Along the bank of the lake

Erik went to photograph the wild bears to Finland a week ago. This is one of the photos he took there. Photographed by Erik in July 2010, Finland.

3 roses (2)

And some more...

The Fairy:

Leonardo da Vinci:

Schneewittchen:

3 roses

Aren't they beautiful?
Aspirin: Rose de Resht:

Leonardo da Vinci:

Grill house

This is our new grill house! My favourite place during the hot summer days...

A moose baby

Photographed by Erik, Harju county, June 2010

Summer in my garden - peonies

Peonies - my favourite summer flowers with roses - are in blooms right now. The earliest have already ceased flowering, but the others are still in full blooms and look absolutely beautiful! I find peonies very, very pretty due to their big romantic blossoms (and so good smell!) and it seems like I cannot get enough of them - in garden markets, I find myself buying new and new ones... Since they need some time to get used to the soil, then it usually gets around 2-4 years before they start to bloom. Therefore, not all my peonies are blooming, yet. But a lot of them are, and I can show you them.

My peonies are the following:

1. "Rubra Plena" - a red peony which is very early (blooms about 2 weeks before others) and I always wait for its first blooms to open - then I know, that peonies' time is there and the summer can start! :) I got this peony from Kristi's mom.

2. "Festiva Maxima" - it is a white peony which I've got from Kristi's mom (+ one I had here in my garden before we moved here).

3. "Karl Rosenfield" - bought 2 years ago from "Hansaplant" and this is the first year to see its beautiful dark-red blossoms. I love it!

4. "Sarah Bernhard" - a light pink peony which I absolutely love... I have 2 of them, one I bought from a gardening centre and another was already here before I got the owner of the house.

5. "Edulis Superba" - this is a pink peony which is the most well-known in Estonian gardens, I have 3 of them, but unforutnately none is blooming this year. 2 are too young, yet (I got them from Erik's mom in August 2009) and one is probably planted too low - I have to dig it out and re-plant it in August.

6. "Buckeye Belle" - a very deep red peony, early, which is blooming in my garden for the first year. It's beautiful when white peonies are next to it.

7. "Sorbet" - a white-pink peony, which I never knew I had. I bought another one (a red one), but got "Sorbet". Well, it looks nice, so I don't mind; but now this red one is still in my list of wanting-to-have...

8. "Bowl of Beauty" - one of my favourites again, Japanese-blossom type peony. I have 2 plants, one is already blooming (for the 2nd year), another is still too small.

9. "Boule de Neige" - a white peony, which also has a little bit of yellow and some red stripes. I got it from "Juhani Puukool" and it seems to like to live in my garden, because it bloomed already this year (being only 1 year old) very nicely.

10. "Early Scout" - I bought this red early peony only this Spring, so I have to wait until I see its blossoms. It is the only simple blossoms (instead of full- or half-full blossoms) peony I have in my garden.

KARL ROSENFIELD:

RUBRA PLENA:

FESTIVA MAXIMA:

SARAH BERNHARD:

BUCKEYE BELLE:

SORBET:

BOWL OF BEAUTY:

BOULE DE NEIGE: