Rainy Monday Photos at My Cottage

My front entrance this morning on a rainy Monday

Pink and proud. Still looking lovely in a soft rain. Notice clipped boxwood in background,

Riffled white hiding from the rain.

Ruffled white peony. I love this variety.

Petals are falling.

Red barn garage with loft, back entrance. Don't my clipped boxwood look nice? I am liking my wild field too. Serious grass cutting will be done the next nice day. xo

More of My Peonies + Happiness Quote

As promised, here are my red and white peonies opened up showing their yellow centers. I completely forgot they close up in the late afternoon and are still closed in the early morning. They are like me, they go to bed early and open slowly the next day. I shall watch them closely this morning to see what time they fully open and awake. For me, it's after two cups of coffee.

via

I love this quote: 

"The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things." 

Henry Ward Beecher

Another view of my front garden from from farther back. I clipped all 15 of my American boxwood earlier this week and they look neat and tiny now. The large one left center is an English box I transplanted my garden when I moved. It is the mate for the two  at the end of my front walk at the driveway. I didn't clip this one at all. 

Enjoy your Sunday. xo

My Peony Garden

I took this photo late Saturday afternoon, the last day of May. This morning the peonies have opened showing their beautiful yellow centers. The ferns I dug from my woods are spectacular this year too. Will post a photo later. Happy First Day of June. The ferns I dug from my woods are really thick and healthy this year because of all the rain. xo Click photo to enlarge.

Rabbit with Peonies

"My soul can find no staircase to Heaven unless it be through Earth's loveliness." Michelangelo

The Wonderful Artist: Koo Schandler's Homepage

The peonies here at my cottage are standing tall but have no buds yet. They are aching for some sun but there is none on the horizon for the upcoming week. They can't complain about lack of rain though because we have had plenty. Have a great weekend no matter what the weather.

💦💧💦💧💦💧💦UPDATE: I was wrong. All of my peonies have small buds. Yay!

Pink Peony Portraits

My pink peonies are way too heavy to stand upright and are in their last days in the garden. I put a white plastic bag on the ground to photograph this one after a soft, short rain yesterday.

Good bye peonies. See you next year in all your beauty.

The Peony Garden from My Window

It's hard to believe the very spot where my peonies are planted was buried in snow higher than the birdbath in March. They bloomed much later than usual and I was a little worried at first because the buds were so small. They slowly got larger and larger until they were back to normal in every way, including their beauty. This is the view from the window over my desk in the pantry. Covering this garden with woodchips last summer was a huge task but it paid off with fewer weeds to pull this year. So far I have been able to keep up with them on a daily basis.

Duchess Peony Painting

Duchess Peony ~ Mia Tarney via

More Peonies and A Field Mowing

Here are my ruffled white peonies open. They are my favorites because of their beauty and because they don't droop since the heads are so light. They close up on cloudy days and at night to protect their delicate blossoms. Peony season is the best, isn't it?

My friend with a tractor showed up unannounced late yesterday afternoon to mow my field and he ended up mowing my lawn too. Everything will green up and be uniform in no time. I didn't come inside again until almost eight o'clock when I took this photo. I still have to do some handwork here and there and I had to use my leaf blower in the front but that was fun. I am so glad to have this task behind me to maintain my field so trees don't grow back there. An unmowed field will become a forest in no time. 

I took this photo today at noon so show how nice my front lawn and garden are looking.

Today, it feels more like fall with an overcast sky and 63° at ten o'clock on Sunday morning with rain coming tomorrow. Tuesday will be filled with nothing but sunshine though and that makes me happy. Enjoy your Sunday. xo

First Peony to Open 2018

My single ruffled white peony is always the first to open, followed by my red ones, and then the pink ones are last. This one opened when the sun came out yesterday after the rain. It was very translucent, as shown by the raindrops on the top petal. They are on the reverse side!!! For some reason, the petals have a pink tint when they first appear but change to a bright white when fully open and one of my Instagram followers says they look like fried eggs.

The sun is out, the sky is hazy and it's going to be hot and humid today with 84° as the high. Bring it on because tomorrow the high will be only 66° and will be wonderful for working outside. Mother Nature is so unpredictable, isn't she? Have a great weekend. xo

Coral Charm Peonies

Coral Charm Peony ~ Mia Tarney

I honestly can't tell if this is a painting that looks like a photo or a photo that looks like a painting. Either way, these peonies are gorgeous. I don't have this variety but mine are coming up very nicely and are about two feet tall with small buds. How does your garden grow?
After more research, I learned this is a painting and it's simply gorgeous, isn't it? Her flower paintings are beyond amazing.

My Peonies This Year (2017)

I only have five blooming peonies today, the pink ones. There are some secondary buds that will still produce small flowers which I also love. The white ones are all gone and so are the red ones. They were really beautiful this year, thanks to all the rain we had in May.

I took the last photo this morning. All were made with my iPhone 🌸

All the peonies are gone.

via Instagram http://ift.tt/1UEMCuh

All the peonies are gone. Missing them a lot. #fbf #flashbackfriday #peonies #mycottage #ig

Peonies Nearing End of Their Season

Lovely Monet quote.

My drooping peonies after Sunday's hard rain. I cut back the ones that were beyond saving and this is what was left.

The white ones are singles and they weathered the storm much better than the pink mop heads.

I keep replacing the blooms one by one when they start to shrivel. They really are nice in the house when they get too heavy outside. How does your garden grow?

My Peonies Are Amazing 2016

My peonies have never been taller or more beautiful.

It rained overnight and this morning the raindrops on the petals were quite lovely.