Pink tickseed

I am enjoying a new coreopsis I just put in. Its called "Heaven's Gate". A great pink and magenta bicolor with a bit of gold in the center.

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Rose "First Kiss"

My little pink rose is blooming for a second time this year. Lots of blossoms arching over the walkway. Such a pretty rose.

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Golden sun sphere

My brother gave me this garden ornament for my birthday. Its a gold sphere surrounded by cast iron sun rays. It reflects the camera and photographer and the fading summer sunlight. It adds a glow of gold to the backyard.

Berries from Maine mountains

It is definitely berry season in the Maine woods. All colors, shapes and sizes. Clockwise from top left: blue bead lily (Clintonia borealis), red fruit of trillium grandiflorum, wild blackberries, cluster of white berries, red viburnam (?) berries, Indian Cucumber Root (Medeola virginiana), sumac fruit (?), and Canada mayflower berries (Maianthemum canadense).

Maine wildflowers

I took these photos last week in the White Mountains of western Maine. The weather was cool - low 50's at night - and the last few late summer wildflowers were blooming. Leaves here and there showed hints of fall color. An incredibly beautiful area.

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Maine vacation

Skippy has been vacationing in the Maine woods the past week. A little hiking, a little swimming, a little kayaking. Some grilled chicken. Lots of attention. Not bad. Skippy didn't have any complaints. His owners had a lot of fun too.

New gnomes

For my birthday I got 3 little garden gnomes. I think they are very cute and cheery. Especially the way they hide in the leaves until you are close and notice them there. They are pensive, serious guys. Seemingly working hard. But they do add nice color during this period when there is not alot blooming in the shady areas. Definitely for the whimsy category.


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Late summer wildflowers

The goldenrod (Solidago virgaurea) I recognise, but the other two I don't. I'll try to identify them soon (help is appreciated!).

I just read that the yellow of goldenrod in the field is a sure sign that the first frosts of winter are not long away. Sigh. I'm sad to leave summer behind. Our weather is still warm, but I do notice that the sunlight gets a little shorter everyday.

Added August 27: Thanks for the help in identifying evening primrose (Oenothera lamarckiana)(upper right), a native American wildflower with lemon yellow flowers that open in late afternoon and fade before morning. Usually on a sunny day they are faded when I walk by (as most are in the photo). Today was a rainy dark day and I noticed the blooms were open and beautiful! The spikes are 5-6 feet tall and make a lovely golden meadow mixed with goldenrod and rudbeckia.

Horsenettle: tomato family

I came across this plant that I'm unfamiliar with. It is growing wild - a big clump of it in a shady area where Skippy and I walked today. The flowers are quite tomato-like, but bright white. It started blooming about a week ago. Leaves have thorns. Does anyone know what this is?
I found it - its horsenettle (Solanum carolinense fo. albiflorum), a native perennial wildflower in the tomato family that is toxic as well as having nasty thorns. It makes little yellow-orange tomato-like berries that are very poisonous. I will watch for these.

My front yard

My front yard has some big shrubbery (rhodo-drendrons, yews and euonymus) with low plants (alot of alchemilla and violets, also zinnias, rudbeckia and echinacia). I usually let the violets and alchemilla fill in (they are very happy to fill every space if left alone a month or two) and I just pull them out wherever I want to put in flowers or where I see them crowding perennials. In the spring I put in alot of red tulips and in the fall several deep red mums. Its this in between time that I'd like to think of something new. Maybe alot of 1-2 foot tall sunflowers! I think I'll look for a good variety and try raising some from seed.

Sunflower House

One of my favorite frontyards. I'm considering doing something similar with my yard. It must be very cheery to come home through this planting of sunflowers every day.

Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare)

Tansy is a lovely old-fashioned garden herb (also described as a noxious invasive). With yellow button-like flowers and bright green lacey leaves, it has a strong aroma and in the past was used as a flavoring in all sorts of things from omelets to bourbon (though in large quantities it is toxic). Its a natural insect repellent and was often planted next to kitchen doors to keep ants out. Common tansy has been found to repel beetles - interplanting with common tansy reduced Colorado potato beetle populations on potato plants by 60-100 percent. The Tansy was brought to the US from Europe by early colonists. Because of its popular uses, the governor of Massachusetts listed it as a necessary plant for colonial herb gardens in the 1600s. This led to widespread cultivation of common tansy and the inevitable escape of the plants into fields and roadsides. I must have 100 photographs of this beautiful group of tansy and goldenrod by now. Skip and I pass by on our walks and the buttons glow in the sunlight.

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Birds bathing

A bit blurry. My camera is not the best for zooming in on birds. There are a couple of young sparrows and robins hidden among the rocks here. Sometimes I'll look out the window and see 20 birds playing in the waterfall. I took this picture through the kitchen window.

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Yet another backyard picture

I see that box of flowers is still sitting there. I better get them planted tomorrow. I could do it now - but its kind of dark out there.... The pond has been very busy with the new baby birds - just sparrows and robins, but they do alot of bathing. The two Koi are getting enormous. That big holly tp the right of the pond (Blue Prince and Blue Princess) could use a trim. But I don't have that job on the urgent list yet. Urgent is those plants in the box!

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Looking down on dendrobium and coleus

Here's the same group of plants from a different perspective and with the midday light. This is how they look from my kitchen window. I love all the shades of green.

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Dendrobium and coleus

The orchid is dendrobium Ise x Sachi. Coleus are beneath it and my herb garden and pond behind. I took this picture early this morning. Well, about 9 am - that's early for me.

Partridge pea

I've never seen this wildflower before. Partridge pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata). Skippy and I came across a big patch of it. Flowers and foliage are very delicate. It’s in the pea family (Fabaceae) and is native to the eastern U.S. I read that it is a major source of food for quail and the northern bobwhite. I wonder what part of it they eat? Wait - I bet it makes peas. I'll have to watch for them.

Skip at the pond II

Its not easy to photograph a black dog. Skippy is sooo black that on a sunny day pictures of him look like a silhouette. So sometimes I adjust the photos a little so Skippy looks better. Well, this set of pictures got adjusted a lot. I increased the exposure, then increased the contrast and sometimes decreased the midtones, then I raised the color saturation up to max. It gives the scene a more colorful look.

Skip at the pond

Skip is developing into a real good water dog. Loves swimming! And if there's a stick or a ball in the water, he just HAS to go get it. The other day, there was a dog playing on the other side of the pond, so he just swam across, played a bit, then swam back. What fun.

Fresh Pond

Flowers in a box

Last time I went into True-Value Hardware to buy a few plants and some bean seeds, I came across this great wooden bulb shipping box. The store owner said I could have it! I really love a nice box to put plants in. I don't know if I'll take the plants out to plant them. In it are 2 Hidcote Blue English lavender, 2 white zinnias and a maroon and white pink.

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August on the patio

It must be August. The hydrangea tree has opened its enormous blossoms over our dinner table. And the weather has been perfect for outdoor eating. Skippy enjoys the outdoor dining experience, probably because more food tends to fall off the table out here.

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Orchid collection

Some of my orchids bloom every year. The rest never bloom, but I keep trying (they probably need more sun). This year, some of the ones I thought were dead have new sprouts. I have mostly dendrobiums from K-Mart. Also some nice cattleyas, a sophrolaeliocattleya and a big new cybidium. During the summer, they go outside under the sprinklers. And I fertilize them when they're outside. The big white dendrobium is blooming now. The phalaenopsis is still blooming (since June!).

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Evening sky

The sky was very pretty last night while Skippy and I were out walking. We walked late since it was SUCH a hot day (99 degrees here!). Enormous thunderstorms passed us by to the south and behind them were beautiful clouds with the last light of the sun.

Joe Pye Weed

This is another wildflower I hope to plant in my garden someday. Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium fistulosum) is a North American native perennial herb in the aster family. It blooms in August and September and is in bud now in the fields nearby. It does grow rather tall - up to 12 feet. The plant has been attributed with all sorts of medicinal qualities. Its named after an American Indian named Joe Pye, who was said to have cured typhus with it.

Callahan State Park