Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Breakfast in the Garden

Last weekend on Saturday my husband and I were having breakfast in the garden. It was only the second or third time this year that we could do this, because we are relatively early risers and this year it has been unusual cold in the mornings so far. But last Saturday the weather was splendid with a vast clear blue sky and even though still a little bit chilly nothing could keep us indoors anymore. We put on really warm clothes and out we went. It has become a ritual over the last couple of years since we have bought our first house to at least have breakfast outside in the garden one time on the weekends if the weather allows. We cherish these quite mornings together very much, watching our plants grow and bloom, reading the newspaper, a magazine or a book and starting the day in a slow almost meditative way.

 (you can click on the pictures to enlarge)



We have very light garden furniture that you can easily move around in the garden and we pick different locations where we set up our breakfast table, depending on if we want to sit in the sun or shade or near a special plant. Previous Saturday we settled in front of 'Zephirine Drouhin', which is almost in full bloom right now. This rose has such a strong citrus fragrance it is truly amazing. When we were having breakfast we were blessed with her perfume wafting over to us in waves. Wafting rose fragrance is very unusual in San Diego inland, because there is very little humidity, which means fragrance is not carried well through the air. 'Zephirine Drouhin' is the only rose in my whole garden, and I have many fragrant roses in the yard, which is capable of embracing you with her perfume even though you are a couple of feet away from her. I have noticed that she smells the strongest in the morning and the fragrance becomes much weaker over the course of the day.




We feed the birds regularly in our back yard and we enjoy watching them at the feeder. Our breakfast table was positioned not too far away from the breakfast station for the birds and we were able to observe them and take photos. On the picture above you can see a House Finch, who is relatively common here in our area. I love their orange breast and head.




My husband was able to shoot this, in my eyes, amazing photo of a Mourning Dove, which is just flying away.

Briefly after we were done with the breakfast, one of our neighbors stopped by to show us her new puppy. Her full name is Anika, but she is called Nika. Little Nika is just six weeks old. She is a purebred Visla, which is an ancient Hungarian hunting dog bred. She will become very long legged and elegant when she is an adult dog, but right now she is just one of the cutest puppies that I have ever seen.

 

Not only for us it was a chilly morning, in the beginning Nika was shivering, too, so she was wrapped up into a baby blanket to keep her warm and cozy.




It did not take long and she was more interested in her surroundings and wanted to be put down to the ground...


... to explore the world on her own!




Don't you just love her flopping ears?




Going full speed!



She can already pose like a show dog. On the photo above you can get an idea of what an elegant, proud, and naturally graceful dog she will become. We had a lot of fun getting to meet Nika and see her checking out our garden. There is something so joyful about watching this little puppy getting to know the world.

After Nika and her human mom left my husband and I got back to our routine, which means that often after we are done with our breakfast we do a brief garden tour together. I could do a long one, but my husband is not that much into gardening and gets impatient easily, so I have to keep it short and sweet and just point out the momentary highlights of the garden to him. So today I show you what they were on last Saturday.



Naturally at this time of the year roses are the stars in the garden. My 'Iceberg' roses are starting to bloom in the back yard, too. They are already in full swing in the front yard, where we have a warmer micro climate that allows the roses to flower earlier than in the back yard.



Scabiosa flower. This is a particular large blooming variety. Sorry, I am not able to tell you the exact name of the variety. I must have lost the name tag, if it ever came with one.



We went on to the front yard where 'Our Lady of Guadalupe' is blooming her heart out. Can you see that she is making a lot of basal growth to the left side of the bush? I am so happy about that, since she was not doing this at all the last year. To her left side was growing a huge 'Burgundy Iceberg' rose, which was encroaching 'Our Lady of Guadalupe's' real estate. Now 'Burgundy Iceberg' moved to another home where it is cherished and 'Our Lady of Guadalupe' gets the space that she deserves and is obviously enjoying it. I am really pleased that she is on the way to build a nice, full, round, well balanced bush.



In the same bed a little bit closer to the house 'Sweetness' is planted. She is also blooming very prolific this year. When I had a closer look at her I noticed that the new leaves are becoming smaller than the older ones. I drew the conclusion that she needs to be fertilized again to bloom to her full potential. As you can see on the photo above there are 'Queen Anne Palms' growing very close to 'Sweetness' and I am sure that the roots of these palms eating a lot of the nutrients that are meant for 'Sweetness', same goes for the water, too, of course.


If you go further around the house and pass the garage to the right and reach the walkway to the entry of the house you see another 'Iceberg Climbing' in full bloom.




The last exciting thing that we discovered is a bloom on 'Belinda's Dream'. The flower is really huge for that the rose is only growing in a two gallon pot. You will not believe how heavy this bloom is, due to the many petals of this rose. I am expecting great things from 'Belinda's Dream' once it is planted in the ground!


Are you having breakfast outside from time to time, too? It is so worth it in my opinion. If you do not do it yet, maybe you should try it in the future...


See you in the garden!

Christina



13 comments:

  1. Marvellous breakfast ! Beautiful puppy ! And the roses ... you take such a good care of them . "Belinda's dream " looks fantastic , the colour, the shape, everything ...

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  2. Breakfast in your sunny CA rose garden, very lovely.

    Nika is a sweetie pie and your DH's photo of the dove in flight is great.

    Enjoy your bit of paradise and thank you for sharing.

    FlowerLady

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  3. Oh, Christina, what a beautiful home and garden you have, obviously being created with love. Thank you for sharing it with us.
    I'm glad to see your "Zephy" in bloom. Gorgeous! Your pruning tips were very helpful for me and I hope my "Zephy" will produce half as well as yours. Love the puppy and the birds. Critters complete the outdoor experience!
    Sandra

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  4. What a charming setting for breakfast. I love the placement of the table in front of Zepherine. That rose is truly happy in that location.
    I absolutely love the morning dove picture. What an amazing shot...
    And of course the puppy is so adorable, it seems to make it self at home. Could there be a puppy in your future?

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  5. What a beautiful breakfast place! Your roses look amazing. I'm thinking of buying more scabiosas - they bloom so well for me and look great with the roses. Cute pup!

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  6. This is a wonderful thing. Breakfast outdoors with your sweetie, puppies and birds... Beautiful roses, who could ask for more???? My 3 OLOG roses have broken dormancy and are leafing out very nicely. Hope to have some blooms soon! Thanks for the encouragement this blog gives..... Very nice indeed.

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  7. Dani, thanks. I don't have Belinda's Dream that long, but it is supposed to be doing very well in hot climates. Maybe that would be a rose for you, too? If you are into roses...

    Flowerlady, thank you! I will tell my husband that you liked his photo of the Mourning Dove. I am sure he will be proud!

    Sandra, thank you for your nice comment! I hope your 'Zephirine Drouhin' will be glorious this year. Honestly I believe that she will do better in a cooler climate than here in Southern CA. I hope I see photos of yours on your blog, when it is blooming!

    Stephanie, thank you! Hope we can have tea together in front of Zephi soon :-)! I will let Klaus know that you loved his photo. Well, I would love to have a dog, but Klaus still doesn't :-( and with all my traveling he would have to take care of the dog a lot. So unfortunately no dog in the near future for me.

    Holley, thanks for leaving a comment. Scabiosas are great, aren't they? So I think it is a good idea if you get some more of them. Right now I am very much into the bigger flowering varieties. They make such beautiful cut flowers, too.

    Redneck Rosarian, thank you very much for leaving such a nice comment! I am glad to hear that your OLoG broke dormancy, since I am one of the culprits, who talked you into them ;-). Will check out your blog for photos of the blooms of your OLoGs in the future!

    Christina

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  8. So many wonderful things, roses, birds and a puppy! What could be better? Your garden looks lovely, so many blooms, and your Zephirine Drouhin looks a lot better than mine:(. Love the shot of Belinda's Dream, it's the rose I would love to have if I ever got more room in the garden.

    P.S. What did you have for breakfast?

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  9. Masha, thanks for leaving such a nice comment! Sorry, about your Zephirine Drouhin. Is she recovering? I think, that Belinda's Dream will become quite a large rose. It is so hard to decide what kind of roses you want to grow if you have limited space, isn't it?
    Regarding our breakfast, on Sundays we mostly have breakfast German-style. Rolls with slices of cheese, thinly sliced chicken meat or jam and a soft boiled egg.
    Christina

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  10. Breakfast outside is wonderful. We love al fresco dining too. I love your bird photography and your pink rose 'Belinda's dream' is stunning. Have a great week!

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  11. Priscilla, thanks for stopping by, again! I am glad that we share the love for outdoor dining and also happy, that you like the bird pics and 'Belinda's Dream'. Have a great rest of the week, too!
    Christina

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  12. Christina, I loved everything! A lovely spot for breakfast, beautiful birds, totally adorable puppy, healthy blooming roses. All on a sunny day. How wonderful. Thanks for sharing them.

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  13. Sherry, many thanks for one more of your very nice comments. I really appreciate it!
    Christina

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