Shasta Daisies

Glistening from a Morning Rain

https://www.yolascafe.com/61uw2iwief1 Glistening from a Morning Rain

Four years ago, we decided to dig up a corner area of our lawn and plant a sunny perennial garden.

http://www.mscnantes.org/6wbry4cc We had no idea of the work involved–digging out the grass, making the heavy clay a bit more friendly towards growing plants by adding lots of black dirt and compost, designing the plants keeping in mind color, height, soil and watering requirements, and blooming times. And that was just the beginning. Then came the search for the selected plants, planting, watering weeding, mulching. Gardens are lovely and I love that I have a patch of bright color in view of the house, but they require a fair amount of dedication. And lots of hard work. Worth it, though. Well worth it.

go We’ve added new plants each year. Each year a few don’t survive the perils of a prolonged winter, but more frequently they are nibbled to death in early spring by hungry and very determined rabbits. We’ve learned to spray a nasty smelling organic type of rabbit-keep-away on anything green whenever it rains, and that keeps the damage to a minimum, and I admit I’m happy whenever I see red foxes prowling the neighborhood.

This year we had a late spring, but we’ve had more than enough rain to keep the plants happy.

https://paradiseperformingartscenter.com/5a69w0i38 Many of the flowers are thick with blooms for most of July–Shasta daisies, purple coneflowers, balloon flowers, yellow coreopsis, lavendar, gigantic sunflowers–and they all merge together in masses of purples, whites, and yellows.

go I took lots of photographs earlier this week, after the rains had nearly stopped for the day, so I’ll be sharing garden flowers for the next few days.

The Red Maple Tree Vs. The Gusty Winds

Red Maple

Buying Tramadol Online Cod Red Maple ©2008 Bo Mackison

Tramadol With Mastercard A few days ago I spent a long part of the day watching the outside from my window. Framed, there stood my red maple, not a big tree, but not small either. We planted it a decade ago, and maybe then it was 8 feet tall. Now it’s as tall as our two story house.

https://www.elevators.com/598q3zm It was a gloomy day and the wind was twisting the tree every which way. Hard wind, gusty. Gray skies – a taste of what’s soon to come. The darn tree just stood there, and took all nature had to blow her way. Didn’t drop a leaf. Not one. I watched as the leaves all clung tight. I watched that tree for hours – it was that kind of day.

https://danivoiceovers.com/r57ubk5zzu Yesterday the sun was bright, the skies blue and there was barely a whisper of breeze. As I looked at the tree, not a leaf was even rustling. The sun glistened on the leaves, highlighting their cinnamony-red color, and it was quite the resplendent image. But not for long. The leaves began to drop like crazy, gently twirling into a big pile at the foot of the tree.

source link Was nature offering me a teaching moment? What to make of the fact that with it so beautiful and quiet – now it was time for the tree to start shedding her finery?

Tramadol Cod Online Maybe earlier I needed to see an example of strength (the tree holding tight to her leaves) versus adversity (the high winds.)

https://alldayelectrician.com/ajf4vfv44s4 And yesterday, the time was right to watch the leaves just let go and fall.

https://www.brigantesenglishwalks.com/ppq3zcwfvf Life’s lessons are all around us, if we only pay attention.

Frosty Morning Handiwork

Queen Anne with Frosty Lace

https://www.mbtn.net/?p=70mz3z1 Queen Anne’s Frosty Lace ©2008 Bo Mackison

Best Place Order Tramadol Online Here’s the Queen with a bit of decorative hat. There is beauty even in the changes of the seasons, though I am fond of autumn’s color and mildness, and haven’t yet had my fill. I will have to keep autumn’s memory close by being satisfied with the photographs that stay – no matter how wild the weather gets outside.

An Autumn Hang-Up

Caught

source url Caught ©2008 Bo Mackison

https://mocicc.org/agricultura/s1qb9dgrte Autumn is definitely upon us. Everywhere I look there is evidence of summer’s long past retreat and autumn’s complete domination. Two of the trees in my yard are totally bare. Brown, crunchy leaves are spread under their empty branches, and while I find it rather satisfying to stomp through the noisy litter, I’m not too thrilled at the prospect of the raking job that is on the agenda for this week-end – that is, if it doesn’t snow as is predicted.

https://guelph-real-estate.ca/hvykwgaqnza My red maple is still fully dressed, and lovely. Deep reds at the very top meld into bright reds and then orange-reds towards the bottom of the tree. I’ve been waiting for the sun to shine to take a few photos, but without any luck. It’s raining now, and I haven’t the heart to even check the weather report for tomorrow.

Lots of photographers seem to be attracted to the simple leaf this week. I’ve seen a few outstanding examples. A pair of brown leaves here, and here is another favorite, with a great twist, and then one more product of autumn’s touch, and finally one with a foreign flavor.

How soon until we are all taking photos of that white fluffy stuff?  Too soon, I’m thinking. Way too soon.

Gardens in the Desert

Phoenix Arboretum Entrance

Phoenix Botanical Garden Entrance Way

The Desert Botanical Gardens located between Phoenix and Scottsdale are the perfect primer to desert plant life for someone like me whose mouth drops open and gets wide-eyed at the sight of a mountain with saguaros dotting the terrain. By the looks of the crowd last weekend, it must be as popular with the local crowd.

Papago Mountains

Papago Mountains

This was the view as we sat eating our lunch at the Botanical Gardens cafe. I’m certain that I enjoyed the food, but I can’t quite remember what it was I ate. The scenery was absolutely too distracting.

Jumping Cholla

Jumping Cholla

This cactus has an great story. Seems if you brush too near the plant, a bit will break off and “jump” onto you. It seems a clever means of dispersing the plant to other areas.