Category Archives: flower

Merry Gold

Posted on by

We still have plenty of color in the flower gardens.  Sylvia has kept things look good out there.

161007a

All that gold makes me feel rich beyond measure.  Wait.  It gets better.

161007b

You can pep it up a step.  Or even two.

161007c

The purslane adds such a nice touch of color that we’ve let it grow.  At least the ones we didn’t harvest earlier for our dinner table.  The succulent stems and leaves are good in a salad or steamed for greens.

This year, we’ve also added lamb’s quarters (yes, the weed) to our diet.  Thanks Sharkey for telling us about them.  The young tender shoots are best and can be added raw to a salad or steamed as greens.  In the later case a bit of balsamic vinegar adds a nice touch.  (Hint: they make good snacks when you are out in the garden or on a hike.)

Harvest

Posted on by

I’ve recently had some troubles posting to this blog.  The problems seem to be solved, so here goes.

My most recent post (a week ago) featured a photo of Sylvia in the garden.  She was harvesting zucchini.  A couple of days later, I harvested six zucchinis and two jalapeños.  Two days after that, Sylvia brought these in.

160712a

We’ve been wanting some poppers, so a trip to the store for bacon was next.  We enjoyed immensely our first jalapeño poppers of the year.

A couple of days passed and Sylvia went out to the garden to “check on things.”  She was gone a long time.  When she did come back in, she brought these with her.

160715a

She also had a plastic shopping bag half full of green beans, some broccoli, an onion, some beets, and a cabbage as big as your head.  That first coleslaw of the season was super good.

We had to prune the butternut squash vines before they took over the entire garden.  Could it be the 15 loads of manure that we put on the garden last fall?

As I look out the window I see day lilies in blossom.  Beside them, the large hosta is also in blossom and an American gold finch visits to check out the blooms.  An earlier visitor was a humming bird–always fun to watch.

 

Color Tour

Posted on by

It is now late spring, and summer will soon be upon us.  With camera in hand I went out to check on our flower gardens.  Here is part of what I saw:

160613a

160613b

160613c

160613d

160613e

160613f

You might call the clover among the daises a weed, but I like them.

A brief pop-up shower Monday afternoon should perk things up a bit.  The veggie garden got better attention and more moisture.

 

 

Peonies on Parade

Posted on by

Peonies?  Yes, we have them.  Let me show you three of them. These are an interesting study in lighting.  If you get past the color differences, you can see different types of lighting illustrated.  In the first (pink), the subject is in shade and the light is flat, non-directional.  Contrast is fairly low and details are more clearly seen.

160605b

In the second (purple), direct sunlight is coming from behind the flower and slightly to the left.  I did a tiny bit of touch-up with a graphics program.

160605c

The final (white) subject was the most difficult.  The sun illuminates a little over half of this beauty.  Also it is white, which means the highest contrast.  It took a bit more touch-up to satisfy me with this image.160605d

I should have waited for an overcast day, but I didn’t.  Sometimes it’s enough to just enjoy the beauty of creation.

Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. Matthew 6:29

Granny’s Garden

Posted on by

We’ve called the garden area along our foundation wall Granny’s Garden since Briana (granddaughter) gave Sylvia a sign with “Granny’s Garden” on it.  Time and weather have destroyed the sign.  The name remains.

This year, Bryant and Barbara came the Saturday before Mother’s Day and cleaned out that area, putting down fresh mulch.  They also gave her a gift certificate to Flower Land and a beautiful handmade card.  (Handmade cards are a tradition in Barbara’s family, and they do a terrific job each time.)

I went out this morning to check on the plants.

160523a

In addition to her new flowers, you can see a rose, giant garlic, mint and hollyhocks.  (Yes, we enjoy fresh garlic–a lot!)

160523b

The mica is from Sylvia’s father.  When we see it we think of him.

160523c

Holly and peony grow in the end corners.  Barbara trimmed the holly bushes so they look great.

Once again we say, “Thank you very much.”

Bright and Beautiful

Posted on by

Just before Mother’s Day, it seemed that the whole world was taking on beautiful hues in anticipation of the upcoming tribute.

160505c

Some trees pink.  Others are white.

160505b

I’ve been watching for the grape hyacinth to appear in the lawn.  It finally has.

160505a

We had some nicer hyacinths growing near our back door.  Like the crocus, they disappeared one year.  Now, we have to check under the mulberry tree to find them.

Sometimes life goes that way.  You have to seek if you want to find.

Further Developments

Posted on by

I’ve been watching for the final daffodil variation.  They have finally opened.

160424a

They may be a bit plain, but I enjoy them–a lot.  It adds a nice contrast to the garden.

Coming soon will be the tulips.  Those lips are already puckered.  About to kiss the world and blossom forth.

160424b

Those pix were taken yesterday (Sunday) afternoon.  This morning, I went out to check progress.  This is what I found.

160425a

Yes, It is the same tulip.  Only the shoot angle has been changed to please the photographer.  And there was another that hadn’t even started to open yesterday.

160425b

Rain and possible thunderstorms are forecast for this afternoon.  We’ll see.

Daffy & Birds

Posted on by

Until the other day, the only daffodils that I saw in the flower beds were the dark yellow variety.  Then these with lighter petal appeared.

160419a

Hiding, almost out of sight, I found these.

160419b

Oh, yes!  Aren’t they beauties?  There’s still another variety, but it usually appears later than the rest.  Okay by me.  That stretches out the beauty.

For the Birds

As I sat at the breakfast table this morning, I finally saw him.  I’d been hearing his song for the last week or so, which meant he was close, but not visible.  The bright red of the cardinal sitting on the garden fence caught my eye.  I was glad to see him.

As the cardinal left, a robin landed on the lawn near our window.  He would do his bob, bob, bobbing along routine, then stop, cock his head to one side and get a little closer to the ground.  Then he’d pop back up, bob, bob, stop, tilt head, peck at the grass and come up with something to eat.  I watched, enjoying the show until he flew off on another errand.

These are good days.