250/365: zinnia
Zinnias are a beautiful but humble flower. Planted by haphazard handfuls of seed, they spring up cheerfully wherever they’re thrown. It’s never about choreography, just a riot of joyful color.
The spotlight changes everything.
Macro
afternoon delight
236/365: passion flower
Plants are sexy.
charmed, i’m sure
A surprise bloom from our new native plant garden (I thought we’d have to wait for next year). We have so many new and unfamiliar varieties in this garden – I just can’t wait to get to know them as they grow.
196/365: allium bloom & bud
unexpected guest
The new dark gray deck stain provided a perfect backdrop for my exotic visitor. This long-haired wonder hung out on the railing most of the day, giving me the perfect thing to shoot while the 2nd coat dried.
175/365: caterpillar
friends in low places
Pretty isn’t it? It’s Creeping Charlie.
Where I come from, this specimen is one of the most vile, despised weeds to ever sully a perfect green lawn. A closer look reveals the plant to be quite lovely. It’s also edible, a common salad green in many countries. Would it help to call it another name? Let’s try ground ivy…
‘Weeds are flowers too once you get to know them.’ – A.A. Milne
123/365: ground ivy (glechoma hederacea)
season’s greetings (spring)
I couldn’t capture the vernal equinox any better than this. The sun is calling. Life is pushing through. Happy spring!
78/365: sprout
head trip
I’m taking a tropical vacation later this week. The smell of freshly juiced pineapple is sure to transport me to a tropical island in my mind. I can almost hear the ocean waves…
5/365: pineapple
09.28.13 tropic of the 45th parallel
There are some flowers that seem too exotic to grow here in the midwest. Dahlias are on that list. True, they would never survive a winter here. That they grow here at all – gracing our northern eyes with rainforest levels of resplendence -seems remarkable. I gape at them like a true provincial in the face of such strange and wonderful beauty. Golly gee, but that’s a pretty flower.
271/365: purple & white dahlia
09.23.13 seeds of tomorrow
Seeds represent such a poignant moment in the continuum between life and death. The plant, investing the last of its energy in this latent progeny, releasing all of tomorrow’s hopes to the care of the wind.
266/365: thistle seeds
09.02.13 some spider!
As you might have guessed, I’ve never been afraid of spiders. I credit kind-hearted Charlotte with my affection for these fascinating creatures. The funnel web spider is particularly cool, building large nets across the ground that include a little tunnel – like a hunting blind – where the spider can hide in wait. (This one just emerged on top of the web for a look around.) In the morning dew, the webs are not only easy to find, but totally spectacular creations.
245/265: funnel web spider
avant garden 365 