Rhodies Are Red....

 

Bursting In Bloom... 

It is Almost the end of May, Dear Readers, and that means the Lilacs in this part of the World have long since given up their blossoms and ceded the day to the exuberant Rhododendrons! And I know that while a few of you might be hoping that someday you will see them both blooming side by side, I have never yet seen that happen in my RL garden, and can't assume it would happen here, even for a second. This year we have been experiencing a cool, very wet Spring with little sunshine. This is not a bad thing because last fall and winter we had a terrible drought, and now the rain has restored us to normal! But it does make it difficult to get lovely sunny pictures of the blooming Rhododendron shrub. This morning was no exception and I was despairing of getting anything to show you... and then the sun Almost broke through the clouds! I ran for my camera and snapped a dozen pictures... not quite sunny... but light enough to see the blossoms in detail! And I had to make sure you were also seeing the Summer Lilac in all its plain old green!

 And, of course, I had to take lots of pictures and can't decide which are the best!

 

I do love the way the shrubs wrap the porch....

 

And I know they crowd the path to the brook...

 

Just look at all those blossoms!!!

 

And the shrub wraps all the way around the side of the house...

and conceals the entrance to the Tree House in the roots....

And yes, Mr. Gnome has been enjoying the blossoms of spring!

(His house is hidden in the Garden somewhere... he hasn't told me where...)

 

It turns the porch into a lovely little arbor....

 

But the weather has been much too dreary for sitting out in the garden! 

I believe Will and Gabrielle have even needed to light the fire!

 

But I don't mind, Dear Readers,

 it is beautiful to behold, 

this Brilliant Red rhododendron, 

even on a dreary day!

 

Rhododendron Shrub # 3...

 

 

Green Leafy Shrub Take 2.... 

It Was just about a year ago, Dear Readers, that I was contemplating the feasibility and wisdom of launching the Rhododendron Shrubs in Three Seasons Project! I was making rough calculations about how long it took to make the blossom clusters and the leaves, too, and trying to calculate whether there was enough Time to complete the Summer Blooming Rhododendron by blossom season at the end of May. As you are probably aware, I figured it was a "go" if I got on it right away and did almost nothing else til the Blossoming Shrub was complete. And I did succeed! Along with constructing the basic shrub skeletons for the remaining two Seasonal versions. And you might even remember that I made a mistake when attaching the shrub skeletons to their bases.... accidentally putting #2 Skeleton on base #3, and #3 Skeleton on base #2... causing a bit of an identity crisis for these remaining shrubs! And you are probably aware that I sort of completed the Green Leafy Shrub.... (the all year 'round version....) at the end of July. But I wasn't happy with the density of the leaf placement and so I "converted" it to the Winter Snowy Shrub a few weeks ago. (You tell me which it is... shrub #2 or Shrub #3!) Which leaves me needing to re-make the Green Leafy version... hopefully with a better leaf density result! I know I showed you the container full of all the leaves I had made last Fall, knowing I was going to have to just keep producing leaves if I was ever going to get the final product made! Here it is again, in case you missed it!

 It is 50 batches of leaves... each batch having forty leaves, for a total of 2000 leaves!

 This is more than I used in either of the previous versions.

Here I am starting the process of making the stem tips (the buds) using the "glue trick".

Once the glue is dry the tips need to be painted a light green.

I know my mixture is a little less "yellow" than I think it should be... 

I am running low on the yellow paint and need to remix the batch.

 

Here I am starting to glue the leaves on a batch of stems. 

The single leaf doesn't want to stay put very well unless the stem is lying flat.

 

Here I am adding the second leaf. 

Once these are very securely dried...

 (don't rush this or they fall off!)

then the next two can be added

 to each stem at the same time.

At this point they need to be vertical while they dry.

 And I forgot to take pictures to show you...!

I also decided I needed to try to "map" the shrub skeleton

 to get a good count of the branches. 

I counted the different limbs and branches and

 came up with about 100 stem tips to which I will attach

 all the leaf clusters I will be assembling!

I still need to test my construction for these... 

because rather than glue each cluster to a branch one stem at a time...

 I plan to try to add a "grouping" of two or three leaf clusters

 that have already been "combined".

This is because I realized my real problem last year 

was that I forgot that the Rhododendron

 never drops all it's leaves at once!

 It keeps most of them for two years,

 and a few for three and maybe even one or two 

are four years back along those growing stems.

 They produce the denser leaf cover I am wanting! 

I need to make the grouped stems 

with the previous year's leaves still attached!

I know I have taken pictures to show you of my RL shrub... 

but I can't find them in my photos

 and it is too dark to go get new ones.... 

so you will just have to trust me on this! 

And of course, I haven't yet tested my construction methods.... 

but that is coming next!

So, Dear Readers,

 I am tip-toeing my way into the

 Rhododendron Shrub #3, 

also known as the Green Leafy Shrub.... 

take two!

Winter Wonderland....

 

Snow That Sticks Around....

We have been having a Somewhat snowy Winter, Dear Readers, mostly because it has been so cold that even the very tiny amounts of snow that have fallen don't melt even on sunny days! And most of those amounts have been what are called "a dusting"..... not really even measurable! But on a couple of occasions we have had a more robust amount collect, five even six inches have piled up. And almost every time the beautiful early morning before the snow is blown off the trees and bushes we have that magical "Winter Wonderland" outside our doors! And so I wanted to remind you of the beauty of this by bringing out the Winter Lilac Shrub and showing the fresh snowfall at The Folly Dollhouse. (Yes, it snowed here in RL a couple of nights ago!) Do you even remember the epic 18 months process of building the Lilac Shrub in four seasonal versions? The entire reason for this idea was so that I could show you The Folly in Winter as well as Spring and Summer! And once this idea had come to pass, it necessitated that all The Folly Garden flora be produced in seasonal variations. Above you can see the Lilac in it's Winter finery. But as some of you are aware, this year I have added the Rhododendron Shrub to this Garden, with the flowering shrub in May and the Summer Green one in July... all I needed to do was make the Winter version, right?

Oh Look! The sun is coming out as we stand here!

Isn't it beautiful?

And if we step back just a little....

 

Wait... is that Snow on the Rhododendron too????

Heavens, what a beautiful sight!

 

Wow!

 

Well, Dear Readers, this is the reason I go to so much trouble!

It just is so darn beautiful!

(And I wouldn't want to have to give up on the May blossoms either!)

And no, I am not quite Super Woman and

 already made the third Rhododendron shrub...

 I took the already "finished" summer leafy one

 and just added the snow to it!

This is partly because I was not satisfied 

with the "end product" of the Summer one... 

the leaves were not quite assembled to make

 the best "dense coverage" possible

 and so it always looked a bit sparse to me.

I was going to need to start over with a different leaf attaching plan.

But rest assured, I have been making leaves!

 

All Fall and well into December

 I continued the daily leaf batch factory.

There are more than 50 batches in the above dish.... 

(each batch is forty leaves)

just waiting for me to get out the glue and start attaching leaves!

And, of course, the sun didn't stick around long.... 

it faded back into the overcast sky...

 

But I don't mind....

 it just means the snow will stick around for a while!

And I can give it the attention it deserves!

Oh, and I see Mr. Gnome is out to have a look as well!

(His home is hidden in the Garden somewhere....!)

 

And in case you wanted to see my RL garden, Dear Readers,

with the snow not melting because of the cold.... 

it has not gone above freezing for days

 and has been down to -9 degrees Fahrenheit the other morning!

(That is nine below zero fahrenheit!)

 

The view from my window!

 

And back in December, the picture perfect snowfall

 coated my RL Rhododendron with 

exactly the evidence I needed 

to complete my Winter Wonderland Rhododendron!

Isn't it gorgeous?

 

And the close up view.... 

just so you know I am not making this up!

It's the Real Winter Wonderland, Dear Readers,

Even if this snow did not stick around

Quite as long as the mini snow will!

Summer Rhododendron Shrub....

 

Green Grow the Leaves.....Oh!

I assume, Dear Readers, that some of you might be wondering whether I was keeping up with making the Summer Rhododendron Shrub. Well, I can assure you that I am on it! No slacking at all! I had calculated after assembling the Blossoming Shrub, that I would need somewhere in the Vicinity of 40 batches of leaves for the Summer Shrub. The Blossoming Shrub had 125 blossoming stems (with leaves) and about another 80 or 90 stems with only leaves. Each stem has about 7 leaves on it (a few have more or less). There are 40 leaves to a batch, so 40 batches makes 1600 individual leaves. At a certain point I decided that I needed to assemble the leafy stems as I made the leaf batches.... one batch of leaves per day for forty days! Yesterday was the completion of the 40th batch! (I took weekends off for the most part.)

Here is the fortieth batch under way....

And here it is completed!

This is the assembly area....

Once each batch of leaves is dry

 I fold the stems and cut them apart 

and collect them in this dish.

Here is the collection of assembled leafy stems

 waiting to be attached to the Shrub...

Here is the daily batch while the glue is drying....

You have to keep them from bumping anything....!

So while I have been busily making

 the leafy stems, Dear Readers,

 I have also been planning the "storage box"

 for the Blossoming Shrub.

And today was the day to get it built!

You might recall that I did the same for the Lilac Shrubs 

so they are protected during their "off seasons"!

Of course, it needed to be labeled!

It was trickier than the lilac boxes because 

the Rhododendron Shrub leans around the corner

 of The Folly Dollhouse and hangs down over the embankment.

I had to construct a support structure

 of a similar shape inside the box 

so the branches that go around the corner

 are not permanently squished!

I used builders foam... 

the same as the base for The Folly Garden itself.

And now the Blossoming Spring Rhododendron Shrub

 is safely tucked away in its own protective box

 until next Spring!

And I am madly assembling the leafy stems onto the Summer Shrub....

I got about twenty more leafy stems glued on today!

That on top of the thirty I had glued on since the beginning of July...

So give or take a week or three and

 the Summer Leafy Rhododendron Shrub

 should be completed!

And then, Dear Readers, 

All I will need to do is make another 40 batches of Leaves

 for the Winter Snowy Rhododendron Shrub.....

'Cause the Rhododendron Shrubs

 are Evergreens... Oh!

Are You Ready....

 

For the Rhodie-oh......!

You Might have come here, Dear Readers, looking for another view of the Lovely blooming Lilac Shrub, only to find it is already past it's time of bloom. (How does the time pass so quickly?) But what is this, you say in surprise, I don't recall seeing this here before... and yet, it seems as though it has always sat in that corner on the other side of The Folly Porch! (At least, I would have you believe so!) The astonishing burst of red blossoms seems to have opened overnight.....

And the early morning light 

is just beginning to illuminate their brilliance.

Do come closer.....!

It is almost shockingly bright after the delicate lilac blossoms...

Alas, there is no fragrance.... 

but after the lovely scent of the Lilacs, 

I would not want to have to compare... 

 

 It wraps around the corner of the house above the little brook...

(still under construction!)

And when it is done... 

it will partly conceal the door to

 The Tree House between the roots....

And perhaps some of you, Dear Readers,

 will recall a year ago when I began this project.... 

and was "testing" a blossom or two in this corner...

And the sunlight reached into my room

 and touched the blossoms.... just like this...

and that told me this was a must to do!

And here we are! 

Already!

And while it is not quite finished....

it looks just as wonderful as I dreamed it would!

Oh, Dear Readers.....

Are you ready for the Rhodie-oh...

Oh!!!