I prefer zinnias before they are at full bloom, like in this opening bud. I planted these zinnias from seed (I started them in little containers outside my kitchen door in late spring). I got the seeds for free at the Highland Park Street Fair.
Here they are in my garden, along with orange marigolds and white mums.
Today’s Flowers is hosted by Luiz Santilli Jr. Thank you, Luiz, for featuring flower followers who share photos in a fun fashion.
Wednesday morning I did this little watercolor of an arava leaf (you might recognize it as a willow leaf, its name in English). It is one of the many natural symbols in the upcoming holiday of Sukkot, which starts on Monday night, Oct. 13. I actually was only looking at one leaf, which I painted a few times on the same piece of watercolor paper. My son planted a little willow branch in the backyard this year, and I was afraid if I took off more than one leaf off the little “tree”, there wouldn’t be much tree left. My other son agreed that I should put some compost around the edges of the little plant. It certainly has been getting enough water, as we’ve had rain on and off lately. Maybe I’ll photograph our little willow for another post.
Because my white mums are growing right next to a tomato plant (I didn’t plant the tomato plant there; it grew in my flower garden, and I just let it be), I decided to call this post “Summer meets Fall”, with the tomato symbolizing summer the mums symbolizing fall.
A close-up of the same tomato
Here’s a red dianthus, which I bought in the middle of August when it was on sale and I wanted something red in my garden. Wouldn’t it be nice if it survives the New Jersey winter? It was considered an annual, but one never knows.
To participate in Ruby Tuesday, post a photo (or more) with a little red or a LOT of red. Then visit Mary the Teach at http://workofthepoet.blogspot.com/ to submit your link.
I took some photos of my oak leaf hydrangea on Friday.
I bought this plant several years ago. At the time I really had in mind the type of hydrangea that has the blue or pink clusters of flowers. But the plant nursery did not have any of those, and the man recommended this one. The truth is, I find the flowers, which show up in the spring, not as exciting as the ones on the other types of hydrangea. The real beauty of this plant is the leaves. And now with autumn they are exhibiting lovely shades of red.
Rudbeckia, marigolds, one white petunia and one pink zinnia from the garden in my front yard
Thursday Challenge: The theme for this week is PLANTS (Garden, Vegetables, Fruit, Flowers, Trees,…).
My chrysanthemum (or “mum” for short) showed its first bloom last week.
Today’s Flowers is hosted by Luiz Santilli Jr. Thank you, Luiz, for this fun photography meme.
We are fortunate in our wonderful crop of raspberries that grow in our backyard. The bottom photo shows a bowl of these delightful berries that my husband picked. Truth is, these berries rarely make it into our kitchen, as we love to eat them in our backyard, right off the branch. No need for recipes. We get crop #1 in early July on old canes and #2 in late August on the new, green canes. One trick for maintaining these berry bushes is be sure to prune the old canes.
To participate in Ruby Tuesday, post a photo (or more) with a little red or a LOT of red. Then visit Mary the Teach at http://workofthepoet.blogspot.com/ to submit your link.
Portulaca or moss rose, which I grow in front of my house bordering the sidewalk, is one of my favorite flowers. I love watching the little buds grow. I love looking at the flowers in the middle of the day to see which one is in full bloom. They don’t need a lot of care, just weeding around them and sunlight.
Today’s Flowers is hosted by Luiz Santilli Jr. Thank you, Luiz!
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We went canoeing on the Delaware River between New York State and Pennsylvania. Most of us had fun. My daughter did not. She wanted the gentle course we chose last summer, the one my boys, who are ages 11 and 13, thought boring.
Can you see the tiny red canoe in the distance? Halfway my eldest son and I switched, so he did not have to yell at me to stop taking pictures. It is not easy nor advisable to be the one steering a canoe and taking photos at the same time. On the second half, I sat in the front, my husband in the back, my six-year-old daughter in the middle. Every time we crossed some rapids, she would shriek: “Oar! You have to oar!” I did try to tell her the proper word is paddle, but that didn’t interest her much.
Finally, at some point she refused to do the section of rapids ahead of us. So daughter and I hiked the side while husband did the short stretch of rapids. He waited for us on the bottom. I used this as an opportunity to photograph:
I apologize for including the above photo with no red on a Ruby Tuesday post. I’m sure you will forgive me. If I squint at the stems, I can see slivers of red. Can you?
Yesterday in my haste I mistakenly deleted a favorite red leaf photo from the camera. Has this happened to you? Do you then walk around with a pang in your heart for a day? (quick, someone send me to the nearest photoblogger’s anonymous meeting). This one with its signs of approaching autumn will have to do:
We passed under a bridge with a red dotted sign:
And I didn’t notice what this sign said until we were right on top of the diver, I just saw red:
To participate in Ruby Tuesday, post a photo (or more) with a little red or a LOT of red. Then visit Mary the Teach at http://workofthepoet.blogspot.com/ to submit your link.
I hate shopping for school supplies. I hate picking out all the notebooks. I hate it, I do, I do.
For the past few years, I’ve taken my sons. They hate it, too. This year, I left my eldest home, and my middle son was traveling on a bus home from camp (he’s now back), so I took my daughter. She didn’t seem to mind it that much, though when I asked if she wanted to look at skirts, she clearly just wanted to get out of the store.
Since we were close to my favorite plant nursery, Livingston Park Nursery on How Lane near Livingston Avenue in North Brunswick, we rewarded ourselves by going plant shopping. And taking photographs.
One of the reasons my daughter is happy is I bought her that purple costume she is wearing, a belated birthday present. Among my plant purchases were two of those little evergreen bushes behind her. Hopefully, we’ll have something green in our backyard in the dead of winter.
This is how the nursery looks:
I could have held unto this one until next Tuesday, so I could post it for Ruby Tuesday, a fun photography meme in which you post a photo that has red, but I like it too much to wait:
Finally, one good purpose for going to nurseries is that you find out the names of the plants that you already own. I don’t think I will forget Andromeda now:
On the other hand, I’ve already forgotten the name of the tall purple perennial I planted in my backyard. Is it loosestrife? lobelia? salvia? penstemmon? If it lives through September, I’ll take a photo of it and post it with a “please identify”.
How do you deal with school-supply season?
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