Courtyard Flowers

I am tempted to take photos of flowers in the courtyard every day, but sometimes the blooms are gone before I get down there with my camera.  This morning, I got lucky – all the blooms were still on the plants.  Enjoy these beautiful specimens – and they smell wonderful, too!

Earth laughs in flowers.
  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Decided to end with something different.  The Brown-eyed Susan Vine is new to me, but so very charming.

We don’t hide all our beauty on the inside of the store ~ we like to share it outside, too! 

~Janet @ The Christmas Place

P.S. I should mention that, aside from the vine, I have made up the names of the rose varieties based on their color, I don’t know their official names.  I can find out, however, if you are interested in a particular bloom.

Our courtyard on May 13, 2009

You really need to see what you might be missing at Christmas Place today!  The groundskeepers have done a spectacular job in our courtyard, and I thought you would enjoy a peek.

Mrs. Claus' Candy Kitchen

The Boutique & our family photo-op station

It is truly a beautiful day in our neighborhood!

~Janet @ The Christmas Place

 

more blooming moments

Early spring in East Tennessee offers an interesting variety of colors in flora and fauna – there were six spectacular blue jays around the bird feeder on Saturday morning, and who flew in but a Red-bellied woodpecker – as brilliantly-colored as the painted illustration in this web link!  He was really sporting his Tennessee orange.  Sadly, I didn’t have the camera with me, but I hope to capture some pics if I see him again.  I also enjoy evening visits from three pairs of doves, along with several cardinals and the usual assortment of songbirds.  They are emptying the bird feeder about every 30 hours right now!

Here are just a few more blooming pictures I couldn’t resist – if you can identify them, please comment for me.  I’m hopeful that I might see a tulip or two – a few leaves have poked up through the earth, but no sight of a bloom yet.

We are amazingly close to the time of the Dogwood Arts Festival ~ can hardly wait!  NO MORE FROST, PLEASE.

~Janet @ The Christmas Place

Beautiful Courtyard

The tulips and flowers in the courtyard are spectacular this week! Here are a couple of pictures.

And our master gardeners have not overlooked the hotel grounds…

Redbud trees in the area have been particularly outstanding this year, and the dogwood are just beginning to unfurl.  The Dogwood Arts Festival is under way here in East Tennessee, with flower trails, open gardens, and a celebration of the arts in all disciplines – photography and visual arts, performance including music and dance, and even a cardboard boat race – something for all ages and interests.

Hope it’s as lovely in your part of the world.  Have a great almost-Monday day!

~Janet @ The Christmas Place