The Beauties of Early Fall

As we walked around the Smithsonian Mall and the US Botanic Garden in Washington DC, the plantings were representative of ones that are truly at their best in this area just before the leaves turn and then fall. The roses like the cooler weather. The grasses have full seed heads. The asters show their blue and purple color liberally. The dogwoods lead the color change and the winterberry has bright red berries that contrasts with the green leaves still on the bush. There may not be as many butterflies but the ones that are still around may be easier to see because they don’t flutter as rapidly in the cooler temperatures. Enjoy the slide show of these beauties of early fall and celebrate fall!

Monarch butterfly

Grass

Dogwood

Persimmon

Winterberry

Aster

Rose

Flower glow illusion

Dahlia and LED Water Light Photographs

Seeing the Bruce Munro light installation at Longwood Gardens inspired me to do some experimentation with LED water lights. We purchased a package with a submersible LED light that changed colors and came with 100 clear acrylic pieces to reflect the light in the Longwood gift store.

Looking around for a subject - I decided that my dahlias were prolific enough this year to sacrifice one for the project.

The first series is of the whole flower - positioned over the light and crystals. Just as in the Bruce Munro pieces, the longer exposure for the photograph intensifies the color.

The second series is of petals. The crystals are more visible. The petals almost give the image a painting type texture.

Brookside Gardens in September

Brookside Gardens in September is making the transition to fall. We went first thing in the morning; the temperature was decidedly cool. Here are the highpoints of what we saw: 

• Red magnolia seeds
• Fall crocus
• Coleus - some in bloom
• Dogwoods turning and one already in full fall reds
• Roses - they always get a second wind as the temperatures get a little cooler
• A walking stick on the ‘switch grass’ sign 

Enjoy the slide show!

Black Swallowtail Caterpillars

A few weeks ago I found caterpillars on my parsley plant. They were easily identifiable as black swallowtail caterpillars so I decided to sacrifice the plant to have the caterpillars as photography subjects and increase the next generation of black swallowtails. There were four caterpillars and they ate about half the rather large plant before they made their chrysalises. They will probably overwinter in that form since the temperatures are definitely cool at night already and there is not enough time for the cycle to get from butterfly to egg to chrysalis again before it is too cold. 

The caterpillars eat rapidly…then go into a food coma…shed their skin. They have stubby feet that grip the stems of the parsley but can lift themselves off the stem too. They sometimes sprout yellow orange horns if they are threatened but not while they are in a food coma. Enjoy the caterpillar slide show below.

Variegated Crotons at Brookside Gardens

The garden or variegated crotons are colorful residents of the conservatory at Brookside Gardens. Sometimes they are simply a backdrop for changing displays. At other times they are some of the main color for their quadrant of the north conservatory. The pictures below were captured on the same day as our tour of the butterfly exhibit.

It’s interesting that the new leaves are most often green and that the different plants vary not only in color but pattern of color. Green, yellow, red, orange….the whole range of colors can be found on a single plant!

Begonias

The begonias of summer are about gone. Let’s celebrate how beautiful they were:

Their flowers as thin as tissue paper with the sun shining through

The green of their leaves - sometimes with another color around the edge or underneath

Their crinkly centers - bright yellow

Their delicate look while being surprising resilient to whatever summer brings

Evening Fountains at Longwood Gardens

I’m remembering warm summer nights and the fountain display at Longwood Gardens….celebrating the passing of the season for the year. This year we were there on a night in August that it was just the fountains - no music. Years ago we were there when the Stars Wars sound track played for the fountain show. Another year - my 3 year old daughter started singing while we waited for the show; all the adults around her sang along once she started! There was a lightning show on the horizon that accompanied the fountains during another performance.

The slide show below contains my top 10 photo picks from our visit in August. I like the colors, the jets and curtains of water, the close in and the wide angle. Of course you miss the motion - the sound of the water. Hopefully your imagination can fill in the missing parts!

Butterflies at Brookside Gardens

This week is the last hurrah for the annual butterfly exhibit at the Brookside Gardens south conservatory. There were still a lot of butterflies to see. It was the first time I’d gone with a camera - and I found that I enjoyed it more while I was there and now that I am looking at the photos again. My more challenging shot was of the blue morphos (to the left) because they so rarely stay anyplace for long with their wings open. Enjoy the slide show below of my favorites for the photos my husband and I took!

Around the House Macro Photos

The series of photos below shows ordinary objects from around the house photographed ‘close up.’ It was a fun project and one I will do again in several months (Christmas time with decorations out would be good). There are some I intentionally did not include - the antique crocheted doily with cat hair and the wooden puppet with grime/dust on its nose - but I did get motivated to a new level of house cleaning!

Enjoy the slide show!

Longwood Gardens Light Tracks Photos

A few weeks ago at Longwood Gardens I decided to try some photographing the lights by intentionally moving the camera during the longer exposure.

I experimented with making different shapes - can you see the D and S and O? Of course - most of the light tracks are just squiggles. Enjoy!

For more traditional photos of the lights at Longwood see my earlier post.

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 1, 2012

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles I read this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article:

Living Against the Clock; Does Loss of Daily Rhythms Cause Obesity? - disruption of circadian rhythms considered along with diet and exercise

Dr. Gary Greenberg - The Extraordinary Nature of Ordinary Things - TED talk looking a microscopic views of things

A Pachyderm's Ditty Prompts an Elephantine Debate - Why do we have music? Is it an evolutionary accident?

Snakes, And the Snake Wranglers Who Love Them - With more drilling for natural gas…there are more places that need to be cleared of snakes (without killing all the snakes)

RAW CHOCOLATE MOUSSE - avocado replaces butter, cream, and eggs…it sounds yummy

Google’s Self-Driving Cars Hit 300,000 Miles - how soon will these be commercially available at a reasonable price…and all over the country?

littleBits - open source, preassembled electronic modules that snap together with magnets to make larger, more complex circuits….play and create with electronics

Avocado Recipes - a collection of things to do with avocados

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs by Art Wolfe ©

What Will Change Most About Our Routine Physicals Over the Next Decade? - a perspective from 3 doctors

Charmed by the Unexpected

Have you ever noticed how the something unexpected transforms an ordinary time or place into something extraordinary? It happened to me yesterday when I was pulling weeds and trimming bushes.

First I noticed a discarded cicada skin. The sun was shining on it like a spot light.

Then as I was taking the buckets of clippings back to the forest, I noticed a very large spider web suspended from the maple tree and anchored to the ground. Again - the sun was shining on it like a spot light. There were lots of flying insects around the web and the blank places in the web structure show that the spider had already been very successful with this particular web placement. By the time I came back with my camera the spider has disappeared (probably up into the tree) but the web was still magnificent. It was my little celebration for yesterday!

Macro Water Lilies

I’ve posted before about water lilies (Cheekwood in June 2012, Longwood in November 2011). This time I’m sharing macro photos. These were all taken at Longwood Gardens in mid-August 2012. I love the colors and the shapes the magnification brings out. If I didn’t tell you they were water lilies would you be able to guess?

Enjoy the show!

Rainy Days and Mondays

Rainy days and Mondays DON’T get me down! I think it’s because I like things I do on rainy days and Mondays:

Whether is raining or not where you are this Monday - enjoy the day!

Munro’s Light Installations at Longwood Gardens

Longwood Gardens has a display Bruce Monro’s Light installations through September 29. They are interesting to see in the daytime to understand the technology and then in the dusk/dark to get the full effect of the light. It’s all done with various configurations of LED lights and fiber optics. I’ve put together a slide show of my photos; also check out the links (green font) to see pictures supplied by Longwood Gardens.

The Arrow Spring display includes sprites of light fibers among plantings. They are almost invisible in the daytime but show up like little fountains of water at night. The first installation is at the entrance to the visitor center - large glass spheres with internal spheres. During the day it looks like bubbles within bubbles. At night the fibers inside give changing color. The Field of Light and Forest of Light are both glass spheres with a fiber inside. The Field of Light is reflected in water of a small lake. The snowballs hang from the ceiling of the conservatory. They are glass balls with fiber inside. The Water Towers are made from plastic water bottles and fiber. Their color is more vivid in pictures than on the field - the longer exposure making the colors deeper and more jewel-like.

Longwood’s Indoor Children’s Garden

On a recent day at Longwood Gardens, I got to the conservatory early. Surprise! - There were no children in the Indoor Children’s Garden. Normally it is a very popular part of the conservatory and there is no easy way to photograph its features. The photographs in this post are the results of that little serendipity (and my most significant ‘celebration’ for the day!).

The garden was redesigned/upgraded several years ago. The conservatory had an area for children even 20 years ago that my daughter enjoyed; the things she liked the most have been doubled and redoubled in the new garden - lots of water for little hands, musical instruments, sculptures and mosaics…low ceilings and narrow stairways….all with a nature theme.

Catoctin Mountain Park - August 2012

We took advantage of a cool, cloudy morning recently to revisit Catoctin Mountain Park near Thurmont, Maryland. It’s a forested area with hiking trails and winding roads. For us - it’s a place to celebrate all the times we’ve been there before (over the past 20+ years) and the beauty of the place even in August: (from the top down in the collage below) Catoctin geology, tiny mushrooms in moss, sunflowers at the visitors center, Cunningham Falls - not much water but the scour holes to the right of the water are indicators of how much there is at other times of the years, and a blue chicory flower.

This time of year the fungus steal the show from wildflowers. The slide show below captures some of my favorites. There are a lot of tree falls and forest mulch at Catoctin that provide lots substrate for these decomposers.

And last but not least - there were a few colorful leaves….reminding us that fall is just around the corner.

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 18, 2012

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles I read this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article:

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #19 - From National Geographic

Prisoners pitch in to save endangered butterfly - Hurray for the Sustainability in Prisons Project

The Story of Stuff - a new movie (“The Story of Change”) has been posted…the others on the site are worth a look/listen too

Easiest Hot Bean Dip - Sounds yummy!

Should Doctors Treat Lack of Exercise as a Medical Condition? Expert Says 'Yes' - it would be great if doctors made this change - prescribe a gradual buildup of exercise rather than medication

An Artificial Retina with the Capacity to Restore Normal Vision - sight is often a challenge for otherwise healthy older people. This approach may be helpful. Hope the clinical trials get going and the technology/treatment becomes available sooner rather than later.

Fall Packages Make National Parks Attractive Destinations - Death Valley, Denali, Glen Canyon, Grand Canyon, Mesa Verda, Olympic, Shenandoah, Yellowstone, and Zion….what a line up

How people spend money in America - Any surprises? Maybe the % spent on Transportation and Gasoline was a little surprising.

Andrea Marshall: An up-close look at the majestic manta ray - TED talk

Marianne North Online Gallery - North’s botanical paintings hosted by Kew Gardens; browse by country, plant group, or category

Clouds

Clouds are a constantly changing aspect of our world. I’ve picked some examples today of how that ephemeral nature of clouds can be a frequent source of delight…if we just remember to look to the sky.  

Winter sunrises (Maryland 2012) with the red to orange to yellow

Summer afternoon clouds build up (Loveland Pass, Colorado 2012)

Spring sunset before a cold night (Death Valley 2012)

Summer clouds after a monsoon rain (Tucson 2012) Note the moon in the picture below.

Summer Morning Gardening

The gardening time rule-of-thumb for me in August is - every morning from 7-8 that it is not raining. There is always something that needs to be done and something unexpected to note. The unexpected yesterday was this beautiful little mushroom with its gray pleats and white filaments.

I’ve caught up enough on the weeds to move iris and day lilies that have not done well in their current location because a young sycamore has gotten big enough to deny them enough sunlight - and they were getting too crowded. I didn’t realize the extent of the crowding until I started digging them up and found very dense bulbs/rhizomes. Next year there will be lots of flowers in the sunny bed where I’m moving them.

While I was digging and separating - I thought about how these plants are part of my heritage. The day lilies were a house warming present from my mother-in-law when she moved in with us 23 years ago. She’s been gone for about 22 years now - those day lilies are a wonderful reminder of her. I’m glad I remembered to dig them up to take with us when we moved to our current house. The irises are descended from some my mother dug from her Texas garden; they had been very prolific in her garden and she planted the excess for that year in my Maryland garden….over 15 years ago.

There were other items I’ve added to the garden over the years that I happened upon as I was digging

A small chunk of pale green glass purchased in a shop on the road to Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Shells picked up on some beach

And tomorrow there are still more day lilies and iris to dig up and move!