13 August 2010: Garden Gecko

The gecko has been trying to get into the garden bounty!

16 July 2010: Tiger Showing His True Spots

Here is a real tiger lily as opposed to what I thought were tiger lilies in my yard. Really we just have common orange daylilies as opposed to the old fashioned lilies with spots (like tigers). This one is from my neighbors garden.

12 July 2010: Gecko

Another gecko...just hangin' around.

8 July 2010: How Does Your Garden Grow

The heat and humidity is wilting the garden but here is one of the blossoms before it withers!

2 July 2010: It Must Be Good For You

This is another one of my favorite flowers and it's good for you too! Echinacea or purple cone flowers are believed to be a boost for your immune system. So enjoy the beauty of the photo and ingest the goodness when you are sick!

19 June 2010: Rose Garden Revisited

I took my sister who was visiting up to the rose garden. While a lot of the flowers are past their prime, there were new varities I didn't see the first time I went. http://wide-angle-lens.blogspot.com/2010/06/1-june-2010-rose-by-any-other-name.html

17 June 2010: Open For Business

I came home this afternoon and looked up toward the garden and spotted Peter Rabbit waiting for a table at the Bunny Buffet! You may recall a previous post about the Bunny Buffet (http://wide-angle-lens.blogspot.com/2010/05/24-may-2010-garden-grows.html) and now that everything is growing, the bunnies are making sure they are on the waiting list for the best table in the house.

1 June 2010: A Rose By Any Other Name...

I have lived in the Syracuse area for nearly 6 years and it is nights like to tonight that I realize how little I know about the city. I visited the Mills Rose Garden with a couple of people tonight and was just in awe of the beauty, the fragrance and the variety of roses. I spent nearly 2 hours here photographing, smelling and just enjoying the garden. It is now one of my new favorite places in Syracuse! Check it out if you are ever in the area: http://www.syracuserosesociety.org/id11.html

24 May 2010: Bunny Buffet

My mother in law wanted to plant a garden and since we have a lot more room with direct sun, she planted it at our house. The animals haven't eaten everything...yet! I have seen a lot of bunnies in the yard getting ready for a feast.

30 March 2010: My Secret Garden

I happened upon this place in Saratoga Springs early this morning as I was out taking photographs. It was just an amazing collection of "stuff" for gardens, yards, etc. I love so much of it and would have probably bought something had it been open. Nothing was secured but the police station was across the street so I am sure that will deter the typical pillow...err I mean garden thief.

19 August 2009 Photo: Bless This Garden

The garden has been overrun by weeds. Maybe we if pray, they will stop growing. Probably not but Bill put this Celtic cross in the garden before the weeds came. Perhaps the clover is growing more because of the cross. I guess I just have to go out there and pull them!

31 July 2009 Photo: Upstaged

I started out thinking I was going to take a picture of our chiminea but this little purple flower upstaged it!

9 June 2009 Photo: Stop And Smell The Roses

Well it finally rained and gave all my flowers, plants and veggies a much needed soaking. As I am still in awe of my roses blooming this year, I decided it was time to take some pictures of my little rose buds and found this fly who stopped to smell the roses.

When I went to find the origin of this phrase, I was surprised that it seems to be attributed to Ringo Starr's album in the 80's. Surely it was around before that but the web produced no definitive proof other than it may have been around for a century or so. Too often we get so caught up in life and forget to appreciate the small moments, the beauty around us, the people we know or even the ones we don't. And then before you know it, it may be too late. Whomever crafted this suggestion, we should all take a lesson from this fly, Ringo Starr, or two old friends meandering through a rose garden a century ago...take some time out today and do something you enjoy! OK...I am stepping off my soap box before I fall or am pushed.

8 June 2009 Photo: Growing Garden

I just love this time of year. The gardens are growing and changing everyday. I have spent a lot of time enjoying our yard this year for a couple reasons. It has been a gorgeous late spring/early summer and I have not had to travel for work during these few weeks for the first time in years.

It's amazing each year to see what pops up or grows bigger. We have lived in our house for almost 4 years and this is the first time the rose bushes have had buds on them. The irises have more blooms than ever. The oregano keeps coming back bigger and bolder. I just have to stop and admire this natural beauty! We have not had a lot of rain recently so I had to water flowers this morning and saw this photo op.

26 May 2009 Photo: Planting Pineapple

Since I love pineapple and can't grow real pineapples in my planting zone, I have to settle for some pineapple coleus. I love the colors of this plant and have placed it my garden next to the fishnet stocking coleus! Who makes up these names and how do I get THAT job?

17 April 2009 Photo: Animal Vegetable or Mineral

This is obviously a plant, however when you suspend reality for a moment, and take away the color it could be a brain or a mountain range or use your imagination. It is, in fact, the rhubarb in our backyard. This is not something we planted but it was here when we bought the house, so I have learned to make strawberry rhubarb pie. We have a ton of it and it grows twice a summer from the same plants so if you want some, let me know!

19 March 2009 Photo: Spring Clean Up

Wilson, our Garden Gargoyle, has been snow covered all winter. He watches over our yard from the deck but he doesn't do a very good job. The squirrels are throwing nuts all over the place, the moles and chipmunks are making our yard a mine field of holes, and the bunnies have set up camp in the wood shed and under the deck! As we start to clean up the mess in the yard from the winter, we realize just how big 1.25 acres is. I hope Wilson does a better job this summer watching over our homestead!

15 January 2009 Photo: Baby It's Cold Outside

You expected another cold weather picture...sorry to disappoint. It is FRIGID in central NY and pretty much in most of the U.S. (except Southern CA of course). The high today in Jamesville, NY is supposed to be 4 degrees! Are you kidding me?!?! I am really glad I didn't make that trip to Minneapolis today where it is -25 degrees! So to add a touch of heat to the blog, the dried hot peppers came out of hiding from their little container. These are actually peppers I grew in the garden 2 years ago and they have been drying ever since. Luckily I don't have to go out anywhere today and my heat is working so I think I will stay put and get some work done!