Monday, 20 June 2016
These rarities are situational. Temps in the 60s, even the high 60s are unusual these days. Sooooo glad to have it to walk this morning. Temps will rise into the 90s the rest of the week (summer?), so overnight likely won’t get this cool again for a while.
When parsley blooms, this is what it looks like. Pretty, no? Usually it’s picked before this stage, or most of us don’t even bother to grow it, as it bolts so quickly.
Sunday, 19 June 2016
Flash or backlit? Fern or caladium?
Which tickles your stomata? [It’s theoretical; I do know that you don’t have them.]
Saturday, 18 June 2016
The panda house…workers cleared the yard of bamboo a month ago (we assume a new owner or hopes of a sale—but no for-sale sign), and festooned the slope with pine straw. I wondered. They did not remove the roots, and the bamboo flourishes.
And the fennel by the front stoop is blooming.
Friday, 17 June 2016
These blueberries began to ripen the other day, and now either the person-owner or the birds and critters have thinned the ranks. Usually, this person-owner covers the plants with a cloth to remove the opportunity for poaching.
This crop is…well, I don’t know if it’s edible. These are nascent redbud pods (it’s leguminous). The light was glorious.
Wednesday, 15 June 2016
That is one fancy tricycle to be banished to the garden. The family has kids, and I wonder if this is strictly a garden-cycle, or if a child gave it up to be art.
We got that tropical afternoon shower (again), which temporarily brought the temps down (thankfully, although today was not as hot as the previous days), and made this lily exceptionally wondrous.
Sunday, 12 June 2016
I really am a member at the ATL BotGarden because of the plants, and the peacefulness I can find among them.
I’m even entranced by the goddess, with her tresses of sweet potato vines and whatever.
We’re now in a Chihuly-fest, and, while I find his pieces pretty and eye-catching, I do not find them green, floral, and alive.
Saturday, 11 June 2016
Inspired by the Guru…leaves against darkness. Love the concept…I think his version is more eye-catching….
Look at the color contrasts in this garden. It’s on a lot that someone bought and emptied of the house that was here, then turned it into a garden. A gift for us all; don’t know what the taxes are on an empty lot on this street-corner…thank you, stranger(s).
Now this is sheer visual pleasure. Enjoy these leaves of not-grass.
Wednesday, 8 June 2016
Spent a lot of time today trundling down the highways and byways. Stopped on a rural stretch at a truck stop without logos and national affiliations. No big shopping area. No hallway of showers. Just a friendly café and a giant parking lot. That strange open sign to the right has a mean-faced bulldog above wearing a chef’s hat and holding a stirring spoon and rolling pin…only mildly strange….
I am compelled to photograph flowers. Often a side effect is that I discover insects. Not today.
Tuesday, 7 June 2016
I said goodbye to the lilacs for this year…well, to the blooms. I am leaving them to MaNachur.
We crossed the bridge to troll-land. Thankfully, we didn’t drive straight into a wave of summer heat.
We stopped for what you do at a rest stop…stretch legs and toilet activities. Here’s a euphemism for the same for our canine companions.
After quite some time, we drove by the country mosque—which is overlooking a construction zone at present.
Our next distinctive architectural find: sugar silos.
And we saw some glorious day-end light.
Monday, 6 June 2016
Over at the Refuge, where we went to dodge chores in the damp of the morning, we saw nesting swans…also flying and floating and feeding swans. Not many Canada geese. A beaver.
Several sandhill cranes. And a red-wing blackbird to the left.
Some kind of viburnum. I thought it was a hobblebush (there’s a name), but if these are the leaves, they don’t match those in my ID book….
I saw just one specimen of this vine, with leaves that wrapped around the stem almost completely, and this showy bloom. I cannot find it in my book…. I call it the mystery vine.
Across our orchard and field, the deep blue lupine are variable, but most are dark across the entire bloom part. Of course, there are also some in pink and white, and some…blended versions, too.
So, for our collection, this is an unusual coloration, this bicolor presentation. Pretty though, especially with the dark lines. Interestingly, this is the version in my wildflower guide.
This is sure the lupine-time. They are taller than the orchard grasses that will eclipse them within weeks, and their delightful colors sure make them pop against the green-green background.