Musings

Progress

I always get a bit excited to see this long-view of the mountains, even though the powerlines-strung-with-orange-caution-balls disrupts the skyscape, as it signals that we’re leaving the Piedmont…in short: we’re On The Road!

Not pretty enough? Here’re some asters at dusk three states to the north.

Not a rose

Liriope bloom

I always found the common name for this, monkey grass, is jarring, but often I remember it better than the “real” name: liriope. Anyway, now’s its blooming season.

Well-watered

We endured one of those fast gulley-washers this afternoon; it lasted maybe three minutes, of total deluge.

Bee a cutie

Universal reason #8 for out-of-focus photo: very hot-and-muggy, so I didn’t hang around to take a proper photograph, and not merely a snap.

Okay, admit it: you smiled (or at least thought about it inside).

Vegetation is art

Pop of color coleus. [Just darned pretty.]

Already! The seedy season is here.

Does that count, kinda?

Like gardenias and camellias, I was unfamiliar with caladiums when I moved to the deep south. I’ve never grown caladiums, although one time I planted them at the new house of friends.

A tonic-visit

I mentioned dahlias two days back; here’s one from the R-garden over in Athens. Yup, we took a wee road trip—great fun and many laughs.

Where are you from?

Seeking words to add to this photo, I discovered that coneflowers (Echinacea) are native to eastern and central North America. That surprised me…in a good way. I often figure (erroneously) that pretty garden flowers are from elsewhere, like Asia and Africa.

Bonus: dahlias are also New World—from the Basin of Mexico area, as I understand it.

Grass = green

Every once in a while, I visit the BBC/Scotland webpage (link), and scroll down to find a selection of readers’ pictures from the week. Some are artistry in heightened saturation, some are long-lens captures (puffins are a favorite), a few are closer to snapshots, and some are of fabulous sunlight or sky moments. The ones I linger on the most tend to be patterns in nature. This is a mediocre example, but you get the idea.

Nicely pale yellow

I have read that some folks eat lily bulbs or use them for medicine, but I’m sticking to enjoying merely looking at the flowers. Besides, if you consume the bulbs, that means no flowers next year.