Don't you think some flowers are practically singing their own theme song?

I think in the case of my red gerbera (which is bursting with blooms right now), if it could sing it would be singing the song that's been going through my head today—Pharrell Williams' song "Happy".

If you aren't familiar with the song you can watch the official video by clicking here

Bloom-a-day 2: Hot pink gerberas

Like an artist's paint palette exploded, the garden is alive with color everywhere I look.

I've decided to feature a bloom a day until this beautiful show comes to a close.

Like the red gerberas that live out in the garden, these "annual" beauties that reside on the deck in a terra cotta pot have miraculously wintered over for two winters now. It never ceases to amaze me when this happens and I hope I never take it for granted that it does.

The miracle of a red gerbera

I bought it on a lark, reading the plant tag that said "annual" thinking it was a frivolous purchase but couldn't resist the deep scarlet brilliance no matter how temporary it would be.

That was years ago... so many years ago I've forgotten how long it's been.

In the same terra cotta pot, it comes back every year. After the chill of winter has left, the stems begin to emerge and then the brazen scarlet petals of each bloom unfold in unabashed majesty. Unashamed yet unassuming, the gerbera is an every day flower with the simplicity of a kindergartener's drawing (the quintessential garden bloom) yet with a flare that says, "I am no wallflower".

Years of living with its feet in the same pot, the gerbera ate away much of the original soil. Last fall, I lifted it gently and added more soil hoping not to disturb the magical spell that kept it coming back years past its original "annual" label suggested it should. As the fall days grew cooler, the leaves dried, withered and died. It looked as if I had in fact broken the spell.

But just to prove me wrong (like many things in my garden) when the days grew warmer, the gerbera started showing signs of life. The emerging stems came first before any leaves. By late March, the first ruby petals were unfurling.

The spell was not broken.

Red Gerberas

I deemed today an "in the garden" day because I HAD to fill up the green cans before tomorrow's pick-up. I also had to do some painting and caulking on the almost-completed deck. I finally ran out of things to put in the green cans (when does that ever happen?) and my finger was sore from spreading caulk along the seams of boards. So I came inside and managed to sneak in some studio time as the sun was going down.

It was such a glorious spring day to be outside working that I wanted to somehow capture how it felt in an art piece. So I took a photograph that I shot of the cute red gerberas in the workshop windowbox and turned it into a digital "painting" with Photoshop and a couple of fun textures.

And I liked the finished result so much, that I've made it available in notecards at the Dusting in Pearls online store. Not bad for an "in the garden" day. Now I can go collapse on the sofa and nurse my slight twinge of a headache while Hubby cooks us a late dinner.

Texture credits:
Warm Daydream by swimmingintheether
Flat Stone from my own collection of textures

The Workshop Windowbox

Back when I posted the first photos of our new workshop, I had some requests to make sure and post photos once I got flowers into the windowbox. It's taken me a while to decide on what I wanted in the windowbox. Since the overnight temps have started to warm up, it made my selection wider, but I was still stumped.

Then when Hubby and I were at Home Depot looking for primer and paint for the deck that's going in, I told him, "Let's just take a quick peek into the garden center to see if they have any trellises I like." Well, of course I didn't make it out of there with only trellises. I'm good when Hubby isn't with me, but when we're together I manage getting stuff I hadn't planned on getting. Kinda backwards from most marriages, but that's the way it is.


I ended up with some gorgeous bright red Gerbera daisies and then some little white petunias that will grow in and fill out over time. Once I got them in, I was so glad I chose the red because it looks great contrasting against the butter yellow of the workshop. And they are a wonderfully happy flower that makes me smile when I see them.