Lotuses at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens

As promised (in the dragonfly post earlier this week) - here is the post about the lotuses blooming profusely at the Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens in Washington DC. Lotuses are quite a draw for the gardens. Most people had arrived with their cameras. There is something about the flower colors - the dark pink…to light pink…to creamy white - against the green of the large leaves and the curves of the foliage and flowers in the ponds that captures our attention now just as effectively as they did in ancient Egypt. So as you enjoy the flurry of the 4th of July --- here’s a slide show of lotuses to provide a calm interlude!

As promised (in the dragonfly post earlier this week) - here is the post about the lotuses blooming profusely at the Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens in Washington DC. Lotuses are quite a draw for the gardens. Most people had arrived with their cameras. There is something about the flower colors - the dark pink…to light pink…to creamy white - against the green of the large leaves and the curves of the foliage and flowers in the ponds that captures our attention now just as effectively as they did in ancient Egypt. So as you enjoy the flurry of the 4th of July --- here’s a slide show of lotuses to provide a calm interlude!

CSA Week 4

I managed to have empty crispers by the time I picked up the 4th week share from the Gorman Produce Farm Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Drying most of the parsley (cutting it up coarsely with kitchen scissors and just leaving it out on a cookie sheet for a couple of days…now it is stored away for use in other cooking) and making collard green chips (same technique as kale chips) cleared the overflow condition within 24 hours of picking up the share!  Then I alternated between salads and stir fries and green smoothies to finish off everything except the beets - which I used for the special treat: Fruit Beety (see picture in yesterday’s post, recipe in CSA Week 3 post)

There is a shift in week 4 - it not as overwhelmingly leafy green! Can you find all the items on the list in the picture below?** (Hint: I chose the kale rather than chard or turnips). The cucumbers will make excellent smoothies with plain yogurt and pineapple salsa (and maybe I’ll use some leek too). The lettuce and cucumber are the only two items that are not candidates for stir fry. I’m trying to decide whether to use the kale for chips…or save some leaves for stir fry and salad - there’s really enough for all three!

** Starting at the upper left and moving clockwise: red leaf lettuce, cucumbers, onions, cabbage, kale (lower right), summer and zucchini squash, garlic, carrots, and leeks.

On Cooking

I’ve been cooking for over 4 decades…and today I started thinking about how things have changed in that time period.

Microwave ovens are the biggest technology change although the majority of times I use it these days is for popcorn (the Nordic Ware Microwave Popper has allowed me to go back to the same kind of popcorn I bought 40 years ago rather than the popcorn packaged with lots of additives).

Less meat. I eat a lot less meat these days because there are so many other sources of protein: yogurt, soy nuts, and peanuts are my favorites.

More vegetables. The CSA has increased by veggie consumption this summer but even before that I eat more vegetables now than I did 40 years ago…..and more of them are fresh rather than canned.

Less bread. I eat grains in different form than breads. Commercial bread was easy to give up. Sometimes I make muffins or scones but I am more enthusiastic about grains that I didn’t consume at all in the beginning of my cooking life: quinoa and chia.

Food processors make it easier to grate and puree in large quantities. I had a blender than I used 40 years ago but it was primarily used for milk shakes. I have several concoctions that are produced by putting everything in the food processor and just running it for several minutes (Fruit Beety is the most recent).  I also have a smoothie maker (a specialized blender) that I use with frozen fruit or veggies.

The menu has changed a little too over the years. Most of our meals take 30 minutes or less and even for the longer prep times there is a ‘get it started’ (like putting potatoes and meatloaf in the oven) and then going off to other things until it is done. Stir fry meals didn’t start until the last 10 years or so; I have a technique where I cut up the longer cooking items, start them cooking while I cut up the other items, then add the quick cook items (like leafy greens); it forces me to work fast!

Overall - I think the way I cook now produces tasty - and healthier - meals and is often easier than it was 40 years ago but not due to technology improvement.  It’s the learning through experience and focus on nutrition that has made the difference.

Coursera Experience - July 2014

Following the general schedule of the brick and mortar universities that offer courses through Coursera, there were a lot of new starts in June. It made for a grand total of 5 courses on my ‘to do’ list by the end of the month:

The Diversity of Exoplanets (University of Geneva) - The course has provided a good framework for me to understand the news items on the topic….and there are quite a lot of them these days!

Preventing Chronic Pain: A Human Systems Approach (University of Minnesota) - The Systems Biology course I finished last month prepared me for the most technical module of this course!  Since I don’t have chronic pain at this point in my life, I am truly focused on the ‘preventing’ aspect of the curse. The biggest action I’ve taken so far is to broaden the amount and kind of stretching I am doing.

Paradoxes of War (Princeton University) - This course has been thought provoking both from a historical and more general societal context. Since there has been some time sequence to it - we are now in the years of my life and I am appreciating the different perspectives of what happened in the 60s and 70s.

An Introduction to Global Health (University of Copenhagen) - There is so much to be done and, while there have been strides, there are set backs too. The people that are the most vulnerable are in the least healthy situation and their pliant is often impacted by disasters (floods, earthquakes, wars). At the same time, we are facing the reality that many in the developed world had chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) that are sapping medical resources too (and now the NCDs are increasing in the developing world too).

Globalization and You (University of Washington) - The course divides Globalization (political) from globalization (interconnectedness) and encourages students to research how each impacts them directly. I am already behind in the reading and the participation! Strangely enough - a lot of what I’ve been learning in some of my other classes seems feed into this one (the ones that come immediately to mind are Global Health, US Food System, How to change the world).

By the end of the month I should begin to recover. Several courses will end and the only one that will start in July is:

Social Psychology (Wesleyan University) - The course is advertised to focus on ‘research findings that are easy to apply in daily life.’ What a great course to enjoy with air conditioning in August!

Dragonflies at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens

The lotuses are blooming profusely at the Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens in Washington DC; I’ll post about them later this week. The dragonflies are the focus for today. There were so many of them when we were walking around the ponds yesterday that I managed to capture quite a few images. They like to perch on dried seed pods,

Folded lotus leaves and

The tips of lotus buds.

The sun reflects off their wings giving them a metallic gleam.

Sometimes their color is jewel like: powder blue, deep green, black veined gossamer.

Sometimes their thorax looks muscle bound

And sometimes it looks it has sub-segments.

This one has droopy wings.

This last picture is my favorite - the color of the uncurling lotus and the dragonfly perching for a few seconds before flying out again over the water.

A Picnic at Howard County Conservancy

The weather was perfect for the Fiddlers and Fireflies event at the Howard County Conservancy this past week.  I took an eclectic picnic: frozen blueberries, spinach salad with bacon bits, Fruit Beety under a layer of plain yogurt (a mini-parfait), and collard green chips.

I enjoyed walking around the picnic area and Honors Garden taking pictures. The bees were very active and - grateful that cameras are digital these days - I took a lot of images and picked 3 for this post.

And now enjoy the rest of the best from my after picnic walk in the slide show below!

Gleanings of the Week Ending June 28, 2014

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.

Enjoy the Wilderness of Saguaro National Park through This Video - I’m remembering the vacation to Tucson last June --- which included a morning at this National Park. Another blurb in the feeds this week about one of my favorite places: Longwood Gardens Unveils 86-acre Meadow. I’m already beginning to think about return visits!

Timeline of Emerging Science & Technology (2014 to 2030+) - From Richard Watson and the Imperial College of London. If you want to look at an enlarged version of the graphic - a PDF is available here. One of my favorite technologies is autonomous cars - and there was a new item on that topic this week too: Demonstrating a driverless future: Promise of driverless cars. Computerworld posted 8 technologies that are on the way out - and one that we’ll never be rid of.

Reproduction later in life is a marker for longevity in women - Hurray! I fit this marker for longevity in women (I was 35 years old!).

Connectivity is Critical: 33 Ways Broadband Boosts Learning - There are lots of positives about connectivity but it takes a level of maturity to not experience the negatives. Like most technology - advocates think only of the positives first; hopefully eventually there are objective perspectives.

Architecture of signaling proteins enhances knowledge of key receptors - The Preventing Chronic Pain course I am taking was focused on the systems biology aspects of pain last week - so I noticed this article more than I might have otherwise. The progress being made in the systems biology arena is gaining momentum now that the technology is available to research questions.  Another systems biology type article: about creating viruses that naturally home in on tumor cells while boosting the body’s immune system was posted by The Scientist.

Interactive Model Skeletons - Free Technology for Teachers has a blurb this week about eSkeletons, from the Department of Anthropology at the University of Texas. The site is focused on primates. What a wonderful way to learn about skeletons!

Mysterious 'magic island' appears on Saturn's moon Titan - Something new on Cassini’s mission radar of Ligeia Mare…a ‘transient feature.’

Do the Rumble-Rump with Peacock Spiders - I’d seen pictures of these spiders before but had not realized how small they are….and the videos (here) are worth a look too!

Few Doctors Warn Expectant Mothers about Environmental Hazards - I hope this change.

Distributed Renewable Energy under Fire - How electric utilities are fighting local renewable energy in 19 states. It’s a frustrating situation. I’m glad Maryland is not one of the 19.

My Deck Garden - June 2014

The deck garden has changed quite a lot since my post in May. The sweet potato has a lot more leaves ad may be overwhelming the bell pepper plant in the same trough pot; the pepper plant has a small pepper …. but will it grow big enough to be edible?

The watermelon and cantaloupe are blooming - I look each day for a small melon beginning to form but it hasn’t happened yet.

The tomato plants have a lot of green tomatoes. In the pot next to the peacock pot, a lot of peppers that sprouted from kitchen compost are overwhelming the cilantro that I’ve already harvested once. The spaghetti squash in the peacock pot has been blooming but I have not found any small squash forming yet.

It’s the same story for the zucchini squash.

I’ve harvested mint for the second time this year - from the big round pot and the turtle sandbox. The harvest is already dried and in the crock beside the tea maker.

In the meantime - the beans are growing rapidly in the jug that originally held cat litter and the cucumber that was severely damaged by hail is hanging on - blooming! The shallow bins with miscellaneous flowers are just beginning to bloom. The morning glory has quite a ‘glow.’

CSA Week 3

I did a reasonable job of using up the veggies from week 2 of the Gorman Farms CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) ….although not quite as good as the week 1 share. I ended week 2 with some broccoli and spinach left to eat….and some beet leaves in the freezer. I discovered that the dandelion greens were excellent in salads, kale chips are wonderful snacks, and beets are yummy in Fruit Beety. Here’s the recipe for Fruit Beety:

Combine in a food processor: 3 cooked beets, 3 oranges, 2 tablespoons coconut (unsweetened), 1 teaspoon honey, juice of 1/2 lemon, 1 teaspoon grated lemon or orange peel, pinch salt, scant teaspoon of raspberry vinegar. Process for a minute or two. Mine was the consistency of a thick applesauce. Adjust honey or vinegar to taste. Chill to blend the flavors. This recipe results in 3 large snack servings (6 servings if with a meal). It is good by itself or with a dollop of plain yogurt!

Lessons learned from week 2: 1) have a salad or stir fry twice a day that uses a significant amount of produce, 2) make kale chips with the whole bunch right away next time they are included in the share (they keep well enough for a few days), and 3) remind my husband to eat at least one salad a day and sneak a leaf or two of something green into his strawberry smoothie.

Now for week 3:

I already have ideas for everything in this share….a lot of excellent meals ahead this next week!

On Trends in the US

There are quite a few news items about trends in the US. There are some that are appealing to me - and that I feel part of my life:

• Buying locally grown food
• Taking advantage of free online courses (Coursera is the one I’ve enjoyed)
• Reading online books (most of my reading these days is electronic rather than printed on paper)

There are other trends that don’t jive with my life right now:

• Watching television. I was an hour of less of television per day (there was an article about hours per day trending upward with the average being 4 hours per day)
• Interacting via social media. I do occasionally look at Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest….but not daily. The content can too easily be overwhelming rather than helpful.
• Moving to ‘senior’ housing. I have no desire at all to live in an area that is not age diverse. I like have children in the area where I live.
• Exercising as part of a class or club. I’d rather formulate my days to exercise as part of the way I live my life.

Now that I’ve started thinking about trends….I’ll do the ‘next step’ thinking when I read or hear a news item about a trend in the US.  I’m feeling a little rebellious these days so I anticipate that I’ll be bucking more trends than following.

Aargh! Deer ate the Day Lilies

A few days ago the flower bed of day lilies was full of potential. A few buds had opened but there were a large number of buds that were still forming.

Yesterday I discovered the devastation caused by browsing deer. The part of the flower bed I had photographed on the 18th still had a few buds; probably about half of them had been eaten. Maybe something has caused the deer to hurry away because the other end of the flower bed had almost no buds! I’ve circled the nipped stalks in the image below. Aargh!

I’ve learned my lesson….I’ll be spraying the liquid deer fence every week; it had worked well during the spring when I had sprayed regularly but I had stopped - thinking the deer now had a lot of other food around. I hope that somehow the lilies recover enough to produce a new crop of flowers if I keep the deer away.

Ten Days of Little Celebrations - June 2014

Noticing something worth celebration each day is an easy thing for me to do. 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 for June 2014. I’ve categorized them into 4 groups: outdoors, food, and courses and people.

Outdoors

Oak trimming (and discovering the oak marble). Finishing the annual trimming of the oak was worth a celebration but it was made even better this year with the finding of the oak marble. It was the first time I had ever seen anything like tit.

Therapy bush trimming. There is always some to be learned about myself during time spent trimming the bush. I celebrated that it happened this month (and look forward to at least one more time during the summer).

Brookside. We walk around Brookside at least once a month and it is always enjoyable but with the construction going on this summer we are looking for alternatives. I celebrated June’s visit since it will be the last one to Brookside for a few months.

Green tomatoes. My deck garden has gotten off to a reasonably good start. I have 11 tomatoes on two plants! I’m celebrating their progress and hope to report other colors soon (and then move them to the ‘food celebration’ category.

Food

Community Support Agriculture. My first experience with the CSA has been worth celebrating. The fresh veggies are getting eaten.

Watermelon. I didn’t wait for the local melons. The grocery store had a bin and the one I got was excellent.

Kale chips. They taste good - and are nutritious too! Even my husband - not usually big on veggies - liked them.

Courses

Thought provoking classes - The Paradoxes of War class I started this month on Cousera has been very thought provoking….and I am celebrating that I signed up for it.

The survival of people in harsh reality - The Nubians survived harsh climate and the Ancient Egyptians to produce their vibrant culture - that’s the main take away from The Art and Archaeology of Ancient Nubia course that I just finished on Coursera. I am celebrating their accomplishment; they help us realize that the ancient Egyptians were not the only ancient people to apply extreme creativity toward improving their lives.

People

People. There are so many people related celebration days this month that were highlighted by Father’s Day, telephone calls from (and to) family members and meeting new people.

3 Free eBooks - June 2014

It’s time again for the monthly post about eBooks that are freely available on the Internet. The three below are my favorites for June 2014.

Birds, Illustrated by color photography. Chicago: Nature Publishing Company. 1897. Fourteen volumes are available from Project Gutenberg here. The image of the kingfisher is from volume 1, no. 2.  I am slowly working my way through all the volumes. I’ve enjoyed the first 4 so far.

Cailliaud, Frederic. Voyage a Meroe. Paris: L’Imprimerie Royale. 1826. Two atlas volumes are available from the Internet Archive: volume 1 and volume 2. I just finished a Coursera course on The Art and Archeology…and was thrilled to find these books online. They have drawings of some things that have been degraded between 1826 and not - either through simple ravages of time or rising water from dams built on the Nile.

Versailles et les Trianons : vues photographiques. Versailles: Moreau. 1880. Available from the Internet Archive here. It’s been a draw for tourists for a long time….and people bought souvenirs in the 1880s like this book!

Gleanings of the Week Ending June 21, 2014

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.

Historic Agreement Aims to Restore, Protect Chesapeake Bay Watershed - Good news and close to my home! The bay is a long way from recovery --- but this is progress in the right direction. There is so much of what is special about Maryland that relies on the bay!

The Location of Every Tornado Touchdown in America, Graphed - Crunching the tornado stats (strength and latitude/longitude in the US) from 1950-2013….and show it on a map.

Infographic: Schooling around the World - A collection of factoids about education. Did you know that Mexico is the country with the highest public expenditure on education (as a percentage of total public expenditure)?

Liver dangers from herbal supplements, OTC and RX drugs, new guidelines warn - Too many people assume that herbal supplements and over the counter medications are either always good - or at least not bad - for them. Drug-induced Liver Injury (DILI) is pretty scary….and the incidence is increasing.

On The Road to Three National Park Jewels in the Pacific Northwest - This is probably the direction I’ll go for my next vacation…so I am noticing all the articles coming in by feeds about the area. If you headed near the Grand Canyon, here’s recent post about what do in 4 hours!

Local Foods: From Fad to Force and What It Means - Food doesn’t always have to be the least expensive….quality and taste are important too. I am enjoying the Community Supported Agriculture veggies grown less than a mile from my house tremendously!

Spain & Portugal Could Survive Just On Geothermal Energy - Another energy producing technology to explore…and develop in a way that won’t cause other problems (like earthquakes).

If Only Modern Infographs Were As Stunning As These 19th-Century Ones - John Philipps Emslie worked over 100 years ago and packed a lot of information into his illustrations. Few of today’s infographs are as densely packed with relevant data.

This Isn't a Utopian Vision -- It's Actually What London Is Like Today - Wow! London has a lot of green space. I wonder how other cities would compare.

Omega-3 inhibits blood vessel growth in age-related macular degeneration - All the more reason to make sure you get some Omega-3 fatty acids through your diet (or through supplements if you can get it from the food you eat).

Still Life

I’ve been looking at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s online collection….and decided to create some photographic Still Life images from around the house.  Maybe it’s the kind of project to do periodically to appreciate the everyday items….and think about adjustments to increase the visual appeal of ‘home.’

The chair I sit in to read by the window has a pleasant view….a small octagon table with reading paraphernalia (a coaster for hot or iced tea, paperclips, post-it notes) and the view of the purple leaved plum and the oak outside the window.

Don’t we all have some messes? At least this one is contained! There are probably some pieces that should be jettisoned.

Peacock feathers in a tall vase beside a picture…it is the view behind my computer screen right now (intentionally). The feathers are about 30 years old and from my grandmother’s peacocks.

And I couldn’t do a Still Life collection without including some food! The shallow blue tray/bowl is something I’ve always enjoyed….I bought it at a $1 store and now wish I would have bought one of each color they had! Notice the crease in the sweet potato.

CSA Week 2

My husband and I managed to eat everything from week 1 portion from the CSA except for 2 cups of frozen Romaine lettuce stock in the freezer - averting the disaster of the head of Romaine lettuce freezing in the overfull refrigerator. What did I find the best aspects of the week?

• Garlic scapes - Excellent chopped up to use for scrambled eggs.
• The smell - Somehow the smell of the fresh veggies reminded me of childhood summers when I visited by grandparents. Both sets had large gardens. It took me almost a week to recognize that aside from enjoying the wonderful flavors from the CSA produce (which I had anticipated) - it was the smell that was a pleasant surprise.
• Cilantro - It is probably my favorite fresh herb. I enjoyed all the CSA provided…and cut more from the pots on my deck (that was already beginning to flower…and planted some more seeds in pots whose seedlings did not survive the hail several weeks ago.

I also learned the lesson that I simply making a list of the veggies may not be quite good enough to identify everything. When I went to pick up the week 2 portion yesterday, I took my camera.  The list for the medium share was quite different from last week.

Dandelion greens were somewhat new to me.  The leaves were a lot bigger than the dandelions that normally grow in my yard!  I enjoyed them as an addition to tomato soup last night (along with some broccoli); I put a chopped scallion on top. So I am off to a good start enjoying the week 2 produce.

Salanova baby lettuce was also new to me; it was a small head of tender leaves….it will be gone quickly!

The challenge for me this week is going to be the beets. I can remember my grandmother growing them but I don’t remember every eating them myself!  The CSA does have an exchange table but I am intent on trying the ‘new to me’ veggies! I’ll report on my beet experiences next week. The do have a wonderful color.

The Therapy Bush

Back in 2012 - I wrote a post about the therapy bush. I still feel the same way about it:  the trimming job is an opportunity to do some thinking about just about everything. Here’s the report from the first 2014 trimming.

The bush had needed a trim for at least a month. Every time my husband backed out of the garage, the branches brushed the side of his car. Maybe I noticed them more from my vantage point in the passenger seat. We had been having a lot of rainy days and I learned to not trim the bush when the tiny flowers were open (too many insects) - one morning this week was my opportunity to spend some quality time with the bush.

I thought the morning would be a good time since the temperature was the lowest it would be for the day. I neglected that the bush gets morning sun. The sun felt like it was burning my exposed skin almost immediately but I was determined. Working fast became a goal.  Random thoughts percolated:

• There is always something more that needs to be done in the yard. I made a mental list.
• I liked that my daughter was trying to grow tomatoes on her patio --- wishing I could be around to see the positive results. She is on the other side of the country and I’m feeling the separation more these days.
• Moving is going to be wrenching when it happens. I like the big trees and the walls of green they make. They hide a lot of potential ugliness. I was thinking about what my perfect house would have but then decided that people I live with are more important than the house.
• The melding of tangent thoughts to the Coursera courses I am taking. It isn’t obvious that such diverse topics as Nubia, Global Health, Chronic Pain, and Exoplanets would have linkages but they somehow do. Ancient Nubia and Global Health are a lot about Africa. The image of obese royalty in ancient times is also another link between those two courses - and to Chronic Pain course as well. One of the connections between Chronic Pain and Exoplanets is the understanding of diverse skillsets needed to make progress in many fields.

It took about an hour to finish the job. I was hot and itchy by that time but snapped an ‘after’ image. I carried the trimmings - and some rotten parts of the bush that fell away as I was trimming - back to the edge of the forest. Going into the cool of the house afterwards felt very good!

The Grand Cleanout - June 2014

I have not made a lot of progress in my goal:

To be ‘move ready’ by June 2015

since my post at the end of May. We donated 6 boxes of books and tapes - which cleared out a corner of the dining room where they had accumulated. There are a couple of bags of clothes for the donation box and some old electronic equipment to take to Best Buy for recycling.

I’ve been thinking about how to proceed and mark my progress.

• Picking one room each month and focusing on cleaning it out completely of unneeded ‘stuff’ is one perspective.
• It is also clear that we have a huge number of ‘keep sake’ boxes; it was easier to just put anything we gleaned from outings or my daughter’s school years into a box until it was full…and then start anther box. The plan for these is to clear off the ping pong table and start sorting by year….and recycling papers that we really don’t need to keep.  I’ll plow through 2-4 boxes every month.
• There are a few milestone events to keep in mind. The neighborhood has a yard sale in September so that is the time to get rid of any furniture we no longer need. And donating any Christmas ‘stuff’ in October would be just in time for use in the 2014 holiday.

So - now I have a plan…..and am getting to work!

Zooming - June 2014

The best way to describe the vegetation right now in June is LUSH. It was hard to choose the images to clip for this month’s zooming post. Sometimes zoomed images are easy to identify.

I followed a bee around trying to get zoomed images in focus and the bee in an interesting position….then clipped out the part of the image with the bee!

Starting at the top left and moving around the collage clockwise - the center of a wild rose, a wood hydrangea flower and buds, and the flower of a cocoa tree (the last one was in the Brookside Gardens conservatory).

I could not resist giving the tiny sycamore leaf a space of its very own! By the end of summer this leave that is only half an inch wide now will be over a foot!

Starting on the left - the bloom of an elephant ear plant, a dahlia, and the back of a zucchini squash leaf.

Starting on the left - red butter lettuce, some tiny insects in a line on a squash blossom and the glowing squash blossom in morning light.

Brookside Gardens - June 2014

We parked at Brookside Nature Center after finding the lot at the Brookside Gardens Conservatory full. On the boardwalk between the Nature Center and the Gardens, I saw wood hydrangea (image 1 in the slide show below) in bloom and the immature fruit of both May apples (image 2) and Jack-in-the-Pulpits (image 3). Both were in bloom last time I was on that path. It was greener along the boardwalk with the spring wild flowers gone to seed and the ferns unfurled.

Our walk around Brookside Gardens was truncated by the construction projects that have been starting (and not completing) over the past year and a morning wedding….but even a limited walk around Brookside has appeal. I particularly enjoyed the ivy bed around the river birches (left image above - the tiny red speck in the lower right of the picture is a hibiscus!). The gardens often have tropical plants set outside once it is warm enough. This year there seems to be a lot of taro (right image above); my daughter had talked about taro recently when she was summarizing her geology/astronomy field trip to the Big Island.

Some of the beds had been planted with clumps of dahlias and other summer flowers. Peonies (image 5) were beginning to bloom. There was a vine hydrangea that was climbing a tree (image 6), leaves that have colors other than green (image 7 and 10), fragrant roses (image 8) and lots of buds (image 9). Enjoy the little bit of Brookside slideshow below!