(Note: All pictures may be enlarged by clicking on them once or twice.)
Old Man Winter kept hanging around so long this year that we were beginning to think that our tulips would never start blooming. But fortunately they have bloomed and we’ve enjoyed their bright color in our yard.
The tulip in the upper left of this collage is Golden Oxford, while Guinevere is the tulip on the upper right. The tulips on bottom (from left to right) are Red Dynasty, Purissima and World’s Favourite.
Dragonfly at the Italian Garden on the Biltmore Estate, Asheville, North Carolina. August 5, 2011.
While Betsy and I were in the Italian Garden at Biltmore, I was photographing water lilies when this dragonfly started flying around the blossoms I was trying to photograph. When I moved to a different flower, it also moved. I didn’t have the proper lens to get macro of the dragonfly, but I liked the way the wings looked in the sunlight, so I got the picture above.
Dragonfly at the Biltmore Estate, Asheville, North Carolina. August 5, 2011.
A little later I got him in a better pose. I haven’t had much experience capturing critters like these, but I did like the way these pictures turned out. I may have to try this again with the proper lens.
Tulips and Azalea in bloom, Garvan Gardens, Hot Springs, Arkansas. March 28, 2011.
This is my post for the My World meme. It is hosted by Klaus, Ivar, Sandy, Wren, and Fishing Guy. To learn more about our world or to join and share your part of the world, click HERE.
Last week Betsy and I went to Mount Nebo State Park in Arkansas. We’ve been going there at least once a year since I retired in 2006. We have a favorite cabin that we rent, where we can enjoy beautiful views, fires in the fireplace, and the birds and deer that pass by.
As is usual with us, we can rarely go directly to a destination. This year we stopped by Garvan Gardens in Hot Springs, Arkansas, on our way to Mount Nebo. We had been there in 2009 and enjoyed the daffodils, so since we were a few weeks later this year, we stopped by to see the tulips. As you can see from the picture above, the tulips and azaleas put on a beautiful display.
'Our' cabin on Mount Nebo, Arkansas. March 28, 2011.
Our cabin at Mount Nebo sits near the rim of the mountain top and provides a perfect spot to sit and relax and enjoy the beauty of God’s creation.
We made a day trip to nearby Mount Magazine State Park to have lunch in their wonderful restaurant. It was a gray, cloudy, dismal day, which was just fine for eating, but very bad for picture-taking.
Since we now have a geo-tracker that we take with us just about every place, I can show you are journey thanks to Goggle Earth. You can click to enlarge the map for easier reading.
Lilies in our yard, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. June 12, 2010.
This is my post for the My World meme. It is hosted by Klaus, Ivar, Sandy, Wren, and Fishing Guy. To learn more about our world or to join and share your part of the world, click HERE.
Most of you know that Betsy and I love roses and have quite a few in our yard. Roses are definitely our favorite flowers, but lilies are a close second. We have lilies in three beds; the picture above is of part of the bed along the side of our deck. When the doors leading to the deck are open, the fragrance is heavenly.
Southern Belle rose, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. May 13, 2010.
Since we built a new flower bed last autumn, we have some new roses in our yard this spring. The first of the new roses to bloom is this sunny yellow grandiflora, Southern Belle.
Yellow roses are said to symbolize friendship and caring. Since my Beautiful Bride and my Best Friend is also a Southern Belle, I thought it was entirely appropriate to add this rose to our garden.
The large rose bed in our yard, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. May 17, 2010.
This is my post for the My World meme. It is hosted by Klaus, Ivar, Sandy, Wren, and Fishing Guy. To learn more about our world or to join and share your part of the world, click HERE.
Our world is coming up roses. Most of the roses in our yard are now in bloom. The picture above is of our biggest rose bed. Some of the roses were in bloom when we got back from the beach, but they are now really putting on a show. I’m sure I’ll have more pictures in the days ahead.
Dad Adams Daffodil, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. April 4, 2010.
Yesterday (Sunday) afternoon was absolutely gorgeous here on the Plateau and both Betsy and I spent as much time outside as we could. Fortunately there is always something that needs to be done around the yard, so we have plenty of excuses for being out.
We have alot of color in our yard now and it is not only daffodils. I think the flower up above is a narcissus, but since my Dad gave them to us when we moved up here, we usually call them Dad Adams Daffodils.
Red Rocket Hyacinth, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. April 4, 2010.
We have not had a great deal of success with hyacinths. They never seem to do as well after the first year. However we did have a few pop up and bloom. They may not look all that wonderful, but they still have a nice fragrance.
Life's a Cabernet Tulip, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. April 4, 2010.
We’ve been very fortunate with our tulips so far this year. The bright tulip above is Life’s a Cabernet, which is new. It is multi-colored, but red predominates.
Halley's Comet Tulip, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. April 7, 2010.
I think my favorite new tulip is Halley’s Comet. I got this picture early one morning before the sun caused them to open completely.
With all this beauty around us I guess you can understand why we enjoy spending so much time out in the yard.
More of our roses from 2009.
We had three days of beautiful weather earlier in the week, but the last two days have been cold and rainy. I’ve started a couple of projects out in the yard, but I haven’t been able to make much progress. And if this cold weather continues I’m going to need to split more wood and carry it to the garage so my Beautiful Bride will be comfortable in the evenings.
Our crocus have bloomed and are just about completely gone. Nothing else has begun to bloom. I will say that the grass is greening up very nicely, so I guess I will have to think about checking out the mower one of these days.
I’ve started to partially uncover the roses. Most of them are showing signs of new growth and need to be cut back. I won’t completely uncover the roses until I’m fairly confident that freezing temperatures are behind us.
So while I’m waiting for Spring to get serious about coming and staying here on the Plateau, I’ll try to stay warm by remembering what the roses looked like last year.
Tulips in our garden in 2009.
We’ve had two days of sunshine and blue skies! We were home yesterday (Friday) so I was able to work out in the yard. It was wonderful to be able to get my hands dirty in the soil again. The mail woman brought us some roses that needed to be planted and I was able to get four of them planted. I have one more spot to fill, which hopefully I will do Saturday.
Our crocus are now blooming very nicely now. I took some pictures, but haven’t had a chance to do anything with them. I’ll post some pictures in the next day or so. In the meantime you can check out Betsy’s new header on her blog.
The daffodils and tulips are coming up although we don’t have any blooming yet. For the time being we have to be content remembering our tulips from last year.
To see these pictures and others, click HERE.
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Today I’m grateful for the beauty of growing plants.
Pink Promise Rose, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. October 30, 2009.
One nice thing about living in Tennessee is that the growing season lasts longer than it does in Ohio. Even though it is the end of October we still have roses in bloom at the house.
I took the picture of this beauty, Pink Promise, yesterday (Friday). We have buds and blossoms on several other roses as well. I hope we can enjoy them before we get our first frost.
Senior Moments 