White Christmas Cactus

The white Christmas Cactus or Schlumbergera is beginning to bloom.   It has just a hint of pink in the petals.  I am joining Maia for Flower Macro Saturday   at Flower Macro Saturday.   Valerie

When is a Pumpkin not a Pumpkin for Macro Saturday

 

Pumpkins growing in the field is a beautiful sight at this time of the year.   Yes, pumpkins are used for carving at Halloween but this weekend they will turn into something else.   This weekend, the last weekend before the C word is Canadian Thanksgiving.   This is the time many families put aside their differences and belly up to the table laden with Turkey and Cranberries and Pumpkin pie with whipped cream.   By Monday we are going to feel bloated on account of all those calories that we stuffed into our mouths.    Bring it on!!!!

This pumpkin has no calories.   It is just a pretty little ceramic pumpkin that is sitting on the sideboard in the dining room just to give it the autumn feeling.   

This will be the star of the show on Thanksgiving day.   It will be one of a couple.  There are some people at my table who will opt for two pieces.   My oldest son says he is making an apple pie.  I can’t wait to see that.  I know he can do it but will he?   I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  We expect warm temperatures so get out and enjoy it if you can.  

Join us at Macro Saturday if you have taken a nice close up or a macro.   It is fun to share.   Valerie

Garden Ornaments for Macro Saturday

A garden just doesn't seem finished to me until you add a few ornaments to break up the scenery.  I just wanted to show you three of them today.   The first one is a butterfly solar light. It actually is in a cluster of butterflies on stems from a faux rock.  I hide the mechanics in the shrubbery and at night the little butterflies blink on and off by the side of the pond.  Sort of like little lightning bugs.  It is kind of cute.

This bit of blown glass hangs on a chain from a shepherd's hook in the garden.  It adds colour and a little bit of whimsy. I would like to see your ornaments.   What do you use in the garden to pretty it up.

This fellow I have posted about before but I think he is kind of cute too.  My oldest son made this for me out of garden tools: a large shovel, smaller shovel, some rebar and two washers. 

Weld them together and add a little rust and you have an interesting piece to stick in amongst the plantings


Macro Saturday is a meme for photos that are close up or taken with a macro lens. Join us. Valerie











 

Native Cup Plant for Macro Saturday

Cup Plant or Silphium perfoliatum is in its second year in the garden.   It is 7ft or 2.13 meters tall.  It has thick stems and large leaves that act a cup to hold water.   The flowers are school bus yellow. It is easy to grow and maintain.  The plant tolerates clay and is drought tolerant.  Only draw back is its tendency to spread.  Give it lots of room.

You can see here the reason it is called the cup plant.  Water tends to accumulate where the leaves and stem form.

More interesting macros can be found HERE for Macro Saturday.  Do you take macro or close up photos?  Join us.  We would love to see them.    Valerie

Two for One on Macro Saturday

This morning I went out into the garden with my camera to take pictures of the Eucomis Autumnalis or PineappleLily that I have growing in a container.  As I was composing my shot along came a White Admiral butterfly and posed himself on the plant. This gardener being a blonde but no dummy pushed the plunger.   I love this little bulb.  I received it last year as a garden writer to give it a try.  This year it is just as striking as I remember it last year.  Gardenimports has many good quality plants that can be ordered online.  If you want to take a peek the site is http://www.gardenimport.com/

Eucomis Autumnalis is a relative of the hyacinth and so is a tender summer bulb.  The stalk on my plant is approximately 8inches tall. The stalk is composed of little white flower-ets with a cute tuft of leaf-like bracts at the crown.  The Pineapple Lily  comes from Zimbabwe and Malawi where it grows on the side of mountains or in grasslands.  The bulb can be planted in the ground in ordinary garden soil but would do much better in fertile soil.  Add an application of well rotted manure.   It can be grown in rockeries or herbaceous border or in containers. I give it a shot of fertilizer when I do the other containers.

In the fall I dig up the bulbs and shake off the soil.  Place them in a cool basement for the winter and repot in good container soil in the spring when the growing tip appears.

Macro Saturday at flowers-macrophotography is a meme for macro or close up shots.  Join us there. 

Soft and Prickly for Macro Saturday

National emblem of Scotland the Onopordon Acanthium or otherwise called Scotch Thistle, Cotton Thistle or Scott's Thistle grows up to 7ft tall in my garden.  My husband is very fond of this plant so I let him keep one and I compost the siblings.  One is enough.   From a first year rosette of silvery-white foliage this plant becomes spiny in its second year.  It flowers the second year and produces seed to start anew all over.   The blooms on it are quite beautiful purple.
Legend has it that Norsemen trying to sneak up on the Scots soldiers took their shoes off so they could not be heard moving up the shore.   One of the Norse stood on a thistle and let out a shout of pain spoiling the surprise attack.  The Scots handily sent them on their way back to where they came from.

The Calla Lily grown here  in a container is a bulb or rhizome. This one is a soft yellow shade.  I took the shot just after it had stopped raining here.  We had a lovely rain this morning that we really needed after 4 or 5 intensely hot days.  The Calla is not really a lily at all but a relative of the Calla family.  It is native to South Africe.  Callas are most popular as flower in a Wedding bouguet.  In the fall after the first frost I dig them up and shake off all the dirt, let them dry out and store away in some wood shavings for the winter.   In the spring I start them up in the container and move them outside when all risk of frost is gone.

To see more macros photos visit flowers-macrophotography.blogspot.com or click HERE.   Have a great weekend.  Valerie

It's All About the Colour for Macro Saturday

Digitalis or Foxglove 'foxy' has mauve-pink flowers on it with enchanting little spots.  

My one and only delphinium is a pretty irredescent blue.   This gardener did not stake it properly and in the recent windy days here it fell over.   The stalk would win no awards now. It was very pretty while it lasted.  

For more macros to ooh and aah over visit flowers-macrophotography.blogspot.com  If you take macros or even close ups join us there.

Daylilies for Macro Saturday

My Daylilies are beginning to bloom.  I have to confess that I do not know the names of many of them.   I either picked them up from a plant sale or were given to me by friends that had no idea of the name either.  But,  I do love them.  They are so maintenance free and do not care that they are growing in the sandy soil.  The clump gets bigger each year.   If I want to divide them up it is easy to do.   This one is a burgundy colour and not as big as the large yellow below.

This large yellow is school bus yellow and is at least 5 inches across.  I will have more to show you in the next few weeks.  I may even know their names.    Have a great weekend.   See more macro photographs at flowers-macrophotography HERE.     Valerie

Macro Petunias for Macro Saturday

When I went out this morning to look for a macro shots. I spotted the planter of colourful petunias.  They looked so fresh with a little dew left on them.

Our youngest son and his girlfriend gave me a lovely container of petunias for Mother's Day.  I put them out on the deck.  The next day I came around the side of the house and I looked at the planter.  The petunias on one side of the planter were eaten off down to stubs.   I could not figure out who would have done a thing like that.

The next day after that I came home from somewhere and the whole planter was levelled.   Just stubs.  I was mad.   The culprit made his appearance later that day.  It was a groundhog.  He had dragged all the flowers down into his hole under our deck.   Needless to say I put the container up on a pile of rocks out of harms way.  The container is again nicely filled out with petunias.   We have had more plants eaten by Mr. Groundhog.  He especially likes my cosmos.  He is fast as lightning if we spy him in the yard. 

For some spectacular macros visit Macro Saturday.   See what else is going on. Have a great weekend and Happy Father's Day.   Valerie

Fresh and New for Macro Saturday

This is just a close up and not a macro of a new rose to my garden. I was just too lazy to change lenses.  It is a floribunda called Fairy Tale.  I love the salmon coloured blooms

This lovely bi-colour blueIriis in the front flower bed.  It had just stopped raining when I took it so you can see a few raindrops on the petals.   Please visit flowers-macrophotography for more wonderful closeups.  Have a great weekend.  Valerie

A Pretty Clematis on Macro Saturday

I do not know the names of this clematis.  I thought it was perhaps Josephine but it does not have that huge double centre in it.   This clematis was planted several years ago at the base of our arbor.  It comes up very nicely each year and then promply wilts never to be seen again.  This year I suspect it did better because we had over the winter the niger seed feeder just above it and the seed that was strewn by the birds piled up on the ground just above the sleeping clematis.  The heat or insulated properties of the seed created a suitable environment for the spring sprouting.   Anyway, I am just happy to see this pretty little thing in bloom.  I hope I get more than one bloom but I will just enjoy.   I hope you are having some surprises in your garden too.  

I am contributing this clematis as my humble offering for Macro Saturday here.

Valerie

Aquilegia or Columbine for Macro Saturday

Aquilegia or Columbine is a delicate and airy flower in the garden.  This one is pale pink.  I have a white one and also a purple which have not bloomed yet.

These plants are easy to grow in just about any soil.  They even tolerate dry conditions which makes them perfect for the Sandbox.  The plant does reseed so next year you will more.  For more macro photos visit here.    

Valerie