Garden by the Sea

Located near Rye Harbor is this adorable little pocket garden. I photographed it once before but how could I resist giving it a second chance! 

Ever since my husband bought me a Nikon D5100 for my birthday this past month I've been revisiting some of my favorite old haunts. Funny but when I bought the Fuji s100 fs a few years ago I did the same thing ... reshooting many seasonal shots I'd taken with my smaller camera. I don't know about other people but there are some places I am drawn to for photography over and over again.

Isn't that garden gate the sweetest thing? 

And who can resist a white picket fence? New England and white picket fences go hand in hand. Throw in an ocean view and you've got a recipe for summer perfection!

Every year I pine for a white picket fence of my own. Where it would go, who knows. Surely there has to be a place in my garden ... somewhere! I'll find a spot!

The greatest gift of the garden

is the restoration of the five senses

Hanna Rion

One of my goals this summer has been to drive down to Rockport, Ma. and shoot the gorgeous gardens in town, especially the hydrangeas. It hasn't happened yet. This Thursday may be my last chance before the flowers take a turn for the worse. It's a little heart breaking to see but some of the trees in the marshes are already turning red. Not to mention the school busses will be running next week.

To every season turn, turn, turn ... but does it have to turn so soon?

 Like the gulls, all we can do is enjoy every last moment of beauty August has to offer!

Fuller Gardens, North Hampton, NH

What a beautiful day it was this past Saturday! The sun was shining between high, thin clouds, temps in the low to mid 80's, and the perfect day to make the trip to Fuller Gardens!


Fuller Garden entrance/garden shop

There are actually several parts to Fuller Gardens:
Side Garden (aka the Rose garden which you see in this post)
Lydia Fuller Garden
Japanese Garden
and the
Front Garden
as well as a Conservatory



The view overlooking the side garden, greenhouse conservatory, and carriage house

Commissioned in the 1920's by Alvan T. Fuller for his wife, Viola, the gardens were eventually opened to the public in 1958 per Mr. Fullers request following his death.







The bee's were a buzzin' and plenty of them too! I'm generally not a big fan of bee's but they wanted nothing to do with me, just the flowers.




Most of the statuary in the gardens was brought back from trips overseas by the Fullers, including the one on the left. A work done by one of Michelangelo's understudies, E. Zochie.




There were Dahlias, too!












The Love and Peace rose, and my husband amongst the roses

I look forward to sharing more photos with you from our visit!

If you're in the area and you'd like a nice way to spend an hour, bring your camera stop by
Fuller Gardens

How does your garden grow?

For 20 years I've been working on my gardens. Planting, fertilizing, ripping out, transplanting . . . I think I could work on them for 20 more years and still not be totally satisfied. Do you feel that way about your own garden?

And let's not forget, perfecting a garden is not cheap! I have always tried to buy my plants at the end of the season. I swear I've saved so much money, but every once in a while I see something that I cannot resist, like my Roses, or an amazing Hydrangea, so I suck it up and pay full price.








My poor husband, he's the one who usually has to dig things up while I give the instructions. Right now I'm on a kick to totally redo my shade garden and expand it, which involves a ton of work! That particular garden has become rather overgrown, especially by my enormous 7'-8' Hosta. Not sure I'm going to get my wish though.








This is the first year we've planted Zinnia's. My husband and I started them from seeds. Although they seemed to have a late start, suddenly they're taking off in full technicolor! Next year we will definitely be having more Zinnia's, but larger.

The above flower is a little deformed but of all the different colored Zinnia's coming into bloom, this particular color is my favorite. Like a simmering sunset on a hot summers evening.




It took 2 years before I finally had a bloom on my Josephine Columbine. This year I'll have five blooms.




I'd wait again

And today, the Monarchs showed up. Oh sweet summer, how I adore you with all my heart.


Linking up with Mary's Little Red House for Mosaic Monday

Sweet floral mosaic ~ Instagram style

Okay, I know Pioneer Woman is doing it, and Lisa Leonard is doing it too, but I really didn't pay much attention until my daughter mentioned it.

Instagram

And now I'm mildly addicted.

Above are a few images I've Instagrammed over the past couple days. It's just so much fun!

Unfortunately it's also an iTunes app so if you don't have an Apple product you're pretty much out of luck. At least for now anyways. Instagram is working on an app for Droids, as well as a desktop version.

The good news is that you don't have to have an app to see someones photos! Here is a link to my images, here are PW's images, and finally these are Lisa Leonards!


Linking up with Mary's Little Red House for Mosaic Monday

Foggy morning in Rye

These photos were taken on a particularly foggy morning last June of 2009. My daughter and I had decided to go to the beach, early, and take a long walk. On our way home we stopped to walk on the rocks near some of the mansions.

 

When I was a kid I had heard this was the Governors Mansion. Whether or not that’s true I don’t know, but from what someone else told me who lived nearby, I do believe it’s privately owned now.

 

Just your average Mockingbird hanging out by the beach, singing up a storm!

 

This home had a sign out in front for a Garden Tour from 10-3. It would have been nice to attend I but we were heading home and I really needed a shower.

 

And of course I can never resist a Robin, no matter where I am. They’re such awesome birds with great character!

 

Though this wasn’t taken on the same morning my daughter and I were were at the beach, it was taken at the same spot. I couldn’t just leave you hanging without even one ocean view shot. 

All in all, a great morning!

Forever & Ever

 

I bought new Hydrangea’s

They’re called Forever & Ever ~ Together Hydrangea

I fell in love with the double flowers and multiple colors. Have you ever seen anything like them before? They were $11 each at Lowes so I brought home 7 to plant out in front of my house. My husband worked until almost 9:00 at night getting them all in the ground, while I trimmed the out-of-control Wisteria and Double-flowering Cherry tree.

It might be almost July but I think the garden if finally coming together.

 

My sweet Lily

 

A somewhat rustic view of the new Hydrangea’s. Some flowers have more green than others. This particular flower was all pink, though they are all the same variety. Another thing I like about the Together Hydrangea is that it’s low growing. Only 25”.  high. Most are up around 36”, which won’t work for the low windows in the front of our house.

  Winston! You better not pee on the new flowers!

He looks guilty already.

After the rain

It rained all morning, not to mention we've had off and on rain for the past few days now. Finally the sun started to break through and what do you suppose was the first thing this Robin wanted to do?

Yeah, that makes sense ... not

The little sparrow just wanted a drink to wash down all the peanuts it keeps eating from my feeder! After several minutes of being splashed it finally gave up and flew away.


The Peonies are hanging heavy with rain but you can see it was drying fast on the bricks

I discovered a bloom about to make an entrance on my enormous Hosta (which you'll see more of soon)



I might have helped the drop along ... just a little

At this point the air was becoming steamy. All that moisture was turning into haze which made quite a showing this afternoon while the girls and I were in Portsmouth and New Castle




Perfect Wisteria