Tuesday, 14 September 2010
I think this is a bellflower (Campanula spp.), perhaps the common garden bellflower (C. rapunculoides). Photo taken on the morning of the 12th; note the “hairs” on the petal margins.
We’re very much enjoying the dramatic effects of early-day and late-day horizontal light.
I take it as a very good sign that a flat-bed duallie (never seen it spelled out) delivered shingles and Stuff (including nails and roofing paper) this afternoon.
Thursday, 9 September 2010
Windy today, but with the sun: quite nice! Whatta surprise to find a few hardy lupins still blooming as autumnal overnight temperatures begin to turn the leaves, especially on the maples, glorious colors.
Sunday, 29 August 2010
If you are particularly clever (pat your back!), you may have guessed that there was a bit of chainsaw work going on around here today…although this photo is from another time and place.
Breathe a sigh of relief: no trees on house!
Saturday, 21 August 2010
The sign said guinep.
I saw green ovate-roundish yellow-green fruit somewhat like squished pingpong-ball-sized limes loosely clustered on woody twigs.
Against the rules, I nabbed a snapshot.
Thanks to online reference materials, I have learned that I was looking at Melicoccus bijugatus, which has a plethora of common names, with mamoncillo perhaps more familiar than most (I’ve seen it in Mexico). Guinep is the Jamaican name. I guess the species is native to the New World tropics, maybe mostly the Caribbean.
Inside it’s not at all like a citrus, but has a salmon-colored or yellowish pulp around a hard kernel/seed. And the skin is thin and leathery.
Apparently, there are sweeter kinds and not-sweet ones.
I’m lame, I didn’t buy any to try.
Friday, 20 August 2010
Frame your yard with a low decorative brick wall. Positon one section under the shade of a modest magnolia. Revisit in several years. Look for shade- and moisture-loving colonists. Grab a cold one. Come back in several more years. I’m wondering how old this particular colony is, maybe three decades?
Now you know how lichenometry works.
Thursday, 19 August 2010
I’m not sure exactly why, but I have a soft spot for tendrils, both the word and the thing.
This example is, I suspect, greenbrier or Smilax.
Sunday, 15 August 2010
I’m not sure exactly why, but I think of sunflowers as a later thing, more autumnal. Maybe it’s the Midwesterner in me. But the heat we’re having now, although now decreased to reach highs only (hah!) in the upper upper 80s, is a clear indicator of mid-summer….
Friday, 13 August 2010
Some Fridays by this time of day I’m energized, looking forward to the weekend pacing of life.
Some Fridays I feel kinda dull and logy.
Every once in a while I feel like it’s just another day.
Today I’ve cycled through all three. Right now, I think I’m transitioning back to having more-than-usual energy mode.
The unopened hibiscus bud is from the groc store run this morning, among the freshly watered plants out in front of the store and still in the shade (not for long). Among the myriad menu choices, we opted for cheater BBQ, in which there is no open flame just a crockpot, so it’s not really BBQ, merely an BBQ sauce flavored imitation.
Wednesday, 11 August 2010
All I can figure is that we’ve had enough rain that the tomatoes are blooming again. They quit for something like three weeks. My neighbors’ said their plants did the same thing.
Mystery.
Friday, 30 July 2010
It’s not rose season, but I had to catch the light coming through the stained glass this afternoon. The sun-angle that does this means that we’ve passed mid-summer and we’re headed toward the equinox.
Last week I watched one last gardenia blooming where I could see—and smell—it.
Another harbinger of season-change.