3 Free eBooks – June 2017

Two of my three picks for June are from Princeton online sources – which were new to me:

Gordon, R.K. and Thoreau MacDonald. A Canadian Child’s ABC. Toronto & Vancouver: Dent. 1931. Available from alphabet books for English 385 Spring 2016 here. I liked the art work. Some of the images might be dated…but some still seem representative of Canada.

Ando, Hiroshige. Gojūsantsugi. Edo: Muraichi, 1852. Available from the Princeton University Digital Library here. The book was owned by Albert Einstein and includes an ink wash caricature of him on the endpapers drawn by Okamoto Ippell in 1922.

Loddiges, Conrad, & Sons with plates by George Cooke. The Botanical Cabinet. London: John & Arthur Arch. 1818-1833. Twenty volumes from Hathi Trust here. I can’t resist botanical prints and these volumes have lots of them. Nearing the end of June, I still have half of them to enjoy in July! I like the magnolia blooms that are beginning to brown and evidently the engraver of this volume did as well.

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in June 2017 – Magnolias

My last blog post about our visit to Kenilworth Gardens last week is about magnolia flowers – specifically flowers from the Southern Magnolia growing near the path back to the parking lot from the demonstration gardens. I enjoy photographing this tree because it has so many flowers that are easily viewed from ground level. I like to photograph flowers in various stages of development.

Sometimes even when the flower is brown – the curves are dramatic. This one is almost symmetrical and is probably my favorite of this grouping.

 Sometimes the center is just peeking through the white petals. Sometimes the spent parts of the flower accumulate in the curved petals. It’s surprising how read the base of ovary looks in the flowers.

The seed pod that is forming can do the same thing although the petals are mostly gone (the hood is a petal) and the leaves are the veil for the pod.

Previous posts about this visit: insects, water lilies, birds, lotus and turtles.

Volunteering at Wings of Fancy at Brookside Gardens I

My first experience volunteering at Brookside Gardens’ Wings of Fancy was earlier this week. It was a ‘trial by heat’ since it was a shift on a hot afternoon for 3+ hours. Before I left home, I collected things to take that would help be stay cool in the conservatory: water bottles with ice in the bottom, a mister, a hat, and a handkerchief. I took some peanuts for a snack. Everything went in a small bag with a penguin (a little psychology…thinking cool).

When I got there, I found a shady place to park (although it would not be shady there by the end of the shift) and took a short walk through the formal gardens. It was noticeably cooler in the shade…very hot in the sun and I was glad I had put sunscreen on before I left the car. I took some pictures quickly as I walked: a magnolia flower,

A pattern made of detritus on a pool of water,

The purple poppies past blooming,

An onion tangle,

A bit of blue in lots of green (and a shady place to stand),

And climbing roses.

Then the water came on. It brightened the colors of the rocks

And the plants in the rain garden area near the conservatory.

The butterfly sculptures marked the entrance to the exhibit.

I went in the staff/volunteer door, got my purple apron and other gear, and put my stuff in a locker. The shift started with a walk through of the stations and unique aspects of the day: slow because of the heat, a group had been due earlier but not arrived, etc. I started at the exit station and migrated to the discovery and caterpillar station (cecropia moth and Julia longwing). It was a slow afternoon with only about 15 people coming through the exhibit over 3 hours. There were times that there were no people at all in the exhibit….those times I wished we didn’t have a rule again cell phones and cameras while volunteering!

It was a good first experience although the next shifts I’ve signed up for are all in the morning. I now know that the two bottles with water frozen in the bottom (and can handlers to help them stay cool) which I fill at the water fountain just before going into the exhibit, will provide cool water for the entire shift and that the mister helps me handle the heat (misting around my neck and arms helps a lot). I also wet the handkerchief to cool ‘hot spots’ that I didn’t want to spray (like my face).

National Arboretum – Deciduous Magnolias

The deciduous magnolias at the National Arboretum suffered the same fate as many of the early blooming trees in the area: many of the flowers and buds were caught by the frosts of March and just turned brown. There are a few on every tree that survived. I tried to photograph some of those isolated flowers. I liked the pink tinge underneath the outer petals of this flower and

The center of this one framed by uncurling petals.

Looking up into one tree – to get some sky along with some flowers – shows the extent of the damage. Most of the flowers did not survive the frost.

Brookside Gardens in March – Part II

When I went to check the skunk cabbage last week at Brookside Gardens, a disgruntled titmouse gave me the eye. That was the only bird I managed to photograph as I walked around the gardens.

The growth that I had noticed between two rocks by the stream last month is now blooming – narcissus.

There were also small flags

And crocus in bloom.

March had been off to a warm start but we had some cold days just before I went to Brookside so I was pleased to find some trees that looked undamaged by the cold.

The camellia was a pleasant surprise…and fortified me for what came next.

A magnolia was evidently in full bloom when the weather turned cold. Now all flowers are brown. There could be a few buds that may still open. I’ll check next time I go. It's a very large tree that usually is full of large pick flowers....maybe not this year.

It was warm enough that there were a few insects out and about. Do you see the insect in this picture? (Hint: a little left and down from center.)