A Walk around the Howard County Conservancy - September 2013

Fall is a great time to take a walk around the Howard County Conservancy in Maryland. They have a fall festival planned for October 5 but the weather was so good this weekend that my husband and I decided to walk around on our own. We enjoyed being about to hear the insects and birds - and the signs of fall in both the meadow and the forest areas.

What do you think about the owl sculpture? It looks out over the nature play for children.

There are paths mowed through the meadow. The milkweed is ripening. We saw some that were splitting own and others that were still enclosed in a velvety husk complete with a milkweed beetle colony.

ThistlesThistles waved amid a sea of goldenrod.

There were young trees planted in the meadow; they still had protective tubes around their trunks. The dogwoods are easy to spot since they turn deep red while all the other trees are still green.

The wild carrot is making seeds. They look like a tangled ball…and they are a non-native plant that is quite prolific in North America.wild Carrot

It was a pleasant walk of just over a mile according to my husband’s pedometer...and we’d worked up an appetite for lunch. This is a place to come again as fall progresses.

Longwood Gardens Spider Mums - September 2013

The conservatory at Longwood Gardens had a display of spider mums that seemed to glow in the sunlight shining through the glass wall. They start out as tightly furled bundles that look tangled but then uncurl in graceful arcs. Some the small spirals at the end of petals are maintained. These flowers are truly one of the glories of fall.

Feeling Energized at Home - 2013

Last year I wrote about September being my high energy month of the year - and it is still true in 2013. This year the energy level seems to be even greater and directed over a broader swath of activities.

Basil ready to dryLike last year, there is a lot to do outdoor as we near the end of the growing season. The red-purple leafed plum tree has lost enough leaves to begin raking; my plan it to spread them over the garden patch cleared of lemon balm, honeysuckle, and other wild plants in August. I’ll scatter seed pods from cone flowers and zinnias there so that flowers will grow there next summer under the sycamore.  I am also harvest basil and mint from the containers on the deck; the basil is already in a tray in the kitchen drying. The mint may take more than one tray so I’m waiting to cut and process it until the basil is dry and stored away for winter soups.

Clearing ‘stuff’ from the house is splitting into two efforts.

• Two T-shirt DressThe first is to change items into forms that are more useful. The two t-shirt dresses are an example I wrote about earlier this month. I’ve also made a Kaftan from a piece of fabric - using an old handkerchief for part of the neckline (I’ll post about it when I finish). I’ve also discovered that an old Mr. Coffee carafe (the machine itself has long since been replaced) with its handle removed fits in crockpot for baking and custards. We’ve also repurposed my husband’s the old chair mat that was cracked to protect the carpet under and around the cat litter.
• The second is to start reducing the number of ‘keepsake’ boxes. For over 15 years while my daughter was growing up we always had a box that was catching anything we did not immediately decide to recycle or trash. There are several boxes for every year! I’m going to use a ping pong table to make annual piles and I’m sure there will be quite a lot that is not worth keeping.

Considerable energy is going into planning for travel and guests for the next 6 months. I always like to do my research about places I travel and understand what guests will be most interesting in seeing when they are in town. I enjoy the planning almost as much as the activities planned!

I’ve already posted about classes in progress. There are now 4 Coursera classes in progress. They are all excellent - thought provoking in very different ways.

September is definitely a high energy month for me. It’s easy to be enthusiastic about everything in my days.

Leaves in September 2013

We are getting closer to fall every day. The reddish-purple leafed plum tree has already shed a lot of its leaves judging from what is on the lawn but still looks as lush as it did in the summer. Isn’t the color enhanced by the sun shining through the leaves?

The sycamore has patches of color that seem reddish in the sun but that are brown in the shadows and on the grown. The leaves seem light in on the tree in the breeze but thick, almost leathery, on the ground. Our tree has benefited from being in our garden where it gets a bit more water; the trees in the parking lot islands have already lost quite a few leaves because there was so little rain here in August.

OakOakThe oak tree is getting some swaths of color in the sea of green. The sun brings out the greens from summer than linger on.

The tulip poplar has not lost many leaves yet but the leaves are looking battered at this point and the yellow they will become as fall progresses is already apparent when the sun shines through them.Tulip Poplar

Some of the maples in the neighborhood have a few red leaves but our tree is still green - everywhere.Maple

I am enjoying the closer look at the month to month changes in our trees this fall. Take a look back at the August post to see the leaves from a month ago.

Longwood Gardens Cannas - September 2013

Cannas have associations to people and places for me: 

• To my grandparent’s garden in Oklahoma in the ‘60s and ‘70s. They were the tall, luxuriant plants between the flower garden on the side facing the street and the vegetables on the other.
• To my parent’s garden now where some of the descendants of bulbs from my grandparent’s garden probably still grow - plus some other colors that have been purchased since.
• To my sister’s garden where they are now healthy again after a year of struggle with something that caused their large leaves to stick in the furled position. 

The variety of cannas at  Longwood Gardens - both in the Conservatory and outdoors - were good reminders. I’d not seen pink ones before. They were in the later part of their bloom cycle. The orange and yellow cannas were in their prime. I noticed when I looked at my photographs after I got home that I didn’t take any pictures of the red ones!

Longwood Gardens Indoor Children’s Garden - September 2013

Mosaic under water

Dragon stair railing

Water umbrellas

Bird nest fountain

Floor mosaic

Hummingbird fountain

Ibis bubblers

Newt fountain

The Indoor Children’s Garden at Longwood Gardens was empty of children when we arrived earlier than usual last weekend. Every other time we have been in the gardens there have been at least a few children there - and sometimes it was pretty crowded. My daughter enjoyed the precursor to this enlarged garden when she was young. She delighted in the child height fountains where she could put her hands in the water. When the garden was renovated several years ago, even more water features were added and there is a visual richness beyond lush plantings that includes sculpture, mosaic, and stained glass.

The garden light is dappled - leaning toward the shady side. The stained glass lends color and tall plantings of bamboo create walls of green or round vertical elements extending from low growing plants.

Birds and lizards are the dominate themes for the fountains: peacock, hummingbird, ibis, robin, and newt are included in this post. Some are at a height for a toddler…others are about right for a child of 4 or 5. One fountain had some water toys. The best times to enjoy this garden with a child would be on a warm day….and it would be a good idea to bring a towel for when they are ready to trek onward to another garden.

Longwood Gardens - September 2013

We had a beautiful day last weekend to make a day trip to Longwood Gardens in southeastern Pennsylvania. I’ll be making thematic posts in the next week or so - but am showing the ‘best of the rest’ today.

We arrived within about 30 minutes of the garden opening and immediately headed for the conservatory since tripods are allowed during those first hours and my husband had some particular photographic experiments in mind. We wandered through the Indoor Children’s Garden (one of the upcoming thematic posts) before there were any children enjoying it.

The large conservatory rooms and exhibition hall were lush with green and every color of flower imaginable. After briefly going outside to the water lily display (another upcoming thematic post) we passed through the Mediterranean Garden and then, after a lot of picture taking in the orchid house (another upcoming thematic post) all the way to the cascade garden on the other end of the complex from the Children’s Garden before taking a short rest on an outdoor bench to look at the map to decide what else we wanted to see in the conservatory; the answer was the tropical terrace and silver garden. The ‘flower unfolding’ series below of one of the tropical plants from the tropical terrace.

Chimes TowerAnd then it was out into the rest of the garden - full of colors and textures. The fountains were lively (upcoming thematic post); my favorite is always the Italian Water Garden. The Meadow is closed to renovation and expansion until next summer but there is a wonderful border of wild flowers along the fence. The Chimes Tower rose from lush vegetation covered with ivy. There was a model train in one of the gardens and ripe vegetables in the demonstration garden. I’ve picked some of the best images for the slide show below.

Plants on the Deck

I just finished reading May Sarton’s autobiography from when she was in her 50s - Plant Dreaming Deep. She describes her move to Nelson NH. The garden around the house appears frequently in the book: how it looks from various windows of the house, the cutting of flowers in the morning, the weeding and planting of the afternoons, the taming of brush to reveal a stone wall, the agony of a drought when there was not enough water available for the plants.

I’ve experienced similar thoughts about the garden at my house - particularly with the plants in pots on my deck. It is not a particularly large grouping (this year) and there are only a few types of plants: zinnias, cardinal flowers, mint (3 kinds), and basil (2 kinds).

Hummingbird and cardinal flowerThey are visible from the window over the kitchen sink, through the French door from the breakfast area and the screened in part of the deck. The most frequent viewing is from the kitchen window - when I wash vegetables, get a cup of tea, or stand leaning over the sink to eat a juicy orange or peach. I notice the butterflies, hummingbirds, and goldfinches most frequently from there. There is a chair in the breakfast area turned to look outward for longer observation. When I sit on the deck - I sometimes look at the pots but am more frequently listening to the bird and cicada songs.Tiger swallowtail and zinnia

The plants each have their own mini-story.

The zinnias are from seeds my sister saved from her garden. They are degenerates of hybrids but I find the variety appealing and the insects/birds love both their nectar and seeds. I also like to cut a single flower for a bud vase on my desk.Goldfinch and zinnia seed pod

The mint has been propagated from various places around the house and into pots via cuttings. My favorite is the variety that grows in my daughter’s old turtle sandbox although I cut all varities to dry for use with black tea to make my favorite beverage: mint tea. Mid-way through the season I was introduced to the notion of creating pots of plants that included three components: thriller, spiller, and filler. Mint will be the “spiller and filler” for next year.Mint (pot and turtle sandbox) on right and zinnia on left

Zinnia and cardinal flowerThe cardinal flower was a gift from a volunteer organization I worked with earlier in the season. It is expanding into the large pot I put it in. It will be one of the “thriller” plants for next year. I may start another pot from seed as well. It certainly likes to be kept wet; discovering a long lost, half-full bag of peat moss in the garage just before I created the pot was fortunate. I already have a few mint plants that have taken root at one edge of the pot.

The basil seeds were gifts: seed balls from my daughter and a collection of seeds from my husband (that I thought might we too old to sprout). I cut a few leaves for a salad or sauce several times a week and have - so far - kept it from going to seed.

I keep the plants hydrated with water collected from cleaning fruits and vegetables - unless it is very hot and more is needed. The zinnias visibly droop when they need water; they are the indicator plant for watering.

I am full of plans for next year already. More large pots on my wish list for birthday and Christmas - and I’ll look for pot sales too. And I’m thinking of plants for next year too:

• Thrillers: zinnias, cardinal flower
• Fillers: basil, parsley, mint, cilantro
• Spillers: mint, sweet potato

The rest of the flower beds and gardens around the house are not completely unnoticed, but the pots on the deck are the ones I see most frequently. They are a very special luxury!

Discoveries during Outdoor Chores

Yesterday I was out early - to avoid the heat of the day - to clean out the weeds growing between the house and the bushes. My husband had noticed them when we were re-installing screens on the windows after replacing the screen material. As I was gathering my tools - I noticed something on my long handled pruners. At first I thought it was a large spider; on closer inspection it was a mantis. I went inside to retrieve my camera. The insect moved from the wooden to the green metal part of the handle which made it easier to see his posture. He posed for pictures and hung on with more vigor than I expected when I decided that I really did need to get to work rather than continuing to watch him.

After the contortioned work of cutting the bushes where they would not brush the shutters and pulling the weeds that were growing in the narrow space between them and the brick of the house, I made the first trip to deliver the plant debris to the forest behind the house. As I rounded the corner, I noticed how wonderful the pyracantha berries looked - with some green and some orange. The bush is full of bunches this year and I’ll probably cut some branches for a fall centerpiece when they reach their full orange glory.

There is always something that is changing or new outdoors…and chores often give us enough time to realize it. Outdoor chores provide a great opportunity to slow down and savor the natural world.

Anticipating Fall

Several of our trees seem to be anticipating the crisp days of fall before they arrive. The sycamore, oak, plum and cherry all look healthy but the grass around them is littered with a scattering of leaves. The oak tree is dropping mature acorns on the driveway. The maple and tulip poplars are still entirely green and the grass around their bases is clear of leaves.

Fortunately the leaf fall is light enough to be neatly handled by the weekly lawn mowing - which is still required by the rapidly growing grass.

Chives Blooming in the Garden

A clump of chives survived the overwhelming growth of lemon balm in our garden for the past few years and is blooming gloriously this year now that the lemon balm is mostly gone (cutting the tops then digging out the roots of the lemon balm being one of my August projects). The chives that are too close to the edge of the garden are being pulled too - but most of the clump is well placed and will stay.

There are lots of insects that like the flowers of the chives. By far the most numerous and persistent on a recent afternoon were blue winged wasps (Scolia dubia). A tiger swallowtail butterfly did not linger long enough for a picture. The cone flowers and zinnias were evidently more attractive to it. A cabbage white stayed a little longer but it too was off to other flowers very quickly.

Last year the chives had a few flowers and I enjoyed photographing them. I am anticipating that the clump will expand for next summer because more seeds will find their way to the tilled soil. I'll have plenty of the thin green leaves to enjoy in salads!

Ten Days of Little Celebrations - August 2013

A year ago 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 my top 10.

Hummingbirds. The zinnas and cardinal flowers on our deck have been magnets for hummingbirds all during August. I love watching them from my kitchen window. They are the flying jewels of the garden.

Laurie Colwin. I had read most of her books years ago but finally read Home Cooking this month. I celebrated the books she wrote - wishing she had lived to produce more.

Declining weight. It is a wonderful thing when a diet has the desired effect. I celebrated a major milestone with a piece of cheesecake and each lower weight with small piece of dark chocolate. Of course - those celebratory calories have to be included in the total for the day….no backsliding allowed.

Goldfinches. The seeds on the blazing stars are ripening enough to be attractive to goldfinches. I am anticipating that we will see more of them as it gets cooler.

Gardening. It is unusual to have the flowerbeds weed free at the same time. I’m celebrating the accomplishment…..and the room it gives me to try propagating the overgrown hydrangea bushes.

Flip flops. I found 2 flip flops in my size on sale - and it was the sale tax free week too!

Open window. It was wonderfully cool on quite a few mornings this August and I opened my office window to the sounds of the outdoors. How much more connected people were with the outdoors before air conditioning!

Morning snack ritual. I enjoy sitting outside while eating my fruit at mid-morning. The deck is in heavy shade at that time of day and I light the shelf fungus wick in a plate of oil. The large, bell toned chimes add to the sounds of insects and birds with every little breeze.

Coursera History of Humankind. It is probably the most thought provoking course I’ve taken so far….and I am celebrating that it lasts for 17 weeks!

Fresh mint tea. I have harvest mint twice this summer already and there will be another harvest before frost. My favorite beverage is made with a chopped mint leaves and black tea in the filter of my tea maker (a coffee maker that has never made coffee). Most of the crop is dried but the pots made with the freshly chopped leaves are always the most fragrant and flavorful.

Chicory - the Blue along the Roadside

One of the botanical surprises when I move from Texas to Maryland many years ago were the small blue flowers that grew in the weeds at the roadsides: chicory. Sometimes chicory grows between segments of curb; a crack in the pavement is enough to give them purchase. They bloom profusely in our area after rains or heavy dew throughout the summer. Even in the places where the weeds are mowed, the chicory survives. The plants simply grow low - spread out rather than up - and continue to grow new buds and bloom for all the warmer months of the year.

I walked to a weedy area to take these pictures and got an added bonus for the walk: seeing one of the few monarchs of the season. It celebrated while taking a picture of it. The monarch butterflies are not as common in our area as they were years ago. The milkweed plants that they like to lay their eggs on are not seen as frequently either.

Morning Moon

It is easier to wake up before sunrise with the shortening of the days. One morning last week I was up early enough to see the moon through the pine trees. This picture gives the impression of a pearl held firm in a many-needled setting. The few minutes outdoors with the moon and the birds waking up to sing were a good start to the day.

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 24, 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.

Restricting Food and Fluids during Labor Is Unwarranted, Study Suggests - I can remember being very thirsty with only rationed ice chips when I had my daughter years ago. And I was ravenous by the time she was born (and only offered a rather stale boxed lunch since it was out of the normal food service hours in the hospital). Hopefully this study will be a starting point to change the food and liquid restriction rules.

These alien-looking ice sculptures formed all on their own - A collection of images from some very cold places. What a cooling post for August!

Astronomers Take Sharpest Photos Ever of the Night Sky - Using adaptive optics that have been developed over the past 20 years at University of Arizona.

Creative Fashion Illustrations Made with Leaves - Sparse lines - and then leaves. They work together to create appealing images. My favorite is the first one.

Fascinating Friday: 80 Maps That Explain Everything - Pointers to collections of maps from Buzzfeed and The Washington Post. It turns out that maps are good ways to display lots of data in an intuitive way.

State of Flux Images of Change - Pictures of the changes in the earth over day, months or years from NASA.

Iron Is at Core of Alzheimer's Disease, Study Suggests - Yet another reason why we shouldn’t get higher doses of iron. The foods I normally consume easily get me to 100% of the iron requirements - so fortified cereals and iron-contain multi-vitamins are of my grocery list completely.

Fall in the National Parks: Some Great Activities to Put On Your Calendar - Includes the following national parks: Voyagers, San Francisco Maritime, Acadia, Capitol Reef and Grant-Kohrs Ranch.

Amaranth: Another Ancient Wonder Food, But Who Will Eat It? - Chia - quinoa - amaranth - nutritious options abound.

The Common Cook's How-Many Guide to Kitchen Conversions - Very handy for the kitchen!

by ShannonLattin.
Explore more infographics like this one on the web's largest information design community - Visually.

3 Free eBooks - August 2013

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

Regel, Eduard. Gartenflora. Erlangen: F. Enke. 1859. Available from the Internet Archive here. The text is in German….the botanical prints are the draw to this vintage book. Annual volumes were published until the early 1900s and I am making my way through the volumes.

Mathew, Frank James and Cooper, Alfred Heaton. Ireland. London: A. & C. Black. 1916. Available from the Internet Archive here. A book with many color illustrations of what Ireland was like just before World War I.

Ontario College of Art. The Tangent. Toronto: Ontario College of Art Students’ Club. 1938. Available from the Internet Archive here. This book includes images from Canadian art students from just before World War II.

Leaves in August 2013

We have four types of trees growing in our yard that are abundant in our region: sycamore, tulip poplar, oak and maple.

The leaves are looking a little battered at this point in the season. The sycamore has tiny holes in its leaves.

The tulip polar has round marks where the leaf has died. It looked like they were higher density on the branches closer to the ground. 

The oak has some places where the green chlorophyll is already beginning to die…the harbinger of fall.

The maple leaves look the best this year. A few years ago that tree was the one with the round dead spots. The tree is recovered from a heavy load of grapevine that was cut a few years ago at the ground. The vine died but it held onto the tree and is only now beginning to break into pieces and fall to the ground.

In a few months the maple leaves will be red; the tulip poplar’s leaves will be yellow. The oak will look deep red when the sun is shining through them but look brown on closer inspection. The sycamore leaves will curl and fall - tough and leathery - some of them will last until the next season relatively intact. I’m going to do a leaf post each month through the fall…so stay tuned.

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 17, 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.

Distracted Driving Video - 35 minutes…three vignettes…the message: don’t text and drive

Fall in The National Parks: Some Other Park Fall Drives Not To Overlook - Some ideas for a fall foliage road trip

Why do we laugh? - James May with a very straight-faced explanation

Park Score Index - Compare ranking of cities based on parks

Photos from Restored Wetlands - From the Prairie Ecologist. My favorite is the paper wasp on the swamp milkweed.

Why aren’t more girls attracted to physics? - It’s all about seeing possibilities.

A History of the World: The 100 British Museum Objects - There are several images for each object and a narrative. Note the little symbols beside each thumbnail and click on the thumbnail to take a closer look; the images with a magnifying glass have annotations (I prefer to click on the thumbnail, go to full screen, then look at the annotations), listen to the short videos for the ones with the ‘play arrows.’ A bit longer audio (originally for a BBC radio program) is available as well.

How a 'Deviant' Philosopher Built Palantir, A CIA-Funded Data-Mining Juggernaut - The good and bad of the state of the art in mining information from huge amounts of data.

Great Blue Heron Highlights 2013 - From Sapsucker Pond in Ithaca NY. I didn’t watch much of the season ‘live’ this year but enjoyed these highlights.

Three Ways Cooking has Changed Over the Last 300 Years - It’s more than cooking….it’s the history of what people ate. Some ingredients are not common now…others are common but prepared quite differently.

Around our (Maryland) Yard in August 2013

August has been cooler and wetter than usual for us. The plants are growing vigorously. The butterflies enjoy the cone flowers and mint. Both plants will be in bloom for the rest of the season. I did a sequence of cone flower development from petals just unfurling to the beginning of seed pod development.

The blazing stars that were attractive to butterflies earlier in the season are developing seeds now. I’ve already seen a few goldfinches enjoying the earliest harvest.

The hydrangea is fading although some of the blooms will simply dry on the bush.

The chives are getting ready to bloom. In September they will be a highlight of the garden. There are some that came up too near the edge of the garden that I am pulling up and enjoying in salads.

And last but not least the dahlias. They are attractive in just about every way…large, robust flowers….glossy green foliage…there for butterflies and bees and wasps to enjoy.

Brookside Gardens - August 2013

Our stroll through Brookside Gardens this month was the shorter circuit - similar to last month - because of the construction around the large ponds and the tea house that wouldn’t be finished until sometime this winter. There was a still a lot to see. Like last month - flying insects were enjoying the garden. I photographed a dragonfly resting perched on some straw on stone edge of a pool and a tiger swallowtail feeding on a flower.

The rose garden is better than usual for August because the weather this year has not been hot for prolonged periods. I like the ones that are several colors the best.

Of course the larger views of the garden are lush this time of year. In this image - the sycamore towers in the distance with green hedge and plants with colorful foliage and flowers growing vigorously in raised beds.

I noticed the zinnias and realized that the ones I have in pots at home are hybrids that have gone native. They have a single row of petals rather than the dense rows on these flowers. I still like mine with their delicate color - different on the top and the bottom of the petal. And the butterflies and hummingbirds like them too.

The bloom time for the lotus is past and the seed pods are all that remains. Even the seeds are already gone.

The pendulous Angel Trumpet (Brugmansia) has many flowers and they sway with each little breeze. In past years these plants were primarily in the conservatory but they are in several of the outdoor beds this year.

I noticed some new looking shelf fungus on a stump visibile through the foilage. It will be interesting watching them grow and mature in upcoming visits.

And those are the highlights from the walk around Brookside.