It was ten below when I got up this morning. This was the view at the front door.
Category: Photo gallery
Old red
Last year’s very red cattleya is blooming again. Unlike this year’s, the older plant’s flowers are unequivocally red in every light.
Red, again
The first of this year’s new orchids bloomed this week. It’s another red one; nice, but not what I was expecting. The dealer’s notes1 indicated that it would likely have flowers in the magenta-purple range, but while it does have a bluish cast in some light (but not in sunlight or with the on-camera flash), it looks red to me. The other new ones probably won’t bloom for a year or two. When they finally do, one should be white and the other spotted.
(As usual, when WordPress resizes pictures to fit the column width, it also makes the colors duller. Click on the picture to see it larger and with more accurate color.)
Update: as the flower ages, it becomes bluer. It now is on the border between magenta and purple, even in sunlight.
The Lion in Winter
We got nine inches of snow here yesterday. I took a walk around the neighborhood this morning while the snow was at its most photogenic.
Just before the end
It’s snowing steadily now, and we may get six inches today if the weatherman can be trusted. During the next few nights temperatures are likely to descend into the teens. Fall is over (though, because this is Kansas, December may well be warm and dry). Despite the hard freezes earlier, a few plants were still blooming yesterday, including this salvia. At this time tomorrow, everything will be solid white.
Ice, twice
Things are getting very interesting near Grindavik in Iceland. See Volcano Café for updates.
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Meanwhile, here in Kansas ice plants continue to bloom despite the recent 20℉ temperatures.
Spotted toad
Here’s a formal portrait of the “toad lily,” Tricyrtis hirta. The flower is perhaps an inch and a half in diameter. It’s native to Japan and does not like hot sun. I’ve got mine in a spot where it gets shade almost all day, but the little bit of sun in the evening was sufficient to burn the tips of the leaves. In full shade with extra water during hot weather it’s easy to grow. While the flowers are perhaps more interesting than pretty, they do come at a time when nearly all the other perennials have finished for the year.
Horticultural year in review
The garden is essentially done for the year, though there will be color until the first hard freeze. Here’s a look back at this year’s experiments.
Recent snapshots, mainly of aerialists
Butterflies are plentiful right now. Here are some I spotted in gardens and fields around town.
Notes on life offline
Some new neighbors have moved in the next street over.
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Most of the plants I started this year are perennials which will take a year or two to reach blooming size. However, a number have flowered already. Currently, Helianthus mollis, the “ashy sunflower,” is putting on a good show. The plant has a more refined appearance than most sunflowers. According to what I’ve read it’s inclined to be rambunctious, so I’ve got it in the dry far corner of the yard where its aggressiveness will be a virtue.
Fresh “art”
Progress report
Spring was unusually dry, but June rains have made up for it. The garden overall is doing well. Nearly all the foxgloves are blooming or will be soon. These are “Camelot mix” hybrids I started indoors earlier. So far all the flowers have been lavender, but there should eventually be a few other colors.
Picture time
Several residents of my garden recently sat for their portraits.
Inside St. Terry’s
My parish church, a few days after Easter; best viewed in full-screen mode. There are notes on the church here. The architect was Emanuel L. Masqueray, who also designed the cathedral in Wichita.
Here’s the exterior:
Weekend photography II
While out and about with my camera Saturday, I came across the annual “Downtown Mayhem Biker Bash,” sponsored by a used motorcycle dealer. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much chrome in one place.
Weekend photography I
I discovered that the local community college has a well-maintained garden which includes a good selection of prairie plants and others adapted to Kansas extremes.3
Big pink, and not quite blue
What’s in my camera?
Let’s see….
The local used motorcycle dealer established a “2 Wheeler Park” across the street from his shop, featuring grass, daylilies, roses, and a few motorcycles that are a bit past their prime.
Blues, again
I planted ten Dutch iris bulbs in the fall of 2021. Finally one has bothered to bloom. Much as I like blue flowers, I doubt that I will allot space in the garden to this sort of iris again. (Other kinds of iris do fine here; my problem is specifically with Iris × hollandica.)
Blues and purples
Linum perenne puts on a good show when the neighborhood cats haven’t flattened it.