Morning Light

The early morning sunlight was particularly appealing walking through the labyrinth.  As much a reflection from the water as from the sky, the light sparkled on the thin layer of dew that burnished the foliage.

Walking with my camera in my leather slippers, which slowly soaked through, I felt like I was in a magical place.  Hopefully these pictures will show a bit of the mystery permeating everything.

The dwarf smoke bush, visible in the middle of the photo above, still had sparkling drops of dew among the soft, fine flowering clusters.  I could get poetic about it, but I will let the picture tell its own story.

I have submitted both of the to the garden photo contest sponsored by Horticulture.  I wonder what they will think?

June 15, 2013

So, although taken a few days later, these photos show how the labyrinth looked on June 15th, the day of the wedding.  I want to remember it, partly because I worked so hard to make it look as good as possible when family arrived.  

This is the outer edge that faces the house, and currently has the most color, with the Echinacea opening their petals out.  The lambs ears flowers on the tall stems are still bright, but will soon turn brown.  The Allium 'Millennium' just to the left of them are ready to open, but not yet.  This mixture of colors and textures is delightful. 

Looking out from the inside, there is even more color, with the intense blue of the sage, and the dark purple of the Penstemon echoing the grass flowers. 

Then there is the Aristolochia fimbriata. the White Veined Dutchman’s Pipe, which grows under the standard cedar.  This is the first time since planting it in 2011 when the flower has been held up off the ground.  I bought this from Plant Delights Nursery, and the first year it was quite large, then died.  However, it produced lots of seeds, which are scattered throughout the area, and several small plants have come up this year.  I don't know why they are staying small, but maybe the conditions will be right this year?  There certainly has been enough rain to keep the basement seeping water!

Amaryllis, Purple Milkweed and Mockingbirds

While they are not typical bedding plants for an outdoor garden, these Amaryllis certainly do provide a bold display near the center of the Labyrinth.  I cannot claim a grand plan.  It was slow and steady procrastination.  I knew all of the bulbs should have flowers, and had planned on putting them into pots, and forcing them.  Obviously, that never happened. 

Now if I could figure out a long-term way to identify the colors of the flowers for each of the bulbs.  Then I could chose which colors I give away next year after I pot them up for gifts.  If I don't procrastinate.

The Purple Milkweed is blooming, now that the temperature is in the 90's.  At this early stage, with so many round, fat buds turning from green to lavender to the soft purple color, they are quite attractive.  The leaves are the preferred food source for Monarch caterpillars.  I am very willing to have them chewed up if that means there will be new butterflies as a result. 

Then there is the Mockingbird nest in the Persian Ironwood tree.  The beaks of the two nestlings are barely visible above the twigs in this photo.  It is as close as I dared to get with the parent birds making loud noises at me.  A few years ago, a Mockingbird drove away a black snake that was approaching the tree holding it's nest.  That persistent parent bird kept dive bombing the snake, aiming at its head.

I took this picture last weekend, and checking today, there are no young birds in the nest.  I hope they flew away!