Tuesday 26 May 2015

Rudolph Day and more garden shrubs


Ceanothus Concha, this is a fairly young shrub and reached about 7' high this year


Morning Peeps, I hope you all had a good weekend, the weather was a bit iffy here so no barbie which we hoped might be an option, but never mind as it was nice to spend time with family.


I was determined to join in Mo's Rudolph Day this time round and managed to get a card made using Penny Black stamps and a bit of colouring with my Sepectrum pencils. I cut out the top section of the image so that it sat over the aperture created with a TL oval die and placed it over the sentiment, some stickles and a bow

And here are a few more photos of the shrubs presently coming into bloom in the gardens.

Mexican Orange Blossom with a lovely scent, this one is a young bush of only a couple of years

Ceanothus Thyrsiflorus Skylark, we started off with the idea of it climbing one of the pergolas, but it's taken on a life of it's own and well over 12' high now and a stand alone shrub almost as tall as some of the fruit trees

Viburnun Opulus Roseum, every year it gets a really hard prune back and every Spring it just takes off like a triffid, this year it's well over 10 feet tall and the blooms are huge as the photo below shows against my hand



Aesculus Hippocastanum - Good old Horse Chestnut. We planted 50 forest trees about 20 years ago, several of which were Horse Chestnuts, all are maturing nicely now and will be splendid specimens in years to come

Thanks for visiting and hope you all have a good week.

51 comments:

AnyOldCraft said...

Fab Christmas card Brenda.
OMG I LOVE all your shrubs.
I bet the smell as you walk through is beautiful.
My poor garden this year looks like a bit of a building site.
The hubster is completely wrecking it at the moment with all his projects going on.
Hopefully it will look ok when finished.
The dogs are loving it though lol
Hope you get some nice weather soon.
Ours has been a bit pants lately.

Kari said...

Your flowers are awsome,Brenda!And a lovely card too!Clean and fresh look!

Have a wonderful day!
Hugs and smiles from Kari :)

Anonymous said...

I love all the flowers!!!
Hugsss, Gaby

Regina said...

oh, what wonderful pics from the May garden and so many shrubs blossom!
The card is lovely! I love the simple style!
Regina*

Lau W said...

Hello Brenda ! wow so nice shots !! Spring is beautiful !
I'm sorry, i'm late with my comments, but i have my old computer again, and it slow pffffffffffff !
Have a nice day ! I'm going to my garden, the sun is here but it's not very cold !
xxx

Fikreta said...

beautiful card
love this flower tree
very pretty

jackiescrafts said...

Lovely pictures of all your lovely shrubs, I really like the ceanothus .
Well done on getting a Christmas card made, I haven't done any this year yet most unlike me.

Jackie x

Rainey's Craft Room said...

A lovely CAS Christmas card Brenda, I keep saying that I will join in with Mo too but I just haven't found the time yet.
Lovely pictures of your garden, you must have green fingers and a great deal of hard work.
Lorraine

Wendy L said...

Lovely pics Brenda, I love looking at pics of peoples gardens, xxx

aussie aNNie said...

Stunning garden so full of beauty and colour and love your card.xx{aNNie My Personal Blog}

Gail said...

Gorgeous card, and Thanks for sharing your photos.
Just beautiful, and must smell heavenly!
Hope you're well!

Pamellia said...

Wow, so many gorgeous flowers!! Sometimes I really hate living in the city! Love your holiday card, the poinsettia stamp is so beautiful! hugs :)

ellyscard creatief said...

Wow,what a beautiful flowers.

Robin said...

Gorgeous card and the floral is so breathtaking! I can sit and look at God's work for hours. Hugs, Robin

Joan said...

Love your card Brenda,really like how it goes over the aperture but even more so I just love the photos of your beautiful trees and shrubs! How fantastic that you planted all those trees too, my small garden just holds a Chinese lace rowan and a small flowering crab apple, front garden just a golden elm, no flowers but lovely golden leaves.

Joan

Sarn said...

Fab photos and a pretty RD card in trad colours. Lovely xxx

Sally H said...

A wonderful Rudolf day card, Brenda! What a beautiful stamp and perfectly coloured too. Your shrubs look amazing! The ceanothus and Viburnum are particularly spectacular! I have been trying to take a cutting off the orange blossom at my Dad's but not had any success yet

Crafting Queen said...

Your garden looks stunning. Lovely card.

Sarah said...

Love your CAS Christmas card Brenda the glittered berries are a super touch. Your garden is still racing away. Our ceanothus is nowhere near ready to burst yet :0( xx

scrappymo! said...

Thanks so much for entering my Rudolph Days Challenge. I know you are so busy with commitments not to mention your health concerns. I feel very honoured!
Your garden is fabulous. You would have a giggle at my new garden...it is about the size of one of your larger shrubs! Even we have a stand alone house, our lot is teensy which allows for a very small garden.
It suits us very well as we spend over half the summer up at the lake. It is an 8 hour round trip to home, so we can't run back to upkeep etc.I sure enjoy others gardens though...and yours is no exception!

Your card is fabulous. Lovethe overlapping edge of the image...it looks so pretty!

KT Fit Kitty said...

Beautiful card, Brenda! I like poinsettias - you've coloured it beautifully! Your garden and yard are beautiful! Wow, it's like a paradise there!

cebelica said...

Way to go for already thinking about Christmas! I haven't gotten that far yet I'm affraid. *ooops* Your card is very beautiful!
I liked seeing the photos from the garden. Those shrubs are so beautiful and I can almost smell the flowers. Gotta love spring! :)
Have a wonderful day!
Hugs! xx

Jacee said...

Fabulous festive card Brenda, your photos are great, you have sone wonderful plants in your garden, it must look wonderful
hugs Jacee
Simply Paper Card Design

Craftyfield said...

Your plants are awesome and I spot a lot of blue too...
xx

Mervi said...

Lovely card and so lovely to see photos from your garden, beautiful trees and plants;-))m

Berina RGA said...

beautiful card Brenda!! love your garden!! love the beautiful blooms..

Helen said...

Can't be thinking about C... even for Rudolph days, lol - great card.. The Ceanothus though, are beautiful, I wish I had more than a bit of front garden, as I'd love one... There was a house I pass on my way to work, who used to have a gorgeous one, but for some reason they cut it down... I miss seeing it this time of year!

Glennis F said...

Amazing garden Brenda. We had one of those snowball tress on the farm when I was a child. I was always fascinated with them

Sue - said...

Super Rudolph Day card. Beautiful photos of your shrubs. Your garden must be huge!

Kathleen said...

Gorgeous garden and looking stunning.

Fabulous RD card a great image and layout and a gorgeous bow.

Thank you for joining in with this months Rudolph Day challenge

Kath x

Alice (scrAPpamondo) said...

Your garden is a Heaven, you are so lucky and have very green fingers!! Love so much your flowers and tree!
Beautiful card, so clean and simple!

rachel said...

a lovely card Brenda and thanks so much for sharing your beautiful photos - gorgeous! Hugs rachel x

Jackie said...

A beautiful card and wonderful photographs. I love the snowball tree, thank you for sharing :O)
Jackie xx

Eemeli said...

Oh, we are still so far away from summer....it has been very cold and rainy May. I am really missing those hot days we had last May. Sun, where are you?!!
Lovely cas Christmas card. I am so behind making mine for this year (only four ready at the moment, lol), lucky I have still left a bit from last year(s)...

Hugs,
Eemeli

Stamping Bubbles said...

Hello Brenda
Stunning pictures of your garden, you are so lucky to have such a large space to be able to plant trees. My garden is quite small but I have got 3 small trees which have to be pruned hard each year to keep them under control.
Great Christmas card - it's never too early to start your Christmas makes.
Take care
Lesles

Becky said...

Beautiful card and love the wonderful photos.

Bernardine Cuttino said...

In love with those pics. I am floral lady and these are pics are stunning. Fabulously crafted card. Love the CAS design and palette.
Have a fab day and even better week.
Hugs
Berni

Stamps and Paper said...

Love your garden photos Brenda great card to

Anne

Gerrina said...

Lovely clasic Christmas card and tjee I would like to wander in ypur garden; the ceanothus looks so beautiful! Hugs, Gerrina

KandA said...

Hi Brenda. Love this traditional xmas card with the CAS style and lovely PB stamp.
Your shrubs look wonderful and I bet there's a lovely scent when you walk around the garden, how I envy you xx

MaryH said...

Brenda, loved seeing all the flowering wonders of your beautiful garden. Gosh, these will take a lot of pruning - but oh, they are just lovely. TFS the pictures. Also am loving this pretty poinsettia, and stunning design idea to place it as you did with the oval cut out frame. Love it! TFS & Hugs

Dawn said...

A beautiful card & some gorgeous photos!
Thanks for sharing them!
HUgs
Dawn xx

Ellibelle said...

You have such gorgeous plants/shrubs in your garden. Especially loving the blue one!
Fabulous Christmas creation, nice sketch and love the stamp! Glad you got to enjoy time with your family, although the weather wasn't perfect. Hope next weekend will be better. We've had a strange spring so far, you never know how to dress anymore, the weather is so unpredictable.

Stamping With Bibiana said...

beautiful card and the photos are awesome
bibiana

Unknown said...

Hallo liebe Brenda,
da zeigst du uns aber wunderschöne Bilder von deinen blühenden Garten einfach herlich und deine karte sieht auch wunderschön aus,
glg ulrike

Rhonda Miller said...

I love your card. Thanks for sharing all your pics of the flowering bushes. I need a few of those around my yard.

Unknown said...

Hehe Brenda! You forgot the Union Jack on the mini too! I make it 10 haha!
Your Xmas card is beautiful as always! Perfectly stunning CAS design and I love the elegant red bow!
Lucy x

pinky said...

You are making my knees shake at the thought of making Christmas cards but I know I should Brenda. This one is gorgeous. Wow your garden must be so gorgeous, loving these photos.

Silvia(Barnie) said...

A gorgeous Christmas Card. You're really in time.

coldwaters2 said...

Gorgeous card Brenda and what beautiful, healthy shrubs in your garden thank you for sharing.
hugs
lorraine x

Donna Ellis said...

such beautiful photos, Miss Brenda! I love your photos of Nature, and the amazing colors you share! xo