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Here and There…Now and Then |
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.
‘New Dawn’
On August 31, 1931, the U. S. Patent Office granted plant patent number 1 to Henry Bosenberg for the rose ‘New Dawn’. There’s a lot to like about this rose but not least is that it so reliably reblooms and it has such beautiful, shiny green foliage that doesn’t have problems with black spot, even here in Maryland. I got my plant from my coworker, Kamala and it’s growing up and over the back fence. This brings “rose week” to a close as this is the last of the nine roses in our garden.
‘Perle d’Or’
Next to our front door is this sweet little China rose, ‘Perle d’Or’ (Joseph Rambaux/Rambaud, France, 1884). It’s just about through with it’s first main flush but it will have at least a few flowers on it from now until the first frost. A wonderful scent, as well.