Another glorious weekend is behind us. Temperatures and humidity soared so it felt as if we’d been immersed in a steam bath. The air was close, the sun was hot. It seemed like a muggy July afternoon.
And it was on this day that I decided the time had come to dig out some under-performing hydrangeas and replant. No points for brilliance here.
The best part of the experience was a leisurely tour around a nursery to select some plants to fill what would soon be empty spaces. A lovely butterfly flitted around from bloom to blossom guiding me in my search, while a dragonfly danced along above me.
Then I was home again. Under hot, blazing sun I stuck spade in scorched, tough earth, all the while questioning my sanity. Frustration over how the gardens had been looking was enough though to drive me forward, though.
I chugged water and wiped my brow while digging, prying, pulling and working with dogged determination. After 2 1/2 hours the task was complete and I, replete with satisfaction, sat down to enjoy an ice-cream sandwich and the fruits of my labours. Though the effort had been undeniably exhausting, it left me in a state of good tired. There’s no question that playing in the dirt has its therapeutic benefits.
Getting down to earth is a fond pastime for many adults. There’s something so basic about putting your hands in the ground. Placing a single beautiful plant somewhere that it enhances the aesthetic of your property is gratifying in so many ways. It challenges us physically, it soothes us emotionally. We learn as we study the many varieties and come to understand what will work best in the location we have. We play — not just in the dirt, but with colours and textures.
The finished results bring summer to our backyards. The flowers we painstakingly plant, the blooms and blossoms that thrive because we tend them, are so cheery after our long, dreary winters. While some might not grow them as well as others, there’s no one who doesn’t love them.
So I thought it might be fun today to try our hands at bringing floral perfection to life another way — with some great Photoshop projects. Here are a few fun ones I discovered:
Demo Painting of Hydrangea Using Photoshop
Draw a Flower Stencil in Photoshop
Creating Leaves and Flower in Photoshop
