Zooming in the Garden

Ordinary things become quite different with the ability of modern cameras to magnify. I’ve collected some recent favorites below.

Do you see the pollen on the bee?

What about the veins in the tiger swallowtail wing? They almost look like pleats.

The jumble of curves of pink lilies.

A glorious white on white of a gardenia flower.

The red hues of a hibiscus petal.

The fractures of a drying lotus seed pod.

The spiral of an unfurling rose.

The alien looking center of a water lily flower.

Shelf Fungus Finale

A little over a year ago I started posting about the shelf fungus that were growing on an oak stump in our neighbor’s yard. In April of this year, the neighbor’s yard crew spreading new mulch detached the shelf fungus from the stump, tossing them into my yard. I collected the remains and posted a slide show summarizing their ten months of visible life. As a finale - before taking the pieces back to the compost pile - I looked at them more closely. The fungus reprocessed the oak stump into a very light-weight, spongy material.

The top of the shelf-fungus looks like it has growth rings. They are not ‘annual’ growth rings like trees since these fungus grew in a 10 month period and actually stayed about the same size after their initial few months.

The underside has a stalk where they were attached to the oak stump and there are fibers where they were ripped away. The undersides are relatively smooth.

I cut a wedge from one of the platters. The growth rings appear to be a surface feature only (i.e. they don’t extend to the interior). The top - where the rings appear - is a lighter colored layer on a brownish interior that appears porous and spongy.

The Wikipedia entry for shelf-fungus mentions that shelf fungus can be used as a wick for an oil lamp. It works! After soaking the wedge I cut in oil, it provided a nice almost smokeless flame as it sat in a saucer of oil. Rather than taking them back to the compost pile I’ll cut the shelf-fungus in pieces to use in the saucer of oil out on the deck. 

It would have been even better for them to continue growing on the oak stump….

Swimming Pool Surface Images

Sometimes the camera captures more than we can see with our eyes. Both of the images in this post are in that category.

The wasp landed on the surface of the pool and bent to get a drink. The surface tension of the water held it out of the water although the picture above shows the slight indention of the surface where it touched the water. It took off again quite easily.

On another day - wind blew small pieces of nearby vegetation into the pool. When it calmed, aggregates of the debris collected into mats that floated about together. This is my favorite because of the variety of shapes - pine needles, the old flowers, leaves.

Cactus in the Morning

As I was out and about my Maryland yard early this morning, I thought about the most pleasant time of day in Tucson back in June - the early morning. We got up for sunrise twice. The sunrise is spectacular but the morning light on the plants of the desert is even better. There is color and clarity that is dimmed in the blaring late of the more direct sunlight of other parts of the day.

Legumes are probably as prevalent as cactus in the Sonoran Desert. The seeds inside the pods in the above image are clearly bulging. The curling pods are a contrast to the pale green of the leaves - highlighted with red. Would they have been as noticeable at mid-day? Probably not.

There was a grouping of plants near the pool that drew my attention again and again; on the last day we found out that a gila monster den was just to the right of the yellow cactus in this image! I took pictures of the grouping from many different angles but my favorites are the close up shots of the two types of cactus in the morning light.

The colors seem to glow. I have tried to decide whether the yellow or red are my favorite…and I can’t. The yellow one seems so robust and perfect…it has the smaller cactus growing with it.

The red on looks tough and the spines have a delicate variation in their color along the spines.

Today - I am savoring the June time in Tucson - again.

Hummingbird at the Cardinal Flower

A few days ago - l looked out onto the deck from my kitchen window and saw a hummingbird enjoying our cardinal flowers. The bird stayed there long enough for me to sit in the breakfast area and take pictures through the window.

Ruby throated hummingbirds spend the warm months in Maryland and I was pleased that the bright cardinal flower had attracted the attention of this female. She was a blur of activity - holding still at each flower for a very short time before moving to the next one. After making the complete round of the flower spike, she flew up to rest for a few a seconds on an empty plant hanger then flew off into the cloudy day.

There are more spikes of the cardinal flower forming so I am looking forward to her return.

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 3, 2013

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

The electric car is here to stay - Infographic showing the history of electric cars.

New Rockies GigaPannery - 8 geology related panoramas from the Rockies allowing zoom in to the various parts of the image. One is a road cut (a typical stop on a geology field trip!).

Kid Friendly Dyeing - Making your own play silks - My daughter and made tie-dyed silk scarves many years ago with Kool-Aid. We didn’t achieve the really bright colors but I still have some of the pastel creations. One is tied to the handle of my purse this summer!

Dew on Dandelions - Turning weeds into things of beauty. I’ve always liked the puffs of dandelions but I haven’t caught them with dew (see my ‘best’ photo to date to the left).

What do supernovae and salad dressing have in common? - Watch the video!

What can we do to make cities less lonely for the elderly? - Use the arrows to bring up annotations on the city scenes. Many things that make is less lonely for the elderly also make it better for everyone else too!

Inca Children Got High before Death - Mummies of three children sacrificed about 500 years ago and discovered in a high altitude cave in 1999. The hair analysis showed consumption of alcohol and coca in the year before their deaths. That consumption spiked dramatically in the weeks before their deaths.

Boys with Autism or ADHD More Prone To Overuse Video Games - Technology is a mixed blessing. There is a challenge that all people have to use it effectively - rather than becoming addicted or overwhelmed. Evidently autism and ADHD make the challenge even higher.

Living Longer, Living Healthier: People Are Remaining Healthier Later in Life - This is certainly what we hope is happening and will continue.

8 tips to make your life more surprising, from Tania Luna, Surprisologist - Cultivating the ‘surprise’ in life is well worth the effort. I wrote down my answer to ‘What surprised you today?’ for several years and then transitioned to recording the ‘little celebrations.’ There is definitely an overlap between the two!

Tucson Botanical Gardens

I am just now finding a day to post about my visit to the Tucson Botanical Gardens in June. In looking back through my photographs, I found it very difficult to select a small enough number for this post.

The Gardens are an oasis in a heavily populated part of Tucson. It is obvious that they have been getting better and better as the many years of their existence have gone by. One of my favorite features was a water fountain that had water coming out of a yucca pod shaped sculpture.

There was a dinosaur garden complete with dinosaur figures and types of plants that existed during that time period.

I’ve never seen so many art bird houses. I took many pictures of the creations. The one to the left is one of my favorites.

The Japanese rock garden looks right at home in Tucson. It works well in a desert and looks as soothing as it would in a totally different climate.

There were plenty of lizards - doing pushups and eying the people in their space too. This one looks quite haughty.  

Decorative tile is used on benches and for some signage. It too fits the desert - durable even in high heat. 

The best of the rest are in the slide show below. I realize now that these gardens will be on my list of ‘things to do’ every time I go back to Tucson.

Ten Days of Little Celebrations - July 2013

Back in August 2012, I posted about finding something to celebrate each day. It’s an easy thing for me to do and the habit of writing it down reminds me to be grateful for these and a myriad of other things in my life. This month has been full of ‘little celebrations;’ here are the top 10.

Starting the day outdoors. For years and years I was always heading off to work or errands as soon as I was able in the morning. It is such a luxury to be able to enjoy the outdoors on July mornings when the heat of the day is yet to become overwhelming and the birds are at their most energetic. What a great way to start my days.

Watermelon. I still think the large watermelons with seeds from many years ago had a better flavor than the smaller, seedless varieties in the stores today - but, even these watermelons are a hallmark of summer for me.

Cheesecake sampler. Don’t they always look tempting in the store? Always being on a diet means that I had not succumbed to the purchase until I had a dinner party with enough people to eat most of the pieces in a single sitting. So - I celebrated when I finally found a cheesecake sampler (at the third store I checked) and thoroughly enjoyed the one piece that I permitted myself.

Butterflies on the blazing stars. Flowers and butterflies - easy images to celebrate. See my earlier post here.

Credit for the electric bill. One of the days the exterior of our house was being painted was also an electricity conservation day (our electric utility gives us a credit based on the amount we reduce from a baseline day of similar temperature). The windows were open anyway for the painters - so we turned off the air conditioner and ate picnics (i.e. no cooking). We got at $46 credit! Hurray!

Cardinal flower. Plants are one of my favorite gifts (to give or receive). I celebrated receiving a cardinal flower and enjoy its blooming stalks (increasing rapidly in its big pot) every day. See my earlier post here.

Exterior house painting complete. The house looks wonderfully refreshed….I celebrated that the crew finished in spite of a significant rain delay! See my earlier posts here and here.

Into ‘normal’ weight range. Shouldn’t this be a goal for everyone? I am celebrating getting into the range…and closer to the ultimate goal (another 10 pounds to go).

A quiet day without internet or cable. A storm came through and the service people don’t work on the weekend…so we were without connectivity for almost 48 hours. I found that there was a new quietness about the house to savor…although I also celebrated when the connection was restored too.

Pecans in buttermilk pancakes. I celebrate the goodness the dusting of pecans adds plus the memory of learning to sprinkle the nuts onto the batter as it cooks from my mother.

What have you celebrated today?

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum - June 2013

The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum was already getting warm by the time we got there on a morning back in June. The barn owl (picture to left) held by a volunteer at the entrance was a popular for stop for everyone. Behind the volunteer was a display of plants - and lizards doing pushups.

There was a desert spoon (picture to right) in bloom as we made our way toward the animal exhibits. We got to the bear’s enclosure just as it was being released from its night quarters. It went to the waiting pile of food - gobbling the watermelon first and leaving the apple and peanuts for later snacking.

The saguaros were displaying their bright red fruit but several of the barrel type cacti were blooming. Butterflies were enjoying the bird-of-paradise flowers. The teddy bear cactus did not look at all cuddly. I only managed one good picture in the hummingbird house; they were moving too fast most of the time but the one with the iridescent purple throat stopped to pose.

This museum is an easy place to enjoy. There is always something that has changed since the last time - a new blossom, an animal or bird doing something different. Post from the same place back in March 2013: birds, plants, seahorses

Gladiolus

A few days ago I looked down on the back yard from the deck and noticed some small mushrooms in the grass. As I went down the stairs to take a closer look, there was a gladiolus with a spire of near perfect blooms in our overgrown garden! It was promptly cut and taken upstairs to my office.

Gladiolus are flowers that I’ve enjoyed for a long time. My grandparents grew them in their garden when I was a child. A large vase of them stood on the tea cart under my grandmother’s portrait all during the summer season.

I planted the bulbs years ago in my Maryland garden and then ignored them. Their hardiness is one of the things to like about them. The blooms lowest on the stalk unfurl first; when cut just after the first one begins to open, the stems will draw enough water to support the opening of all the buds - which makes for a long lasting display. I prefer a single stalk with a few leaves in a bud vase. There is something quite elegant about the tall slender shape.

I am celebrating gladiolus today.

Saguaro National Park - East

The eastern section of Saguaro National Park was not far from our rental house when we were in Tucson in June. We got up early and headed over before the day got too hot. There is a loop to drive around that climbs a little ways into the Rincon Mountains.

The nature trail and lookout from some rocks were along the drive but we stopped at most of the turnout points as well. The high point of the nature trail was finding the cicada that was singing in the tree beside the trail. The saguaros were past the peak flowering but that made it even better because we were able to see the fruits in various stages of ripeness. Looking down into the canyon from one of the higher turnout points showed the deep erosion from the water pouring down from the mountains although it was very dry when we were there since the monsoons had not started. The bright green of the lichen on some of the rocks was starting; most of the other desert plants are a duller shade.

Enjoy the slide show of the park below! 

Clark Gardens in Texas

Clark Gardens is located between Mineral Wells and Weatherford, Texas - a short side trip from the Interstate 20. What a treasure to find on our way back to the Dallas area from Tucson!

The high point of the visit for me was watching a Great Blue Heron stationed on a platform in one of the ponds. I’ll do a later post with more of my pictures. My sister insisted initially that the bird was a statue and it did stay very still for a long period of time - until it moved into this hyper-alert stance.

We were the only visitors to the garden on the day we were there. This jewel is not well-advertised. We probably would not have seen the snake on the pavers of the formal garden area had there been more people around. We simply walked way around him - letting him soak in the warmth of the June day.

I always enjoy water lilies but the added bonus I observed in this garden was a dragonfly laying her eggs in the pool.

I’ve included a slide show with the best of my other pictures. The model trains were a very pleasant surprise. They are depicting trains that were common to this part of Texas….and the use of natural materials to build the trestles and scenery around them was enchanting.

Clark Gardens is a place I’ll want to visit again. 

Cardinal Flower in a Big Pot

I received a cardinal flower as a gift late last week. I decided almost immediately to put it in a pot since it likes to be kept very wet - wetter than any area stays in my yard. The plant was already beginning to droop in the small pot from the nursery because the water drained away so quickly.

I bought a large pot for the deck that I could keep soggy even in the hottest weather. The shells from South Carolina went into the bottom. Next - every partial bag of potting soil, vermiculite, and sphagnum moss in the garage went into the pot (what joy to finally be using up all cobwebby bags!). The plant was positioned in the pot - and watered.

I’m looking forward to the plant beginning to bloom….anticipating hummingbirds and butterflies.

Brookside Gardens - July 2013

Brookside Gardens in July - full of lush green backdrop to colorful blooms. I’m starting off this post with critters rather than plants - because I was so pleased with the images I captured. The first was a dragonfly perched on a water lily flower that was just beginning to open. Instead of darting away, it seemed to pose for a picture.

The hummingbird moth on the butterfly bushes was always on the move. This one was red and black and a little larger than the one on my Blazing Star flowers included in my July 10th post. I had seen this same type of moth at Brookside in 2011 but had missed seeing one last summer.

And finally - there were robins everywhere. I took a few pictures and was surprised to discover when I got home and reviewed my images on a large screen that one of the robins was banded - on both legs!

There was a bit of whimsy in the pool with the lily pads: toy ducks. Two of the little ones looked to be sinking. The large one had been given a straw hat.

The lotus plants were full of large leaves. The white flowers were close to the railing - positioned well for photographs.My favorite was one that showed a flower with a seed pod just beginning, a seed pod that had already shed the rest of the flower and a bud. I'll check the lotus patch every time I go to Brookside until frost! A flower with pink edges nestled among the leaves almost hidden from view.

And now for the slide show with the rest of the best from my July walk around the gardens.

Reading the Landscape (Texas)

The landscape in Texas is quite varied. Let’s see what we can tell from looking at this image of the area in the western part of the state.

At first glance - it is flat. Are there some low hills in the distance or is it a trick of the moisture in the air? The billowing cloud and the darker haze underneath gives the promise of rain ahead. Will it reach the ground?

The plants near the highway are predominately straw-colored rather than green. Further from the road, there appear to be green clumps of scrubby vegetation. Once disturbed, the soil does not support the vegetation that it did before.

Perhaps the area along the road is just the most recently disturbed (from the building of the road) and the area further away was disturbed early by grazing cattle. The original vegetation may be long gone.

Is the straw colored vegetation an invasive plant? Does it burn more easily than the more varied vegetation further from the road?

On the positive side - this is landscape of a wide open space. It is impossible to feel claustrophobic when the horizon is so far away! 

Around our (Maryland) Yard in July 2013

Our July has included enough rain to keep the yard very lush. I took a series of pictures looking up through the trees in our yard. The foliage in all the trees is in prime summer condition. I’ll do a similar collage in the fall.

Another series I am starting this month is watching the maturing of the tulip poplar seed pods. There is finally a branch low enough on our tree to watch the developments every month. The image on the right is what the two green pods will look like next summer.

The rest of the walk  around our yard is captured in the slideshow below. I appreciate the dahlias, blazing stars, zinnias and hydrangea bush this year because the day lilies have been so thoroughly enjoyed by the deer; the buds get eaten right before they open! I’ve included the green pyracantha berries; they’ll be a glorious orange in the fall.

Blazing Stars as Insect Magnets

My bulb project from April 2012 is quite lush this summer. The Blazing Stars are almost always full of bees, butterflies, and hummingbird moths. There are more plants this year and the heights seem more varied. And - best of all - the deer do not seem to find them palatable at all! The slide show below captures my favorite visitors to the Blazing Stars for the past month or so.

Mount Vernon

Mount Vernon - George Washington’s home on the Potomac in Northern Virginia - is one of my favorite places to take visitors. There were a lot of visits when we first moved to the area 30 years ago but they have not been as frequent recently. When I visited a few weeks ago - all the construction that was underway a few years ago had been completed. The new visitor center and museum areas are built to accommodate large crowds; Mount Vernon is a popular place.

On the day we visited, it rained off and on. We carried umbrellas and appreciated that the air was warm enough that being damp was not a problem. The rain was to our advantage: it was probably one of the few times there was not a line to see the house. The rest of the tour is less crowded and includes:

The view of the Potomac from the house

The necessaries (one we saw was a three holer!)

The flowers

The vegetables - including cabbages and artichokes

The old boxwood that overwhelmed the garden in years past are mostly gone, replaced with smaller boxwood that border the beds in the flower garden. The magnolias were in full bloom and I can’t resist a slide show for them.

And finally - the view of Mount Vernon from its carriage gate. What an appealing house it still is.

Reading the Landscape: Summer

Every landscape picture can turn into a ‘reading the landscape’ puzzle. What can you tell about the place from the picture above?

The lawn is green and recently mowed. The tracks of lawnmower are still visible.

The trees are darker green than they would be in spring…and quite lush. It is summer.

Looking at the leaves - The closer tree appears to be a maple and the one behind the maple is a tulip poplar. Both trees are quite common in the mid-Atlantic area of the eastern US. The picture does not show the size of the trunks or the height of the trees. The tulip poplars are generally the tallest trees of the forests where they grow.

Past the mowed part of the yard, there appears to be small opportunistic plants and beyond that it appears quite dark. Perhaps it is the edge of a forest. 

3 Free eBooks - June 2013

It’s time again for the monthly post of eBooks that are freely available on the Internet. The three below are my favorites for June 2013.

Chadwick, Luie. Fashion drawing and design: a practical manual for art students and others. London: Batsford. 1926. Available from the Internet Archive here. Scan through the illustrations for historical perspective of fashion illustration or fashion itself. I particularly liked the silhouettes below.

Gordon, Elizabeth. Flower Children. Chicago: P.F. Volland and Company. 1910. Available from the Internet Archive here. The drawings capture both children and flowers. The tiger lily and trillium are shown at the right. What fun it would be to have customs along these lines for ‘dress up’ play!

Quennell, Marjorie Courtney andQuennell, Charles Henry Bourne. A History of Everyday Things in England. London: Batsford. 1918-1934. Three volumes available on the Internet Archive: volume 2, volume 3, and volume 4. This is quite a series - covering from the 16th Century to the early 1930s. The illustrations depict changes in that time period for simple things like staircases to work such as farming and the advent of the industrial age. The high chair from about 1860 (left) looks like a low table with a chair attached to the top!