Kalmia Latifolia

It was hot today, over 90 F., but that didn't keep me from taking some pictures of mountain laurel. It's in full bloom here in Shenandoah County and grows wild in the woods.

Nancy Meyer says good places to see it are on Great North Mountain along Crooked Run Road and Judge Rye Road. Both of these are narrow roads snaking up the mountain in George Washington National Forest. If you drive up there, keep in mind that there isn't always room to get by a vehicle when you meet one, so drive a bit slowly and stay alert. When you see a car coming, look for a wide spot to pull over.  There's no room for aggressive driving on mountain roads.

We have iris

We finally had an iris bloom. They bloomed in Shenandoah Valley a month ago (see 2008/05/iris.html), but ours were so late I thought they weren't going to bloom at all.

Frank calls irises "flag lilies." His mother grew them in Pennsylvania and they bloomed for Memorial Day. We've planted them at the various places we lived but this is the first time we had enough sun to get blooms. Deer don't like eating them so they are a good choice to plant here in the hills.

The actual color is purple. I've taken iris pictures with both my camera and Frank's, and for some reason the purple photographs as blue. Or is it a software quirk? This one looked purple when I opened it in Photoshop, but as soon as I saved it as a JPEG, it turned blue.

Our Rhododendrons are Blooming

Iris at Monocacy

I took these pictures today at the New Jersey Monument at Monacacy Battlefield near Frederick, MD. This location is near the river and the parking lot is reached by what Prof. Poland called a "sneaky turn" - a sharp turn onto a small road that's easy to miss.

Iris

More Spring Flowers

Above: Bleeding Hearts

Below: Redbud and Dogwood in our Yard

Tulips are blooming

It's almost a surprise that our bulbs and plants actually survived the winter. I planted the tulips a bit late but they did well. And the Japanese maple that Frank bought is looking very red and healthy.

Our Daffodils are Blooming

Garden overlooking the Pacific

Here we see two photos I took when we were in Palos Verdes a month ago.

Or is it one photo?

My picture of these flowers at Wayfarer's Chapel was a bit washed out, and the sky was just white space. Using Photoshop, I added another picture that I took there, one of the ocean, and just made it visible in the windows. Then I saturated the flowers and applied a couple of filters (watercolor and texture) to give it a painted look. After all, if it's an artificial photo, I like it to look like art, not just trick photography.

Spring Approaches

I saw forsythia and crocus blooming today. Spring is on its way!

Thought I'd post this picture of an azalea that I took in California.

Overlooking the Pacific

Here we see a bird-of-paradise flower and a view of the Pacific Coast seen from the grounds of Wayfarers Chapel. And below, taken from a few steps back, is a photo that Frank took of me.

More Scenes from Huntington Gardens

Here are some more photos from the beautiful Huntington Gardens. The botanical garden complex is a combination arboretum and gallery of garden design.

We didn't make it to the Australian gardens, but we saw the palm garden, lily ponds, jungle garden and Japanese garden.



The Japanese Garden is marvelous to see. A Chinese Garden is scheduled to open soon. We saw part of it last year during a lull in construction, enough to recommend a visit.

Winter Days in the L.A. Area

We have had to wear a jacket or sweater pretty constantly here in California. Temperatures dip into the upper 40's some nights but vary during the day, mostly in the 50's and 60's. Of course, this is much warmer than it has been in Virginia this week so I can't complain.

Both of these vertical images are from our visit to Huntington Library and Gardens on Wednesday.

Desert Garden, Water Garden

We returned to the Huntington Library and Gardens which we visited last year. On that visit we did not see all the gardens -- it's a huge place and you really can't do it justice in one afternoon. (On most weekdays, opening time is at noon so you can't start early.)

This time we started with the desert gardens and the lily ponds.

The waterlilies were not blooming but we saw blossoms that we would expect to see in the springtime, so I guess it's now spring in southern California.

Huntington.org

JMU's Arboretum

The weather this week is as warm as last week was cold. Last week we had temperatures in the teens; this week it's been in the 50's and 60's. So when we went to Harrisonburg on Monday, I begged that we drive over to the arboretum on University Drive for a walk around the pond.

There are some changes going on at the arboretum. A building is under construction and a sign has been added telling about the importance of wetlands.

A few more Glen Burnie Garden Views

Glen Burnie House and Gardens in Winchester are next to the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley. The Museum is definitely worth a visit but if I had time to see just one of the attractions, it would be the gardens (weather permitting). The manor house is nice but it was added on to so much in the 20th century that one doesn't really get the feel of its origins and there's not even much trace of its role in the Civil War. It does contain antiques and art that were collected and put there (again during the 20th century).

Back to the Gardens of Glen Burnie

On October 16, we took Frank's sister to see the gardens at Glen Burnie in Winchester, VA. (I posted photos from our previous visit there in September.)

A Garden at Shrine Mont

I took this at Shrine Mont last month. Shrine Mont is the complex in Orkney Springs that is owned by the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia.

Joan's Pond Revisted

When Frank's sister was here, one of the places we visited was the town of New Market. I took these pond photos but not exactly as they appear here. I've been playing with Photoshop again.


Postscript about New Market: we had lunch at the Southern Kitchen and my companions were very impressed with the pies.

Flowers at Orkney Springs

At the end or VA Route 263, inside the loop where the road goes around and meets itself, is a stream and a lovely garden. We've seen folks tending it; they do a great job.

If you peer closely at the butterfly bush below, you can see that there are two butterflies on it (upper right and lower middle).