I am not what you would call a gardener and I certainly don't have a green thumb. In fact, I have never particularly enjoyed gardening at all. Most things that I have attempted to grow have since passed on due to thirst or drowning (over-compensating for the things that have died of thirst!)
So you can imagine my surprise and excitement this Spring when I managed to grow the most beautiful flowers I have ever seen (I am a bit biased!) Back in May my boys, aged 4 and 2, helped me to plant some bulbs. The bulbs were purchased from a Kinder fundraiser which I felt obliged to purchase from! The tag on the packet had a pretty picture of the flowers and even stated that they were 'Easy to grow'. Anyway, every week without fail we went out and watered our bulbs.
I had no idea how much joy my boys would get from planting something and watching it grow. They have shown excitement and enthusiasm at every stage of the process from planting, seeing the first sprout, measuring how tall they were getting, spotting the first bud and then of course watching the flowers bloom. In fact they squealed with absolute delight when the first one flowered ("Mum, come quick. Look what we've done!") and every day they still go out to check on them at least 4 or 5 times! I am shocked (and pretty chuffed) to think that we have grown something so beautiful from scratch.
The flowers are ranunculus, which I had never heard of, but apparantly most people know what they are! The colours are the most intense, deep, gorgeous shades you ever did see (and the photos don't actually do the colours much justice). I just adore the ones with all those ruffles and layers, they are absolutely beautiful. I thought I would share some photos of them with you today and I think I will make a digital scrapbook page to go in our album too. Hope you like them!
If I was a digital scrapbook designer, I would definitely be making a Spring kit right now with these shades of hot pink, burnt orange, bright yellow....if only I knew how!
I love Spring! In fact, these flowers have given me such a boost of confidence that we have even built a vegetable garden - wish me luck with that one!
These photos are absolutely gorgeous, Carla. Enjoy your little boys, they grow so FAST. My 3 boys are now 25, 25, and 31. GEE, where did the time go. You will treasure these sweet years always. Hugs to you and yours.
ReplyDeleteCindy Porter