Friday Flowers

 My Christmas Cheer Rhodies are spectacular this year.
We have not had snow to weigh them down although we have had rain and winds.
I've never seen them looking this nice for this long - 26 years.

 The Hostas are unfurling.
 I will have to get some slug bait out soon although they always win in the end anyway.

 A look up to the street. Christmas Cheer Rhododendron forefront. With Redbud in middle with Star Magnolia behind.

My neighbors and I have all tried RedBuds with no success. This one, was bought for an embarrassing amount of $$ and has been in place for five years or so. It's stunning in it's blooms.

 The regular rhodies starting to bloom.

 In front of the big front window are my sea of Anemones. They look a bit ravaged from the rain today but they are doing their patriotic duty!

 Over on the left side of the yard, these yellow and orange short tulips that open like a peony.

 My front door and pathway. Rusty is always leaving his toys out.

 My Sasanqua Camellia. My hubby didn't want an espalier or anything attached to the siding. So I created this by training the camellia to stakes with wire so it would be self-supporting. The entire bush can be pulled 'down' for painting.

This year, several birds have taken up residence. I don't know how I'm going to prune it without dislodging them. Another month may see any babies out of the nest when all the new growth goes all over.

 And this is my side yard I look out the kitchen window at.

The curve of Hostas at the front of the bed. With two Christmas Cheer rhodies at left, the redbud towards the right with the Star Magnolia too close by. That Star Magnolia was sheered to the ground when we cut down our leaning fir trees and then had the temerity to come back from the root stock AFTER I planted the redbud.

All that remains of the crocuses/croci

 Haha! My sis in Minnesota just had her first crocus blooms.

 I have plenty of daffodils after living here for over 25 years. Enough to keep me in bouquets anyway.

 I was trying to pose Rusty but he wasn't cooperating.

I managed to catch a hummingbird outside!


I kind of stopped throwing my flower photos on the blog. I'm much more active on Instagram with those. But Rusty wanted to go in, and then go out, then come back in, then go back out, so I took him for a walk around the yard to settle him down.

Tie Dye & Dip Dye, the 4-H WAY

Reporting from the 'Running with Scissors' 4H group:

These  creative girls decided to tackle TieDye and Dip-Dyeing recently. These dyeing methods are two ways to add vibrant color to t-shirts, curtains, hats or any fabric that will yield a pattern depending on technique but will also surprise you every time.
For TieDyeing, they  used a TieDye kit from Jacquard, available from here. "The colors were very vibrant and have withstood multiple washings," explains the 4H leader. "I would get this brand again."

You can see from the above photos they are using rubber bands (tight) to separate sections for the dye. The directions on this kit were good and the following photos show another technique.

 

 

The leader practiced prior with her niece and nephew and used Tulip Dyes bought here. These colors were softer and more muted. The blue is more denim blue and the red is more pink.

Results from the 4H'ers:

Dip Dyeing. These 4H'ers did not use a kit this time. They used idye kits made for the washing machine. Also from Jacquard.
The girls requested certain colors like lime green and aquamarine which Jacquard carries.

The 4H leader says, "They gave a very uniform color which is nice, but we might have gotten different results with another type of dye. I would want to try another type of dye for this project to experiment next time. The idye does give very vibrant color that lasts through multiple washings, we just need to work on our dip dye technique."

No kit for this, thus no exact instructions.

You need a tub big enough to dip your item into. These 4H'ers were dip dyeing tank tops so they needed a medium small container.
The idea is to get a graduated color change from light to dark.

"The 4H girls have received lots of exclamations on their tie dye shirts and they wear them often.
They would like to do this project again. I am keeping a list of tie dye techniques I see or want to try, such as peace designs in the dye or different folding techniques, like the accordion fold."

Hanging Wet
It's easy to discern the color gradients while wet.
Although, when they are dry, they look very subtle.

There are lots of techniques on the internet that can help or confuse you. The basic technique is to experiment to find out which dyes work best, which fiber contents work best ( cotton is a good starting point) and getting the over-all look to be what you envision - or just let your dye imagination loose.


Other links:
1. Paula Burch
2. Martha
3. Dizzy Lettuce
4. a.  Become a 4-H Leader
    b.  OSU Extension:4H