MARIETTE'S BACK TO BASICS

Friday, May 6, 2011

A Day Made of Glass... Made possible by Corning.

Most of you for sure do know Corning for use in our kitchens. Usually, Corning is behind the scenes providing innovated technology unknown to most casual observers. For example most people are unaware that Corning's "Gorilla Glass" is the glass surface in the iPhone, iTouch, iPad and most other smart phones using a touch glass surface. Watch "A Day Made of Glass" and take a look at Corning's vision for the future with specialty glass at the heart of it. See also the amazing video below this photo! It gives a glimpse into the future of what is likely to be routine in our lives in the not too distant future. It is absolutely fascinating. Most of this stuff is already reality, just not yet pervasive.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

{Japanese Styrax Obassia - Fragrant Snowbell}

Around mid April our Styrax Obassia, Fragrant Snowbell, is putting on quite a show. This native from Japan is such a gem and is available at Woodlanders. We feel fortunate to have such a beauty in our wood garden. No flowers last for weeks on end, but it is worth it for the time that they do! Join me for a Garden Tour.

The Styrax Obassia in our wood garden.

Blue sky in April...

Hope you enjoyed our Japanese gem!

This is how they look one month later!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

{Satsuki Azaleas Wakaebisu in Front of Our Home}

It was in 1994, that we had a fairytale spring and all of our Satsuke Azaleas 'Wakaebisu' where blooming so pretty. One could say that was picture perfect! The 'Wakaebisu' is a Rhododendron indicum. The name translates to fifth month and that is exactly true, as it is a late blooming Azalea variety. This species can be found on the southernmost four islands of the Japanese island chain. Let me first show you the picture-perfect Wakaebisu in full bloom in May of 1994 and I will end with the sad thing that I found yesterday... dried up buds because of the harsh weather. Friday they looked like I could make a beautiful photo of them but nope. Seems to be hard in our climate to keep them. In the front we've replaced them once and now there are only a few of them left, in our wood garden... Join me for a Garden Tour!