown jewels of my garden tell me in bold exclamation.

They are Lilium Casa Blanca, yet another contribution to my garden from our dear CleoLion’s moon garden.  Every year, new baby stalks emerge and every single one manages to carry at least one bloom.  I’ve always talked about their bloom as something that belongs to the world of time-lapse photography.  So I did a little timeline of my own this year to show you what I mean.

1 pm Sunday

Bloom begins 1 pm Sunday

One thunderstorm later, and there’s progress.

5 pm

As daylight fades, it continues, in spite of a second thunderstorm.  (Note:  shot in the dark, so I was having trouble keeping it in the viewfinder, let alone in focus!)

11 p.m.

With morning, more to see.

7 a.m. Monday

Monday’s progress was limited by popcorn thunderstorms all afternoon and evening.  By now, you get the picture.  As delicate as the petals look, they almost feel like rubber or silicone.  They’re incredibly strong.

You cannot imagine the fragrance.  Neighbors several houses down can smell them.  I count more than 50 blooms coming over the next couple of weeks from what started as a mere 3 stalks transplanted.

7 p.m. Monday

I lay no claim to being any kind of nature photographer. Just an amateur in the garden who loves what she does there.

I’ll be offline for awhile, so enjoy.