Category Archives: happening in my life

outside my window.

Spring is not only in the air, it’s in the pots, too. My camera is on stand-by constantly with extra batteries in the charger at all times, ready to shoot beautiful blooms like a dietes amongst the azure blue pansies at my local grocery store.

While I depend mainly on perennials in my yard for color – such as red dianthus or “pinks” as my Granny called them – I can’t help but add a few annuals. Pink snapdragons are one of my favorites. Yes, they’ll melt with summer’s heat, but for me they bloom their heads off during the cool season, our name for “winter” in Texas.

Bees are everywhere and although I’m quite allergic to them, I am thankful for all they do to keep the blooming plants doing their thing. Do you encourage bees in your yard? The only place I’d rather not find them is near the pool and patio. That area is relegated to blooms that are pollinated by hummingbirds, moths and butterflies. How do you know which prefers what? Look for an Audrey Hepburn neck…… More on that later.

I’m driving through East Texas this weekend to spend some time with family. I am thankful for the colors of spring as we celebrate the life of my late great uncle, Bob.

: bees on nectar

: dietes

: pink snapdragon

: red dianthus

Posted in happening in my life, outside my window

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in my life.

Feb 24

Posted by cherie foster colburn

My uncle passed away yesterday….

At 81 years old, Uncle Bob played at least 9 holes of golf every day until three weeks ago. His energy and no-fear attitude was my inspiration. In fact, he and my aunt took on re-doing an old general store/post office/bank building she fell in love with five years ago in Golden, Texas. They made it into a magazine-cover home. This was their second complete home renovation since he turned 70. Who starts a project like that when most of their friends are relaxing? Uncle Bob did.
Uncle Bob encouraged me to write a book about their young neighbor in Golden, The Bulb Hunter.
I loved staying with he and my aunt, talking faith and flowers till the wee hours. Uncle Bob enjoyed describing a plant he’d seen playing golf that day so he could know its name the next time, his beautiful clear blue eyes shining like a child on Christmas morning, always ending with “isn’t God good to us?”
No matter what time I arose the next morning, I was met by Uncle Bob, handing me a cup of coffee, his open Bible near his favorite chair. Did the guy EVER sleep?

Uncle Bob will be missed by everyone since he never met a stranger. He’s already teeing off near the Streets Of Gold rather than ones in Golden, Texas. And I have a feeling he’ll be telling ME the names of all the plants he’s discovered when I get to be with him again.

: sign on the side of bob’s house.

: bob’s fence, photo by CherieColburn.com

: pearl bush (Exochorda racemosa) in my dad’s yard

: east texas daffodils.

: east texas daffodils.

: east texas daffodils.

Posted in happening in my life

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outside my window.

Feb 17

Posted by cherie foster colburn

My roses enjoyed the rain we got this week. So did some bulbs I got from my friend and co-author on HEIRLOOM BULBS, Chris Wiesinger. (Most people know Chris best as “The Bulb Hunter.”) Double Roman, a historic daffodil believed to be cultivated since the 1500’s in Europe, naturalize well in the Coastal South, too. They bloom early and have a divine fragrance.

Although not the fragrance, a divine bloom in MY book is the cherry blossom. My oldest daughter and her husband live in the D.C. area so we traveled up for the Cherry Blossom Festival a couple years ago. It was breathtaking! I tried to get the feel at my house with a dwarf Mexican cherry since ornamental cherry trees don’t get enough cold here to bloom properly, but there is no comparison. The blooms transform Arlington Cemetery into something ethereal. The most moving moment was seeing the change of the guard that time of year.