Garden and Nature

Surprise!  I have some flower photos today.  You like flowers, don't you?  I was looking through some pics and found a few I'd never shared, so let's just step back into the warmer months for a few moments.

The first is Foxglove and Lace Cap Hydrangea.  All the Foxgloves currently in my garden were transplanted from the wild, and they've cross pollinated between deep pink and white to produce some lovely, delicate shades.

The pretty pink Columbine pictured below came from the self-sown seeds of a blue hybrid.

Nature does a fine job on her own with no help from me.  The next few photos were taken on a June day in our local Great Outdoors.  First we have fluffy grass seed heads and a lone dandelion.

Blackberry blooms next.  Love those polka dot leaves.

Wild Sweet Peas:

My Sweet Pea in the Sweet Peas (LuLu):

I need to get out there and look for the beauty in our current season.  I've been preoccupied with holiday card making and a few other things.  It's time to breathe in, breathe out.  Have a beautiful day!

Right at Home

Hello there!  I have a few photos from home today.  We haven't gone on any big adventures since September, but I'm enjoying myself just staying close by.  It's garden clean up time, so when the weather permits I cut back a little more and a little more.  The hydrangeas didn't bloom well this year, and the few I did get came late in the season, but, as always, fall has turned them into a kaleidoscope.

This first one looks like someone splashed paint all over it.

Another bloom from the same bush, drained of color, but interesting.

From another bush we have a pretty blue...

... and at the same time, same bush we have purple:

The next photo shows the one and only bloom on the bush outside my kitchen door.  Sadly, I believe that bush needs to be removed, but you really have to appreciate its last valiant effort.

Geraniums make good cut flowers, especially when you put them in the refrigerator or on the back porch overnight.  These are the last of my orange blooms.  I cut it back and it's trying to make more, but I'm hoping it will rest before next spring.

Speaking of right at home...

This doe is a little too relaxed at the edge of the garden.  She's beautiful and I bear her no ill will, but I'd like her to move off and let Wally and LuLu have their yard back.  No such luck... she returned later with her whole family.

That's all this week from the Miller residence.  Wishing you a beautiful day!

Into the Woods

While we're all enjoying the turning leaves of the beautiful fall season, the color in this pine forest is timeless.  The ground turns from snowy white in the winter to lush green in spring to golden brown in late summer and fall, but the rusty red of the tree bark remains the same.  Location:  Ochoco National Forest in central Oregon.

Next photo below... Is that not the most interesting bark with pretty texture and color?  Gee, I just realized it reminds me of a chocolate crackle cookie...

Next...

Wait, what??  The picture above is a Cottonwood in the South Fork RV Park in Dayville, Oregon.  No tree was harmed in the making of this smile.  Sometimes Nature and Mankind get along beautifully.

Take care, and have a happy day!