Monday, July 30, 2012

Lily Pads and Lotus Flowers

Recently we visited some friends who are staying at a little cottage on Brooks Lake, near Newaygo, Michigan. Its kind of a shallow lake, especially on the little cove where the cottage is. So we floated around on inflated rafts and stayed nice and cool! I really wanted to get some close-up photos of the lily pads and flowers so I put my camera in a zip-lock bag and floated out to them. I took a ton of pictures after very carefully taking the camera out of the bag and putting the strap around my arm! The flat leaves that are right on the water's surface are the real lily pads but the ones that grow "up" out of the water are actually lotus plants. I just read that online this past week!


The yellow flowers remind me of something from Star Wars, like one of those mechanical eyeballs that would pop out of the sand and spy on everyone! But these bright flowers are so pretty! The dragonflies and bees liked them too!

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Happy 4th of July! Thank You, Veterans!!

May all of you have a happy and safe 4th of July!
Remembering our veterans this holiday with MUCH gratitude for their service to our country!
May God bless each one of you!
And may God bless America! Please pray for our nation, that the values we hold dear and the wonderful freedoms we enjoy...which others faught and died for(!)...may be preserved for generations to come.

Another Rose

Another of my roses, this one a bit past its prime but still quite pretty...even with its brown edges and extreme "openness".  The bright sunlight made it look a little faded but it really is a lovely yellow.
Its very hot and dry here in Michigan now. My roses get watered often enough but are not as happy as they were this spring!
Enjoy!

Monday, June 18, 2012

My Crazy Roses


 A few weeks ago I glanced out of my launry room window and saw my rose bush............ going crazy!


I hadn't noticed it for a while, had actually completely forgotten about it and neglected to trim it this year. It must have liked the freedom I allowed it! It had so many buds on it I couldn't even count them! I am NOT good with roses! Last year it had only a handful of blossoms and the whole plant had "bugs". So as soon as I saw the abundance of buds I sprayed the whole thing with some organic bug killer stuff and ...Wow! Its beautiful! I don't even know what kind of rose bush it is! Any one have an idea, let me know!
I am really enjoying it...it just keeps blooming! And no bug problem so far.


These last 2 pictures were taken more than a week after the first 2. Most of the buds are open now. But there are still more coming! The color seemed odd on my camera that day, like it couldn't quite handle the real color?? They appear to be kind of neon pink and they aren't. Just a lovely bright pink (hot pink). Not sure why my camera did that...something to do with the lighting...or my settings??
I wish this rose bush was somewhere I could see it more! Behind my garage and visible only from the laundry room window is such a waste. That's why I HAD to take some pictures! Enjoy!

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Large Flowerpot: Pinks and Reds

This is one of two matching pots that are out in front of our garage every summer.
This picture is from last year or the year before fairly early in the season when the flowers still looked nice, before thay got overgrown and spindly. I'm not very good at "pinching back" plants to keep them full and shaped correctly. I either forget or just can't make myself destroy new growth and/or blooms.
I usually wait until about Mother's Day to fill these pots each year. I decided on my color theme this year: brights including pinks, yellows, purples and reds. I have on order two hanging plants with the same color scheme. A few more weeks and I should be able to post pictures of them!

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Bottles in the Window + Tree

I guess I have a "thing" about clear glass bottles and vases...always have! The green bottle in the middle I got during my college days somewhere in Wisconsin. That would be back in the early seventies. Yes, almost a lifetime ago! I don't know what it was used for and would be interested in knowing about it but so far haven't taken the time to research it at all. The little vase on the left is just that and only a few years old. The bottle on the right is very old but, again, I'm not sure what it was used for. Probably medicine, I'm thinking or maybe flavoring (like vanilla) for cooking/baking. I wish the screw-on lid was still with it but that rusted and disintegrated long ago.
Interesting note: the scene outside this window changed dramatically yesterday. We had a huge tree (3 1/2 foot diameter) come down in the wind. It looked very healthy, even had lots of new leaves coming but it broke off at ground level and we could see it was rotten on the inside and the root base was almost gone. It landed just a few feet from my son's fishing boat which is the gray thing in the picture above (its covered with a gray tarp). It completely demolished our satelite dish and part of the neighbor's fence. We live in a woods so after we saw this we started looking suspiciously at the trees directly west of our house that are at least 70 to 80 feet tall. Yikes!
After I posted this my husband went out and measured the length (used to be height!) of this tree and it was about 90 feet. Fortunately our nephew has a tree removal business and has saws big enough to handle this huge tree trunk. It will have to be cut into disks and lifted by a Bobcat or loader onto a log-splitter. But my husband, Jerry, is a seasonal worker...works for an agricultural company...and this is their busy time so he won't be cutting this up very soon. I guess it needs to dry anyway if its going to be firewood eventually.

Saturday, March 31, 2012

After the Shower

This is a photo from last summer, 2011.
Right after a light rain. The water always beads up on this plant...looks amazing!
This is one of the few palnts in my flower garden that I don't know the name of.
I didn't buy this one, I gleaned it from an old forgotten garden.
Its tiny flowers are bright lime green, clustered on tall stems.
And it multiplies easily! I now have 4 or 5 of these this spring.
Anyone know the name?