Saturday, 27 December 2014
Outside an…IKEA, of all places….
If summer and the shoulder seasons are the time of the flower-photo, this part of the year is when I find seed-heads and branch-silhouettes compelling. And, with today’s sunshine, I did enjoy this clump of grasses, especially the curves in the tips.
Saturday, 20 December 2014
Back before 3D printers and digital technologies, if a museum wanted a plant for a diorama, someone had to make it, as the real thing wouldn’t survive the hot lights unattended for decades. This is a model of a pineapple at the blooming stage, not a bit the real thing. Not sure what year it was made, whether plastic is heavily used or not at all, but it looks just like a flowering pineapple, before the pineapple has formed.
Monday, 15 December 2014
Winter is the time to plan next year’s garden. I think this oregano will survive. I’m thinking sage and a new pot of Thai basil would be a perfect addition.
Sunday, 30 November 2014
Over at the Bot Garden, we enjoyed the natural autumnal delights like the dried, spent plants, overlooking and ignoring the…uh-hem…fancy lights, which, let’s face it, don’t look good in daylight. We’ve heard they’re…stately?…after dark, but I’m not so sure I’d like them….
Wednesday, 26 November 2014
As to neighbors, D alerted us to step out the back door and listen and look skyward—Sandhill Cranes were passing overhead, announcing their presence.
As to neighborhood, we stopped at “our” hardware store for the Guru to collect some necessities, and I cruised the plant section. I didn’t expect to find flowers—yet here they are!
Saturday, 22 November 2014
The beautiful part of the day was the arrival of these sunflowers….
However, the strange part of the day was the GAA—the Great Anole Adventure. You see, we had a visitor, a bright green anole. I would have tolerated him/her longer…on the bathroom floor, but then I found her/him on the (kitchen) counter. Quite the athlete. Hmmm.
Not sure where she/he came from…but, hmm, we didn’t want her/him to…stay the winter with us…. So, there was a gentle capture that didn’t work, then a gentle capture that was a little more rigorous, and the anole is back outdoors.
End of story.
Monday, 10 November 2014
We watched the weather transition soon after this. The snow stopped, and the wind kicked up. I don’t know if you can pick out the one red spot near the center of the photo, a lone apple hanging on above the reach of the deer.
Great apple production this year, both many apples and nice apples. No spraying or other bug repellants applied, and yet, far fewer insect invasions in the fruit than I ever remember seeing before.
Inside, the Guru brought in lots of wood and the stove kicked out the heat, very pleasant.
Thursday, 30 October 2014
Here’s evidence of the pending blooming season. I had thought about pruning this camellia for shape, but it’s too late—I can’t bring myself to sacrifice the blooms-to-be.
Thursday, 23 October 2014
I’ve been enjoying the autumn-specific assortment of blooms Nature and my Gardening Neighbors offer these days.
I found this for-sale display a bit jarring, however; while mums are autumn flowers (see first photo), tulips are spring spring SPRING flowers! The miracle of greenhouses…and people who don’t know seasonality….
Saturday, 18 October 2014
I have thought about converting more of our front yard into a veggie garden…. This year I didn’t even plant the part that is not lawn, as we were gone in the crucial planting and watering period. We’ll see what I do next year….