First Flower This Morning

It's always been more of a Thanksgiving Cactus than a Christmas Cactus...

We're going to enjoy a great display this year, though. It is covered with buds!

A fly on the...

I took several photos of these beautiful little flowers, put them up on the computer & decided that the fly added so much interest to the image that this would be the one that made it onto the blog. Now, who can tell me what kind of flower it is? I haven't got a clue!

Marigolds

I went kinda crazy buying marigolds for the garden this year...the greenhouse had so many of these pretty multi-colored & red varieties that I bought a whole flat of them. I planted them in all of our gardens & they make everything look so bright!

Happy Birthday, Mom!!

I don't know why this photo is rotated...it's driving me crazy trying to fix it, so I'm done. Everyone just tip your head sideways so that you can enjoy it properly!

Sweet Violets

Our wet spring may be dampening our spirits, but it has given us a bumper crop of wild violets! They are all over the fields & so pretty!!

I chose the title of this post from one of my favorite old-time songs. My aunt taught us to sing it when we were young. Here is what I found on Wiki-pedia...

"Sweet Violets" is a surprising mix of humorous lyrics. The song consists mainly of couplets, except that the last word of each couplet, which can generally be inferred from a combination of context and the ostensible rhyming scheme, is instead cut off by the start of the next couplet or by the chorus.The following excerpt from the song is an example of the style:

There once was a farmer who took a young miss
In back of the barn where he gave her a...
Lecture on horses and chickens and eggs
And told her that she had such beautiful...
Manners that suited a girl of her charms
A girl that he wanted to take in his...
Washing and ironing and then if she did
They would get married and raise lots of...
Sweet Violets, sweeter than all the roses
Covered all over from head to toe
Covered all over with sweet violets.
- O. Williams, Amherst Point, Nova Scotia, collected by Claybe - minor edits by J. Glennie, Niagara Falls, ON

O. W. says there are more verses: "the father was going to call the..." - expected word was "cops" but the next line started with "Minister"; "doing her..." - expected word was "wrong" but the next line started with "Right".

The girl told the farmer that he'd better stop
and she'd tell her father, and he called a...
Taxi and got there before very long,
'Cause someone was doing his little girl...
Right for a change and so that's why he said:
If you marry her, son, you're better off...
Single, 'Cause it's always been my belief
Marriage will bring a man nothing but...

Sweet Violets
Sweeter than the roses
Covered all over from head to toe
Covered all over with sweet violets

The farmer decided he'd wed anyway,
And started in planning for his wedding...
Suit which he purchased for only one buck
But then he found out he was just out of...
Money and so he got left in the lurch
Standin' and waitin' in front of the...
End of the story which just goes to show
All a girl wants from a man is his...

Sweet Violets
Sweeter than the roses
Covered all over from head to toe
Covered all over with sweet violets

A classic example of a "censored rhyme" lyric, the anticipated words "kiss" are replaced by "lecture" and "legs" by "manners"...and so on.

The chorus is from the song "Sweet Violets" by Joseph Emmet, from his 1882 play Fritz Among the Gypsies - "Sweet violets, sweeter than all the roses...covered all over from head to toe, covered all over with sweet violets."

It was recorded by Dinah Shore with Henri René's Orchestra & Chorus in Hollywood on May 20, 1951. The song was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-4174A (78 rpm record), 47-4174A (single) (in USA)[1] and by EMI on the His Master's Voice label as catalog number B 10115. The Dinah Shore version was arranged by Cy Coben and Charles Grean. It reached # 3 on the Billboard magazine charts. The song (in all its versions, combined) reached #1 on the Cash Box magazine best-seller chart.
It was also recorded by Jane Turzy and Judy Lynn. .

Numerous versions exist in which the implied lyrics are more risque.

Daffodils

We're so happy to see their cheerful faces!

Happy Administrative Professionals' Day

Thanks, Kieri!!

Forsythia

Spring has sprung in Tennessee & it's gonna take a herd of wild horses to drag us back to snowy Maine tomorrow morning...we don't wanna go!!

A Rose in Winter

Today we celebrated my neice's 11th birthday. Her father (my brother) got her a dozen of these beautiful roses...I just had to photograph them!

It's taken a while, but I've finally put together a book from this blog!

West Paris Daily Photo by Dawn L. Roberts | Make Your Own Book

Leaving

Unfortunately, it's time to head back to school...but I wanted you to have one last look at the gardens. See that lilac leaning over the path on the left? The perfume was enough to take your breath away. In a very good way! I could have stayed there and smelled that bush all day long.

Another peony...

Very different than the one in my mother's garden, but just as beautiful...

Iris

Taste

Taste is important in the garden as well. And, not just for veggies. The discerning gardener knows that some flowers can be yummy too. I couldn't believe it when my 'peanut butter & jelly sandwiches only' son stepped right up and volunteered to eat a violet! He was so brave!! (Now Dad wants to sign him up for Survivor!) I wasn't terribly surprised when he told me that it didn't taste good, but at least he tried it...

Sight

This boy wanted to see the flowers up close! Reminds me of this photo...

Smell

Of course, flowers are well known for their wonderful perfumes! We just had to stop and smell them all!!

Touch

When you're in the garden, you can use all of your senses...here you can see a girl touching a rhododendron and learning that the leaves are actually furry!

Welcome to McLaughlin Gardens

This week I chaperoned during a field trip with the 2nd & 3rd grade classes . Over the next few days I'll show you some of the things that we saw!

Peony

Photographed in my mother's garden...

Promise of Spring

This morning the boys and I planted flower bulbs. They will sure be a welcome sight next spring!

A Pleasant Surprise

I don't know where these came from. They just popped up in my garden and started flowering a couple of weeks ago. Finally, this afternoon I got a photo of them. They're so pretty!!