Saturday, June 12, 2010

Pretty in Pink

I don't wear pink at all...just doesn't look good on me.  But I love the color.  When I was a teenager, we had lipstick called 'Sugar Pink' and a nail polish called "Pink Pearl'.  These were very pale pinks which made the lipstick much easier to get off on the trip home from school.  The nail polish was so pale as to be invisible.   Crazy the stuff you remember for so many years, isn't it?

Yesterday, during my garden photo shoot there was a lot of pink.  And every flower seemed to have a little back story.


These painted daisies are so striking.  We have pale pink and this vibrant color.  The yellow centers are incredibly vivid.  My dil, Maria, gave us these and they come up every year fighting through buttercups to triumph high above most of the other plants.  They're so leggy that we have to put a cage around them or the rain would beat them down.


Maria also gave us perennial snapdragons.  There are various pinks and a yellow but these remind me of clouds at sunrise.  I almost pulled them out because I figured we had the annual sort.  I'm glad I asked first.


This foxglove is standing sentinel by our carport.  I love the soft insides of these 'gloves' and the interesting design that the spots make.  Foxgloves grow wild here and are, to some, weeds.  We went so far as to rescue some 'kits'  from a neighbor's dirt pile a few years ago.  He thought we were nuts.  The foxgloves bloom every year and we enjoy the surprise locations that they choose. 


This rose isn't supposed to be pink.  When we bought the house, it was in the back garden and had coppery orange blooms - once.  Then it appeared to languish and I moved it to the front where it would get more of everything it needed.  But it never bloomed again.  Then, two years ago, it was under the pickup truck that crashed through that fence into our garden.  Amazingly, it survived and was shocked into giving us blooms this year - but they're a dark pink.  Anyone know why that would happen? 

Actually, I think all the plants in our garden - flowers, trees and even the veg - have a story attached to them.  That's the fun of gardening for me. 

9 comments:

aspiritofsimplicity said...

Very pretty. I love pink too and I wear it all the time. Sometimes I get sort of sick of wearing it but it does look good on me.

Rudee said...

I love the drama of the photos against the black background of the blog. Beautiful.

I wonder if the pH of the soil has anything to do with the color of the flowers like it can with hydrangeas. Maybe sticking copper or rusted iron in the soil would change the color. It's worth a try--though the pink is beautiful.

Mimi said...

These are beautiful photos, Stephanie. I love the raindrops on the flower in the first one, I love the pale, delicate pink of the second one, and the rose is, in my book, queen of all flowers.
The stories attached to your plants are, as you say, what makes gardening so interesting. It also makes this post so interesting too.
I'm with Rudee re the pH of the soil affecting plant colour, though I know very little about gardening.

Mimi said...

Sorry, didn't mean to leave out poor little snapdragon! The pattern on the inside is really lovely- can't believe they grow wild!

Rose said...

Beautiful colors! I see you changed your blog background too! Looks great!

J.G. said...

It's so nice to hear how you relate to your flowers. The associations make them extra special. I have a soft spot for the "volunteers" that come up in surprising locations, like the foxgloves. How could anyone fail to be charmed, when they try so hard?

Stephanie V said...

Rudee, Mimi - I'll look into the pH idea - could have some merit. Thanks.

Rose - thanks for giving the new look a thumbs up. Change is so hard sometimes.

JG - volunteers are usually my favorite plants in the garden. You're right...they deserve a chance just for being there.

Ginny Hartzler said...

These pictures are so breathtakingly beautiful that I can't pick a favorite! I've never heard of painted daisies, and that one looks like someone painted it, it's so unnaturally bright, but beautiful all the same. I adore snapdragons, ones that we've tried have died on us, and this one has such a soft, pretty color! Clouds at sunrise, you captured the essence of it! But I can't believe that foxgloves grow wild and are considered weeds!!! Not so here! We have to buy them in seed packets, and you just can't find them growing many places. A strange story about that rose and all the moving, the the wreck!

Mimi said...

Hi again Stephanie, thanks for your comment over at mine. He's in Toronto and Montreal in August!
But you'd be welcome in Dublin any time, with or without Paul...

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