“Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.” –Nathaniel Hawthorne
Category Archives: Photography
Day 364: Aster
“Asters are the grande finale to the perennial garden, displaying vibrant fall colors in shades of pink, purple, blue, and white. They’re also one of the last great feeding opportunities for bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. For gardeners, it’s a two-for-one deal: beautiful blooms and a flurry of attractive wildlife.” To read more click here
Day 363: Bristly Locust
“This showy flowering shrub grows to 8 feet tall and wide and features dark green, compound pinnate leaves on bristly stems and pendant clusters of fragrant, pea-like, rose-pink flowers that are attractive to bees and butterflies in late spring and early summer. The flowers are occasionally followed by bristly, reddish-brown seed pods. Native to the southeastern United States, this aggressive shrub spreads by suckers and is considered invasive in Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Washington. All parts of this plant are at least mildly poisonous.” To read more click here
Day 362: Kousa Dogwood Flowers
“Cornus kousa, commonly called Kousa dogwood, is a small, deciduous flowering tree or multi-stemmed shrub that typically grows 15-30’ tall, with a vase-shaped habit in the early years but eventually maturing to a more rounded form. Bloom occurs in late spring. The showy parts of the Kousa dogwood “flower” (3-5” across) are the four narrowly pointed petal-like white bracts which surround the center cluster of insignificant, yellowish-green, true flowers. Flowers are followed by berry-like fruits (to 1” diameter) which mature to a pinkish red in summer and persist into fall. Fruits are technically edible, but are usually left for the birds.” To read more click here
Day 361: Yellow Mums
“Chrysanthemum comes from Greek word ‘Chrys’ meaning golden (the color of the original flowers), and ‘anthemon’, meaning flower. This name was given to it by Carolus Linnaeus, a Swedish naturalist who is also known as the father of modern taxonomy. The Chrysanthemum flowers bloom in various forms, and can be daisy-like, decorative, pompons or buttons. Chrysanthemum blooms come in a huge variety of shapes and sizes and in a wide range of colors. In addition to the traditional yellow, other popular colors are white, purple, and red.” To read more click here
Day 360: Linaria Vulgaris
“Linaria vulgaris (common toadflax, yellow toadflax, or butter-and-eggs) is a species of toadflax (Linaria), native to most of Europe, northern Asia, the United Kingdom, Spain, east to eastern Siberia, and western China. It has also been introduced and is now common in North America. While most commonly found as a weed, toadflax is sometimes cultivated for cut flowers, which are long-lasting in the vase. Like snapdragons (Antirrhinum), they are often grown in children’s gardens for the “snapping” flowers which can be made to “talk” by squeezing them at the base of the corolla.” To read more click here
A Year In Photos 