Well, PhotoHunter has sure opened my eyes to a new side of the blogosphere. While surfing around looking at the great photos posted this week, I happened across Rambling Woods. The blogger there has begun a new meme called Nature Notes.
The challenge this week is stated there: ”I am going to challenge myself and hopefully you to take a look at nature. What is going on in your area? Is it spring in your part of the world or are you heading into cold weather. Take a little walk….. look at something you might never had paid attention to..a flower…a plant..an animal…What changes are taking place?..Is your garden starting to come to life again?..Step outside and close your eyes. What do you hear? …take a deep breath…What do you smell?”
Well, I have spent almost the entire morning engaged in that exact activity. So here is my contribution to “Nature Notes.”
It was grey and cold and damp this morning when I woke up. The cloud cover was so heavy it almost felt like the sun never actually got all the way up. After breakfast, the rain the weatherman has promised us all week arrived and it began to pour. The Rain Garden filled up most of the way, and I opened the window in the back bedroom, removed the screen and took some pictures of the area while the rain continued to fall.
Notice how the creeping jenny in between the flagstones at the top of the photo has greened up. It is convinced that spring is here, and even if the snow the weather people think is going to fall tonight actually manifests, it won’t substantially slow this plant down.
Later on, during a break in the rain, I went out to the vegetable garden to strew dried leaves from last fall over my baby lettuces, mesclun and beets. The hope is that this coverlet will protect them from the predicted freeze tonight. I don’t have the means to protect the plum trees and their infant fruits, they will just have to fend for themselves. Hopefully, the weatherman will be wrong and the temperature won’t drop below freezing. (Fingers, eyes, and toes crossed)
I proceeded to walk around the place, and observed that you could not really walk the labyrinth today, it would be more likely to be a success if you realized you were going to wade it.
Since I had my wellies on, I waded through and found this absolutely magical image at the rock with the Tiny Tarn. It is reflecting the elms on the edge of the property.
As if that wasn’t enough, all unawares I tilted up one of the daffodil faces to get a full on view of the blossom and, holding an awkward position, shot a macro view straight into the petals. It was not until I got inside and downloaded the images on the computer that I discovered I had captured this tiny moth, hiding deep in the blossom, trying to stay warm and dry.
I proceeded around to the front of the house and peeked over the fence there at the Stroll Garden.
You can see here that the water in the Rain Garden has already drained away, unlike the labyrinth. Soon it will be time to start mowing the lawn again, but we can put it off for a few days still.
Right near that gate is a redbud, and it is in full bloom right now. I became captivated by the rain drops hanging off the blossoms, and took many shots of them. This is by far the best one. If you look closely at the drops, you can see the refracted image of the house and gardens upside down in the drops.
Then it started raining again, so I went back inside with a little jonquilla daffodil I picked out of the Rose Garden that I wanted to make a portrait of. This is one of the many bulbs I bought from McClure and Zimmerman last fall. Its varietal name is Kedron.
The Citrine Dragon consented to sit for his portrait after I spent a lot of time trying to get a perfect image of the little jonquil. Sometimes you just get lucky when the energy of the magical being suddenly shows up in a static medium like photography.
Now, don’t forget to go visit the other people who are out enjoying their environment and trying to document the changes that are occurring in this most wonderful and changeable season.
I wasn’t able to see all of your shots due to my slow dial up but I can tell that you have an amazing yard full of fun things to discover. You really took this meme seriously, didn’t you?
I did see the shot of the redbud fully and it’s beautiful with the one drop on it. Good eye to be able to catch it. Thanks for the identification on my sedum, I do believe you’re right. It grows like a weed around here but it does fill in nicely where needed. I hope I can see more of your shots at another time.
What a magical gardent you have. A labyrinth and a rain garden? How wonderful.
I really enjoyed the tour of the gardens with you. Thanks for sharing, and for stopping by at mine.
Vicki
Your garden is breathtaking! My little (and I DO MEAN little) yard suffered the summer before last, when fences were being replaced and siding being done. The Maintenance Committee (we live in a co-op) came around and asked me where the various plants were that needed protecting, which could be moved, and whatnot in order to protect my many plants.
My niece’s boyfriend came over to move the plants I wanted and I left him clear instructions. A nosy neighbour who took it upon himself, as member of the Landscaping Committee to “order” my nieces boyfriend to “dig everything up…” “it all had to go”.
I came home and found my entire garden dug up and thrown in heaps. I was heart-broken. I was so angry I know if I had gone over and given him He-double-hockey sticks, I likely would have killed him.
I put what I could back in place and hoped for the best.
Last Spring, I was happy to see that, despite his best efforts, most plants had survived, though they were scattered all over the yard. However, after falling and spraining my back in the Spring and being unable to do much in the yard and then falling and breaking my hands in the fall, I had to leave the garden to fend for itself. This year, I plan to get it all in order as soon as I can.
I can’t wait for the wild strawberries… The yard has masses of them. I picked two buckets of them and thought I got them all and mowed…. The yard looked like an explosion in a jam factory! I expect more of the same this year.
What a great post! Here in Florida,we know the fear a freeze can bring to a garden.Hope all is well with your’s tomorrow.
i loved seeing your garden in the whole and especially your macros. raindrop photos are fun and the reflection of the elm tree…wow…
so nice to be introduced to your part of the world…i sure know i would enjoy spending time there (i’ve never walked a labyrinth)
It is SO wet where you are. Love all your photos with drip, drip, drip. Nice to show the contrast of the garden shots with the closeups of the flowers.
What a wonderful post! Thanks for taking us on a stroll with you – even if it was rather wet.
Love your photos!
I like your blog – very nice.
Thanks for coming by mine today – after all, that’s how I found you.
magnificent photos as usual HMH. And your writing and grammar are impeccable for a woman who’s typing with crossed fingers and eyes
So many gorgeous images. For me the last one has the biggest wow-factor. I love your citrine dragon, and I know how hard it is to take that kind of photo!
You seem to get more water than we do and we do get a lot. Great selection of photos in a lovely garden.
u made yr tour of yr yard so real to us
some very beautiful shots here
I absolutely love your garden. What wonderful shots you took. We’re having similar weather with photos being shot quickly in between the showers.
Given that we’re experiencing the kind of hot, dry, sunny weather here that we expect for the middle of the Summer even though its now supposed to be Autumn, it was wonderfully refreshing to see your lovely garden and all that water!
Glad to see that those narcissus bulbs are working out so well.
Delightful post! What an interesting garden you have. I have gone mostly to containers for almost everything since the deer find my garden more inviting than the native flora available to them.
I live out in the woods, at the end of a dirt road. Right now the snow is still pretty deep in some areas, and the other pathways are really muddy (we call this ‘mud season,’ between winter and spring), but I can’t wait to go walking out through the woods with my two boys, ages 6 (or will be 6 in four days) and 3. In spring the weeds and plants haven’t grown, so we can really explore the land. We only own two acres, but the people who own most of the land around don’t mind us exploring. I’m going to take your challenge. I’m going to go out into the woods despite the snow, wear mud boots (we got new mud boots for the boys) and really look at the nature here. I’ll take some pictures and sometime soon do a blog entry on my own blog about it. To be sure, the pictures won’t be as beautiful as yours (nothing’s even green here except the pine trees), but there is something magical about this time just before the spring awakening.