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Here and There…Now and Then |
White Azaleas
After I got home this evening I realized I hadn’t taken any pictures today. It was already getting dark so I put my camera on a tripod and went out the front door to take a few pictures of the white azaleas blooming along the front of our house. It rained most of today so there is water dripping off the flowers. Also, the oak trees are blooming and the little threads of flowers are everywhere, including all over the azalea blossoms. Still, the azaleas are pretty.
Azaleas
The time in spring when the azaleas are blooming is without a doubt the most “flowery” time of the year in our area. Almost everyone seems to grow azaleas, and it’s not hard to figure out why. They are easily kept to a reasonable size or they can be allowed to grow to eight or ten feet if desired. They bloom in colors ranging from bright red and pink to various shades of purple as well as pure white. There are deciduous varieties, with orange and yellow flowers. They are reliably hardy and they don’t take a lot of effort. It’s either a shame or a blessing that their flowers don’t have any fragrance to speak of, or the place would reek with them right about now. Count me as a fan.
Columbine (Aquilegia)
In our “plant rescue” operation I wrote about yesterday, we also got a fair amount of columbine (Aquilegia). I honestly have no idea if this plant originated with those. Since we’ve moved since then, it may not be but we did bring a lot of potted plants with us from the old house so it’s possible.
I liked the way the sun was shining through this flower. I was on the ground looking almost straight up, with the sun nearly right behind the flower, making it a bit hard to see, but I like the way it turned out. Such a beautiful red.
Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis)
I am particularly fond of little flowers and these are very nice little flowers. Lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis) is quite a tenacious little plant.
Years ago a street was being widened near where we lived. Two houses were condemned via eminent domain and were to be torn down. We got permission from the owners of one of the houses to take out as many garden plants as we could before they were all dug up for the roadway (we called it “plant rescue”). There was a fairly large patch of lily of the valley growing around a tree. The asphalt paving of the driveway would have been a boundary for most plants but the lily of the valley came up through the asphalt, breaking it up and thriving in spite of the difficult growing conditions. They can take a little while to get established but once they do, they are practically unstoppable.
We must have dug up hundreds of plants and gave them to anyone who wanted them. Considering that they often cost more than $2 per pip, this was a valuable collection effort. We dug up a few from our yard when we moved and brought them with us but there was a patch in the back yard already. This picture is of one in that patch.
Trees Reflected in My Office Building Windows
Today’s picture is very much like some I’ve taken before but I find it pretty, in a simple sort of way. This is the back entrance into my building, reflecting the trees in the parking lot. It’s a fairly green place this time of year, which is nice. I particularly like it early in the morning when the sun is shining over the building, so the glass is in the shade but it is reflecting trees that are in the sun.
I find it interesting how different this view is throughout the year. In the winter it tends to be fairly gray. In the fall, it is brown and yellow, and now, of course, it is green. I find it interesting that in general our eyes are most sensitive to light round about the 550nm wavelength, which is the green portion of the visible spectrum. Does that mean we recognize more shades of green than of other colors? I’m not sure but there certainly does seem to be more variety in the greens all around us.
Black Walnut Leaves and Catkins
Continuing the leafy theme, today’s picture features the young leaves and the flower catkins of a black walnut tree. The leaves practically glow in the early afternoon sun. The catkins, on the other hand, are doing their best to contribute to the spring allergy season. Black Walnut pollen is a severe allergen. The good news is that it’s fairly large, as pollen goes, so it doesn’t travel terribly far in the air, so unless you have walnut trees in your yard or immediate neighborhood, you’re probably out of the woods, so to speak.
Poison Ivy
It’s a very green time of the year. After two wet mornings and two pictures of green leaves with water droplets on them, today’s picture is of leaves but without water droplets. It was a beautiful, seasonally pleasant day, with a high temperature of about 74°F (23°C) and clear, blue sky.
This morning Cathy called to ask if I wanted to take a walk around the block later. We met outside my building at about 12:45 and walked around the block, which is about a mile and a half. I stopped for pictures a few times, including taking a couple of these vigorously growing poison ivy leaves. It’s a pretty good survivor and aside from the obvious drawback of the irritating nature of the oil it contains, it’s quite pretty in a sinister sort of way. I like the mix of orange in the leaves and the glossy surface. I also like the beautiful colors poison ivy turns in the fall. Still, I won’t be adding it to my garden any time soon. In point of fact, I have some already that needs to be sprayed.
Water Droplets on Daffodil Leaves
Well, yesterday I commented that I wanted a good, soaking rain. We are getting it and it is lovely. It was still wet this morning so you get to see another picture of water droplets on leaves. This time, the leaves are the long, strap-like leaves of daffodils. The flowers are gone (from these, anyway, there’s one variety still finishing up its blooming) and it’s time for the leaves to do their job of converting light energy into chemical energy, which can be stored in the bulbs for next years blooming. In terms of this photograph, I like that there are water droplets clinging not only to the top surface of the leaves but to the edges, as well.
Water on Rose Leaves
We’ve been needing rain for a while now so I was quite happy to wake up to a wet morning. The bright morning light, coming through the clouds, was lighting up water droplets on the rose outside our front door (Perle d’Or). Its leaves are a bright, fresh green and the water only serves to create more shades. I also love the red rachis and midrib on these compound leaves.
Rainy days are often the prettiest days and this morning certainly bears that out. Hopefully we’ll get a good, soaking rain.
Hosta ‘Mouse Ears’
I think if I were to breed hostas and came up with one worth to be sold, I’d name it ‘La Vista Baby’. Since I don’t breed hostas, I’m unlikely to ever actually get the chance, so I’ll satisfy myself with posting the joke here for the loyal few who follow my daily photographic journey.
This picture is of a very small hosta called ‘Mouse Ears’ and we have two of them growing in pots outside our front door. Our beloved white-tailed deer dearly love hosta, as a salad green. We’ve had some plants trimmed off at ground level. These are so small that they can’t take much of that, so we have them close enough to the house that they are reasonably safe. Cute little things, especially when the first come up.
Ready For the Prom
Dorothy’s school prom was this evening and she was part of a group that went together. Because we have a nice wood in our neighborhood, we decided to go take some pictures there. This is one of a couple bridges we went over and I took quite a few pictures of the kids on and under it. This picture in particular is a favorite of mine, mostly because of the hijinks of Joseph, who is on the left, and also in the middle, and finally again on the right. Fun times.
From left to right: Joseph, Cat, Michelle, Dorothy, Porter, Joseph, Hannah, Maggie, Elijah, and Joseph.
Tulipa acuminata ‘Fireflame Tulip’
We don’t have a lot of tulips in our yard. They aren’t as reliably long-lived as many other bulbs and I like to plant things that are going to be around and that don’t take a lot of care. I do have a few red tulips that were added to my order for ordering so much each of a couple years. In 2009 I ordered and planted six of these Tulipa acuminata ‘Fireflame Tulip’ bulbs. Two of them are in bloom now and add a nice splash of yellow to the garden.
Forget-me-not (Myosotis arvensis)
I’ve been meaning to take pictures of these for a while now but keep, well, forgetting. Ironic, no? Myosotis arvensis, otherwise known as forget-me-not, is an annual. Our little patch of them has been moving a little each year as it reseeds itself but so far has managed to be happy and healthy each year.
The flowers begin as a slightly purplish blue but quickly fade to a pure, sky blue with a bright yellow circle in the middle. As they age, the circle turns white, before the flower fades and falls. In mass, they are quite impressive but I like the flowers close up, like this.
Hannah
Dorothy’s good friend, Hannah, was very excited today because she had her braces taken off. She never really stopped smiling because of her braces, at least not so far as I could tell. But, she came home with Dorothy today and was in a very buoyant mood.
I asked if I could take her picture and she obliged, as you can see. Very nice smile, young lady (or “not-daughter,” as I call her).
To add to the excitement, Cathy asked me today if I could remember the name of someone who was in the school play in 2006. I could not but Dorothy remembered it right away — ah, to have a young, uncrowded brain. Before we asked Dorothy, though, and in the hope that I had labeled a photograph with the name, I went back to March 2006 and found pictures but none with the name.
Little Hannah
The exciting thing, though, was that I came across the second picture posted here. It is a picture of Hannah, taken on March 10, 2006. I frankly didn’t have any memory of taking that. Dorothy and Hannah only really became good friends in the last two years or so. I have known that she’s been at the school longer than we have, so it’s not so surprising that she’s in a picture but it’s a pretty good picture, not just a face in a crowd.
This was taken on the lower school’s History Night, sitting on the grass waiting for her mom (or whoever), with her very good friend, Michelle, of whom I also took a photograph.
She hasn’t really changed all that much. I mean, she’s seven years older. But some people when I see pictures from seven years ago I have a hard time recognizing them. Not Hannah.
Vinca major
We have a fair amount of this around our house, all escaped from pots. It really has done well for itself and in fact, has gotten a little out of control. We are starting to be a bit more aggressive in cutting it back. When it’s blooming, though, it’s hard not to like it. The flowers are just like the more pedestrian Vinca minor (periwinkle) except considerably larger.
Pink Flowering Dogwood
I’m almost certain that this is a seedling that just happened to grow where it did. It’s planted way too close to the house to have been planned. It has pretty flowers but it’s just in the wrong place even for a small tree. I’ve planted a tall, narrow camellia near it (but not so close to the house) and once that gets established I’ll take out the dogwood. In the meantime, I’ll continue to enjoy the lightly shaded flowers on the dogwood. I’d say it’s got a good three or four more years before I even think of cutting it down. Slowly but surely (well, slowly, anyway) the yard is coming together.
Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater)
After our busy Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at the Olney Theatre (and longer than that for the cast and crew of the play), it was nice to have an afternoon at home. When I got home from church I changed into my gardening clothes and planted two apple trees. The first is ‘Arkansas Black’, a dark red apple that is a late maturing variety. The second, which matures even later than ‘Arkansas Black’, is called ‘Goldrush’, a golden apple with a red blush.
As I was working on the deer protection for Goldrush, a brown-headed cowbird came to the bird bath not eight feet away from me. I stood quietly and watched until it flew up into a tree. Then I went and got my camera. When I came back out the bird wasn’t quite so bold as before but did perch in a nearby dogwood tree, close enough that I got a few good pictures.
Cast Photo
We spent the better part of the day at the Olney Theatre today, leaving home at about 11:00 AM and not getting home again after the cast party until after midnight. The two performances of The Princess Who Had No Name, by Brian Taylor, went very well and without any drama. Well, there was drama, but only the intended drama.
This is the cast and a nicer bunch of kids would be hard to find. Sure, they can be loud and the can certainly be silly. All in all, I enjoyed my afternoon with them. That’s not to say (1,600+ photos later) I wasn’t glad when it was over.
Dot, Dorothy, and Margaret
The school play opened this evening and Dorothy was pretty well represented, friend and family wise, in the audience. I was there to take pictures and took just over 600 pictures during the show, as well as some before and after. This picture, taken after the show, is of Dorothy and her two grandmothers. Dorothy did well in her part as Gretel and was very glad that she didn’t have to stand in for Goldilocks, who was not feeling at all well. Special thanks to Lauren, who did take on that role and did a terrific job.
Oakleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia)
Flowers are nice, of course, but even leaves can be beautiful. I love the variety of leaf shapes, the patterns of their veins, and the different greens created by the light shining through leaves.
This is the leaf of an oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) that I planted a few years ago. It’s still getting established, really, but is doing quite well. The leaves are a beautiful green now and all summer and then turn the most gorgeous burgundy or claret color in the fall. It doesn’t have the showy pink or blue flowers of the bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) but it makes up for it with its leaves, as far as I’m concerned. It also takes virtually no care and doesn’t die back so hard in cold winters.
Welcome to spring.
