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Here and There…Now and Then |
Fall Color
It was a busy day at work today (it’s going to be that way for a while) so I didn’t get a chance to go out and take pictures. I took this picture of fall color on the way home, though. There is still a lot of green out there but it’s getting really pretty.
Fall Color
There is still a lot of green around but individual trees are starting to show a lot of color. One of the maple trees in our back yard (this one, to be precise) is bright red and beautiful.
Dry Day Lily Seed Pod
This little seed pod is on a dwarf day lily growing in a wooden box. I had hoped to have pictures of the Glenns pressing 5,000 pounds of grapes for wine but it was fruitless hope. By 9:00 PM the grapes were still in Pennsylvania.
Zinnia Bud
We have a bunch of zinnias blooming next to our driveway. This is a bud, just starting to open. Cathy asked me to take a picture of it when I got home from work. The problem was that it was a bit breezy and it wouldn’t hold still for me, but I think it turned out pretty well.
Mushroom
I know I’ve done a lot of mushrooms here relative to other things but I really like this image so I’m posting one more. This is peak mushroom season around here so there are a lot about. This one was in my front yard.
Toad Lily
This is a toad lily, Tricyrtis formosana ‘Samurai’ growing in our front yard. Actually, it’s still in a pot. First it was too dry to plant anything, then it was too wet.
Mushrooms and Ant
These mushrooms have suddenly appeared in our back yard. I’m hoping they are growing on the roots of the tree that came down in the summer of 2010.
Painter’s Palette
Persicaria virginiana ‘Painter’s Palette’ is a slightly invasive perennial but nothing like loosestrife so I don’t mind it so much. It has pretty, variegated foliage and tiny, bright pink (almost red) flowers on long stalks.
Zinnia
Blank Wall
I came into the office a bit more than an hour early today so the light was different to what it normally is. There is a half circle window near my office with a pothos plant (Epipremnum aureum) hanging in front of it. Together they cast this shadow on the plain, blank wall.
Blue Berries
Blue is a fairly rare color in nature (“Oh, yeah? Look up, numbskull.” — the Camera) but what blue there is tends to be very pretty. While these are blue berries, they are not blueberries. This is mile-a-minute weed (Persicaria perfoliata) or as our friend Lyla called it back in February, “Triangle-Headed Pokey Weed.”
Rain
We’ve had a bit of rain lately. Dampness prevails. Pretty, though.
Black-eyed Susans
The black-eyed Susans are the predominant source of color (except for the color green, of course) in the garden right now. They are holding up their end marvelously, I might add.
Oh, and I passed the 20,000 mark on my camera today. This is photo number 20,004 (since Christmas).
Morning Glory
I rarely give this plant any name but bindweed and I spend a lot of time pulling it out of my garden. I do have to say, though, that for colors in the deepest registers, this is just about as good as it gets. The morning glory (along with the lowly petunia) has some of the most beautiful, deep, rich, colors in the world of flowers.
Be Glad
Gladiolus, that is.
Turk’s Cap Lily
My dad had these growing in his garden and was spreading them by planting the bulbils that form in the axils of the leaves. After we moved in 2006 Cathy started collecting bulbils and planting them here, as well. They are doing nicely and add a nice splash of color this time of year.
Rocklands Farm Produce
Purple and orange eggplant, potatoes, a cucumber, various peppers, zucchini and yellow squash, assorted tomatoes, green beans, lettuce, green and purple basil, and a leek — most of my vegetable share from Rocklands Farm this morning. Now, doesn’t that look good?
Mushroom
I came across this huge mushroom in Margaret’s yard this evening and thought it was cool. There were a half dozen of them but this one was a huge cup with the gills on the outside. The others looked more like portobellos.
Thistle Flower
Anyone good at identifying thistles? There are hundreds of them and many of them look much like this. Anyway, as much as I don’t like thistles in the garden, they sure have pretty flowers.
Bumble Bee on Sunflower
We were out at Rocklands Farm to pick up our weekly share of produce and I enjoyed photographing crops. There are sunflowers growing in various places, mostly not yet fully in bloom. These, however, were beautiful. They are only about foot and a half tall but four or five inches across. The bumble bees (and many others) really seem to be happy about them. (Bombus griseocollis)
Honey Bee on Wild Onion
I’ll end the first six months of Project 365 with a honey bee (Apis mellifera), busily visiting the flowers on a wild onion in the empty lot next to my office.
Cleome hassleriana
Commonly known as spider flower, Cleome hassleriana is a really nice plant. It’s probably just as well that it’s an annual or it might get out of hand. This is its first bloom of the summer in our yard and it should continue until early fall.
Nigella Seed Capsule
Back on May 24 (day 144) I had a picture of a Love-In-a-Mist (Nigella damascena) flower. This is the seed capsule, which is also pretty cool. I didn’t take this until after dark so it’s taken with a reflected flash.
Sempervivum
I’ve always liked hens-and-checks (Sempervivum) and this pot of it is doing particularly well. I like both the swirling patterns of the leaves and the wide variety of colors.
Butterfly Weed
We have this orange Asclepias tuberosa as well as a pure-yellow-flowered variety.
Asiatic Lily
This is the first of our few (but beautiful) Asiatic lilies to bloom. We really should have more of these.
Bergamot
You have to admit, Monarda didyma (bergamot or scarlet beebalm) has one of the coolest flower structures around.
Ailanthus Leaf
This tree has already put on four feet of growth this year. Is it any wonder they are so successful in the environment? It has pretty leaves, though.
Editing Exercise
I was dropping Dorothy and Chris off for band practice and Chris suggested this tree as a photo subject. Unfortunately, there was a basketball hoop in front of it. So, the exercise was to remove the basketball hoop (and a bench, as well) and make it look natural. Did I succeed?
Allium caeruleum
This is a sweet little blue allium. I think I’ll get a few more of these this fall.