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Here and There…Now and Then |
Clematis ‘Mrs. George Jackman’
Whether you call them KLE-mə-təs prefer kli-MA-təs, they have beautiful flowers. This is Clematis ‘Mrs. George Jackman’ and we planted it last week so it can grow up into a large rose on the back fence. It’s only a foot and a half tall and is covered with big white flowers. I’m looking forward to a few years from now, when it’s really established. Should be nice, especially with the million little pink rose flowers that should come out before the clematis is done.
Kadie and Stephen
Not a lot to say about this picture. As the title says, it’s Kadie and Stephen. I’ve known Stephen for about eight years but just met Kadie today. Cute couple, wouldn’t you say? Thanks for posing for me, guys.
Anne and Lillian Gilbreth
On the one hand, I’d love to post all my favorite pictures from the two Saturday performances of Cheaper By The Dozen, put on by the WCA King’s Players. On the other, it’s hard to narrow it down to few enough. So, I’m going to take the easy way out and post just one more photograph here. I enjoyed the show (four times) and this is the scene that touched me the most. Lillian (the mother) is telling Anne (the oldest of the twelve children) that Frank Sr. (the father) has heart problems. I don’t know that it would have affected me so much when I was younger. Experience makes things more real (because they are, I guess). Having a daughter somewhere about the age of Anne in the play probably has something to do with it. Anyway, the girls sold this scene and I thank them for it. Bravo.
The Cast
After work I headed over to the theatre for the Friday evening performance of Cheaper By The Dozen. I took pictures of each of the performers as they got into make-up and costume and then we got them all together for a cast photo. We took some of just the “Gilbreth” family, then the full cast, and this of the full cast with their long-suffering director. The show went well and a good time was had by all. Two more performances tomorrow.
WCA’s King’s Players production of Cheaper By The Dozen had its final dress rehearsal this morning with an audience of private and home school students. They did a great job and we all look forward to their performances Friday evening and twice on Saturday.
Dandelion Seeds
Like most people trying to grow a lawn, I’m not crazy about dandelions. They are pretty tough to get rid of completely and they will grow in almost any soil conditions. As much as I hate them in my lawn, I am actually kind of fond of the seed heads, at least from a photographic angle.
I was sitting on the lawn at church with Gwendolyn watching the other kids playing soccer with a big rubber ball and I took this picture of a dandelion seed head that was growing where we happened to sit.
Chives
I don’t have a lot to say about this picture. It’s chive flowers opening up. They are growing in a crack in our patio and self seeded from chives I grown in a container and use for cooking. My favorite thing to do with chives is to tear up the flowers and sprinkle them on soup or steak or whatever. Purple food!
Rain On The Window
I’m not complaining, mind you, but it rained again today. I happened to be out taking pictures when the rain rolled back in, which was a bit of a surprise. The pictures I got were not all that good and I decided to go with this one of rain on the window of my office. I’ll try to get better versions of the picture I tried to take another day.
Rain!
We’ve been hoping for rain for a while now and it finally came, starting last night and continuing pretty much all day today. I don’t know how much rain we got but it was very welcome. We went to Stadler Nurseries this afternoon and walked around in the drizzle. I bought a camellia (C. japonica ‘Dad’s Pink’) and Cathy bought a columbine. It was too wet to plant them today, though. This picture was taken on our back patio.
Convallaria majalis (Lily-of-the-Valley)
Convallaria majalis, lily-of-the-valley, is a remarkable plant. When we lived in our old house there were a few houses near by that were to be torn down to widen a road. We did what we called “plant rescue,” digging plants out of the garden (with permission) and replanting them in ours and giving them to friends. There was a lot of lily-of-the-valley there, growing alongside the driveway. Actually, it was coming up through the driveway in places. You have to admire a plant that can break up a pavement.
It’s fairly expensive at the garden center so we dug up a lot of it, putting it in every spare container we had. When we moved here in 2006 we brought three or four containers of it with us. Actually, we still have a container full. It blooms every year but if anyone would like some, we’d be happy to share. As it turns out, there already was some in one part of the garden here, and that’s where this photograph was taken.
Lily-of-the-valley has sweet little flowers that are hard to resist. They aren’t as easy to photograph as you might think, though. I’m still not sure I’ve captured them properly. Still, I’ll keep trying.
Prunus virginiana (Chokecherry)
Prunus virginiana, commonly called chokecherry, is a pretty common tree around here. They bloom quite a bit after the fancier ornamental cherries. Their flowers are smaller and simpler but still quite lovely, I think. There are lots of flowers in these little racemes, which is nice, also. These are on a tree along the edge of the woods behind my office building but they’re starting to bloom all over.
Anemone sylvestris
This little snowdrop anemone (Anemone sylvestris) needs to be planted but for now, it’s quite happy in a pot on our driveway.
Jessie, Donna, and Dorothy
My main flash isn’t working properly so I haven’t taken as many indoor and night shots lately. This evening I resorted to the camera’s built-in, pop-up flash. Even in this fairly close shot you can see red-eye, which is one reason I don’t use that flash often. Still, it’s better than nothing and these three girls are pretty whatever the lighting is like. Also, note that Dorothy’s braces are gone so she’s smiling again.
Camrys
I gave a friend a lift to pick up his car at one shop and then take it to the dealer for some warranty-covered work. While I was waiting I took this picture of a line of Toyota Camrys.
Multiplying Her Strength
One of my favorite things to do is visit the elementary school classes at Dorothy’s school and of all my visits, I think my favorite is when I come to the second grade class to demonstrate simple machines. We all pull nails out of a board with a crow-bar (lever) but the real fun is using a block and tackle (pulleys). With their brave teacher attached to the bottom end of the rig, each student hoists her up into the air. In this picture, an excited student is standing directly underneath her teacher while holding her up.
Collyn couldn’t rightly be described as large but she’s a lot bigger than the children in her class. For them, even the smallest of them, to lift her so easily is a real eye opener. As I was leaving, third and fourth grade students saw my rope and tools and got all excited on behalf of the current second grade class getting their chance to lift their teacher. They certainly remember it.
Of course, it’s a treat for me, as well. Then again, Cathy’s not sure what to make of me picking up younger women. ;)
Spanish Bluebells
(Hyacinthoides hispanica)
The Spanish bluebells are in bloom now and are quite lovely. For some reason, although I don’t care much for proper hyacinths, I like these close cousins.
Yesterday I had a nice drive out onto the eastern shore and was able to spend a little time in a place I haven’t been in about three dozen years. When I was young we used to go camping at Shad Landing State Park (here: 38° 08′ 20″ N, 75° 26′ 28″) on the Pocomoke River. I stopped in to see how much is was like I remember it. Parts were exactly how I recall but other parts were a bit different. For instance, I thought we used to put out boat in at a wide area on the Corker’s Creek but there was nothing like that now. Perhaps I remember it wrongly or perhaps it’s changed, I don’t know. I did find a trail to this wide area that looks a bit like what I remember but not really all that much like it. I simply don’t know. Anyway, it’s quiet and serene, which does match my memory. I also saw this dragon fly, which was happy to sit for me as I took a photograph.
Pink Flowering Dogwood
I once had a dream where I was at the intersection of Beach Drive and Kensington Parkway and I came across a very unusual flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) that had the most beautiful flowers. They were just the right shade of sky blue, sort of powdery and delicate. I thought, “now there is a tree that would sell like nobody’s business — everyone would want one for their garden.” Unfortunately, it was only a dream but I think of it every spring when the dogwood starts to bloom. Well, the regular white and pink flowered sorts are very nice, as well, if you can keep the anthracnose under control. The Asian species (Cornus kousa) is quite nice, as well, and I like the Cornel cherry (Cornus mas) although the flowers are quite different to the former. This one is in our front yard, right up against the house. It really isn’t a good place for a tree but particularly this time of year I can’t bring myself to take it out. I think it probably was a seedling that just grew there and the previous owner let it alone.
Epimedium x rubrum
While I’m on the subject of cross-shaped flowers, I really like epimedium. There are a lot of them and more being introduced. It makes a nice ground cover, although it’s a bit of work to fill a large area with it. It is semi-evergreen, replacing last year’s dried out leaves with new leaves each spring. Some have blooms that face upwards and are held above the foliage, which is obviously a plus. Others have less conspicuous flowers that are more work to see. Flowers range from purple/red to yellow to white and are little delicate crosses, as seen here on this Epimedium x rubrum. We first saw them at the U.S. National Arboretum. A few years ago I happened to meet Marc Cathey (he was the director of the Arboretum from 1981 to 1991) and I mentioned that we fell in love with epimediums there. We agreed they were worth having and should be planted much more often.
Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica)
A lot of people are pretty unhappy with Japanese honeysuckle, particularly in the mid-Atlantic states where it is a real nuisance. The flowers are sweet smelling, though, and kind of pretty.
Redbud Leaves
The new leaves on the redbud trees are cute, delicate, little hearts. What a beautiful, cool, spring day we had today. Breezy and fair. We need rain, of course, but I was glad to be out in the sunshine today.