Intimate Landscapes – November 2015

This is the second month for my Intimate Landscapes series (after reading Eliot Porter’s Intimate Landscapes book (available online here)) featuring images from the month that are: smaller scale but not macro, multiple species, and artsy.

A dance of colorful leaves on green grass. Tulip poplar and maple leaf shapes are easily spotted.

Sturdy fronds of a fern among, mostly brown, leaves. Maple and tulip poplar leaves again…maybe some beach and oak too.

The zinnias died back at the first of the mornings in the 30s but the sunflower continues to be green…and blooming among the dried stalks of everything else.

The onion seed pods had lost most of their seeds – rattled way by the wind. The trunk of the sycamore and its huge leaves provide no shelter for the wind.

Cut Flowers Photography

The flowers from our garden look a bit battered with the wind, rain and cooler temperatures of the past few weeks – but I cut two for some experimental photography. It was a quick project on a sunny afternoon.

I like the bright yellow and the bit of green in the corner of the sunflower image. The texture of the petals appealed to me.

The flower from the back was interesting too….and I liked the overall shape of the flower, leaves and stem enough to include the shadow.

The zinnia and its shadow made an ordinary flower something different.

The leaves of the zinnia have a bit of color in their connection with the stem….and the veins stand out too.

I had the sunflower I got from the CSA during the summer that has dried to look at as well. The petals are shriveled but retain their color. The curves and hairiness of the dried back of the flower seemed even more intriguing.

Deck Garden – September 2015

The deck garden going to seed! I’ll have to collect the seeds for next year’s deck garden as the pods dry completely.  The Black Eyed Susans are all seed pods at this point. The zinnias still have some blossoms but about half have formed seed pods. I experimented with a drape from my camera lens (made of a white plastic shopping bag) to photograph this zinnia flower on a bright sunny day.

The basil is going to seed too but it is more difficult to pinpoint went the flower ends and the pod begins. I liked the color of the pod and leaves in this one.

The sunflowers have not done very well in my deck garden and it may be that they like deeper soil. They took a long time to create buds and the blooms were not large. They often look better from the back than the front.

The leaves of the purple peas have a lot of the color of the peas in their leaves along with the green.

The leaves of the sunflowers are just green but pattern of veins. Both of the leaf images were the underside of the leaves.

Zooming – September 2015

The zoomed images included in these collages reflect my travels in late August and early September…and I’ve uploaded them in a way that you can see an enlarged version by clicking on the image.

Can you find zoomed images of

• Sunflowers (hint: they are not open all the way)
• Queen Anne’s lace (hint: from underneath)
• Maple leaves (hint: already changing color)
• Jewel weed (hint: it’s yellow rather than orange)
• Thistle pod
• Morning glory
• Zinnias (hint: one red, one pink…the hummingbirds checked them out frequently as they prepared for their migration from Maryland)
• Chipmunk
• Crow (really it was a boat tail grackle but the tail does not show in the picture!)
• Onion flowers

Enjoy!

 

 

 

The zoomed images included in these collages reflect my travels in late August and early September…and I’ve uploaded them in a way that you can see an enlarged version by clicking on the image.

Can you find zoomed images of

·         Sunflowers (hint: they are not open all the way)

·         Queen Anne’s lace (hint: from underneath)

·         Maple leaves (hint: already changing color)

·         Jewel weed (hint: it’s yellow rather than orange)

·         Thistle pod

·         Morning glory

·         Zinnias (hint: one red, one pink…the hummingbirds checked them out frequently as they prepared for their migration from Maryland)

·         Chipmunk

·         Crow (really it was a boat tail grackle but the tail does not show in the picture!)

·         Onion flowers

Enjoy!

Deck Garden - August 2015

The deck garden has not gotten much attention this year so some of the pots have a few weeds…but I am still enjoying it both from the kitchen window and outdoors.

The sunflower seeds my sister gave me for Christmas have taken longer to develop than sunflowers elsewhere - maybe because the deck only gets sun for half the day….or maybe sunflowers need deeper soil than the pots provide.

The zinnias were started from seeds I had from previous years and some my sister gave me. The hummingbird stops buy periodically to feed at the flowers. I only had pink ones in previous years

So the red ones must be from my sister's seeds.

The gold finches love the developing seeds of the zinnias this time of year…and on into the fall as long as they last.

The poinsettia from last Christmas is a small bush at this point. I’m not sure what I will do with it. I may attempt putting it in a dark room to see if I can get some red foliage for this Christmas. It is more tolerant of getting a little dry than I thought it would be.

Last but not least - the purple pea vine is climbing all over the peacock pot sculpture. It has worked out well to have basil growing in the same pot; I like harvesting basil for a salad or cooking just before I need it. I’m likely to plant this combination again next year.

Through the Kitchen Window

We have a goldfinch that frequents our deck - getting a drink at the bird bath and

Enjoying the Black Eyed Susan and Zinnia seeds forming on the plants growing in pots. I have enjoyed watching the bird - at least I think it is the same one - for the past few days. Rather than going outside to photography him I’ve been attempting to capture his activity through the kitchen window.

The seeds must be very tasty!

Deck Garden - June 2015

Mid - June - and the garden is mostly green. The only plant that is blooming so far is one of the purple pea vines. It is climbing on the peacock pot sticker that the gold finches like to perch on.

There are buds on some of the other plants. By July there should be more color.

I am enjoying the greens at the moment.

Some purple basil came up in the pot that I planted some seeds from a packet that was over 5 years old. More of the seeds were viable than I anticipated! I’ve been pulling seedlings to use in salads so that there will be a mix of green and purple basil leaves in plants that have enough room to grow.

The mint in the turtle sandbox is root bound and can’t seem to grow any more around the edge. I’ll give it a through trim at some point then churn up the sandy soil and start over. There is a very thick mat of stems entwined over the surface so I’ll start the churn with long handled pruners!

I’ve already harvested some of the red potatoes (posted about it here) but there are several more plants from those same sprouted potatoes. My plan is to harvest when any of the potatoes peek above the soil. The pots are probably not large enough to get an outstanding crop….but maybe over the course of the summer they will all yield a serving!  The lighter green leaves of the celery that sprouted in the kitchen window sill is a nice contrast to the the darker greens of other plants.

I was trying to use old seed so I probably have cucumbers in some of the pots too. There were a few seeds left from last year and the cucumbers did well as ‘spillers’ in many of the pots. Thrillers will be whatever is not green. I am anticipating zinnias and sunflowers but there could be some other flowers too from seeds in the soil from last year. July will tell! RIght now i am enjoying the delicate red in the stems of last December's poinsetta!