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Saturday 10 July 2010

lilac?

... or rather grey? the colour of the week (or what's left of it) is lilac, but outside it was grey all day. we had drizzle since yesterday afternoon, then a break of an hour or so - and then the real rain started! good thing that I took pictures before - I don't think my camera is rainfast enough:)) so here they come, some of the lilac colours - mostly flowers, but one with a few yarns as well. those are blends, which I made following a photo of fritillaries as inspiration. the tapestry weaving hasn't grown one bit since may, but before I do anything more than knitting  my leaf scarf or spinning a bit of cotton in front of the tv - I have to clear out my room. ongoing for some time now; amazing how much stuff fits into one room.....






















the rest of the pix shows plants from my garden. some lavender (stoechas), honesty, aquilegia, spotted orchids (dactylorhiza) and, one of my favourites: thalictrum aquilegifolium in the upper left corner. unfortunately several of the high flower stems have been flattened by the strong winds in recent days, but I managed to stake them a bit - belated, I know. the orchids are very common in the bog here and years back I collected some seeds - which to my surprise grew well and have been spreading by themselves all around my garden and even in some pots! there are quite a few rare flowers growing in the bog, several other species of orchids, grass of parnassus (which didn't grow from seed for me:(() and even butterwort (pinguicula), a carnivorous plant that catches small insects with sticky leaves. what I find amazing though - most neighbours here don't seem to know anything about those rare plants around them! whenever I talk to them about it, they don't believe me when I tell them about carnivorous plants right on their doorsteps or plenty of different orchid varieties growing in the bog! talking about the far away hills always being greener - they travel to the canaries and elsewhere to look at rare flowers - instead of just taking an afternoon to check what's around them.... I know that cars are convenient - but you miss all those small things around you!

4 comments:

Delighted Hands said...

Love these colors! I know what you mean about 'right under their noses'; when we first moved here to Florida, I asked about so many wildflowers etc but no one knew. I got a book about indigenous flowers, plants and trees and now I tell the locals about their own yards! Neat!

Helen said...

Hi Bettina
How fascinating about the plants in the bog and how people don't see what is under their noses. I love the pictures of your garden -it looks wonderful and I envy you your orchids. Fabulous colours.

Janet said...

Hello Bettina - good to get the wet update on the Irish weather. Ian not only looks out at the rain pouring down but is also wearing his heavy winter sweater. Love your lilac - my favourite colour.
Janet, visiting in hot Connecticut

Woolly Bits said...

I know that far away hills are supposed to be greener - but I think if people took a bit more time and care they would find interesting things close to home!
Helen - I could always collect some of the orchid seeds when they set to send you (or Enys?) some? might be worth a try - even if they don't yield a dye:))
Janet - I think we are on the lucky side today - no rain yet, apart from a single droplet here and there... and the temperature isn't too bad either - high teens is good enough for working outside! enjoy your stay - and safe travelling!!