What a difference a day or two makes. After the beautiful Spring day we had for the garden wedding on Sunday, this morning we are back to winter. With snow falling and skies getting darker by the minute, it feels more like January than late April. Brrr …
Surprise! I am a day late with my weekly photo challenge entry. But I only found a suitable subject today … and given that the theme is ‘surprise’, I thought that I could be forgiven.
I have a number of Phalaenopsis Orchids all of which stopped blooming when the autumn sun started pouring in through the kitchen windows. Seeing no indication that the orchids would ever bloom again, I was starting to give up on them. However, I have great difficulty bringing myself to throw away living plants. So this afternoon I put the orchids in a sink to water and fertilize them when to my surprise I discovered new growth on several of the specimens.
Now I can hope for new blooms in the new year. Maybe someday they shall even look like this again!
Wishing you a new year filled with happiness and hope …
Late Autumn – Early Winter on the Konza Prairie
For this week’s photography challenge, I headed out to the Konza Prairie after breakfast. I was captivated by this one ashen white tree. Notice also the moss colored tree just in front and to the right of it. Upon close inspection, there really were so many subtle colors to be seen.
The evergreens covered with berries reminded me of Christmas.
It was a heavy sky, but just a little too warm to snow. All that fell were a few sprinkles of cold rain.
Quite a few trees were covered with moss. It made them look bundled up for the cold.
This pair of trees seemed ready for winter to be over and it has hardly begun.
What a pleasant surprise every now and then to run into some brightly-colored berries.
But then I would look at the woods, so ominous-looking, and I was happy to head home for a cup of hot tea.
These are photos of my Marilyn Monroe rose that I took this morning. Brrr …
Marilyn Monroe is considered an apricot-colored rose, but the color of rose blooms is often affected by temperatures and seasons. This last bloom of the year was a true pink, but with lime green outer petals – stunning, even in the cold.
It was with some sentimentality that I photographed the garden yesterday. I knew that a freeze was predicted for last night, a sure sign that garden will be winding down for the year. As I sit here and write before sunrise, it is 30 degrees F. outside; and though it is toasty warm in the B&B, I know that once the sun comes up and I take a look around, I’ll see that some of my flowers and herbs have been nipped by the cold. It will take cooler temperatures to make the hardy perennials and shrubs go dormant for the winter. In fact, if the day time temperatures are warm enough, the ground cover roses will keep producing blooms for up to 4 more weeks, but the other roses are almost done for the year. The chrysanthemum plants will be fine, but probably not the flowers. The asters, which put out one big flush of flowers every year in late October have had their show, though they will have color for a little longer.
Yesterday’s Garden
Aster ‘Raydon’s Favorite’
Rose ‘Memorial Day’
Chrysanthemum ‘Diana’ with Ground Cover Roses
White Rose (unknown variety)
White Mum (unknown variety)
Crape Myrtle Foliage
Postscript:
It was a beautiful sunrise. After serving breakfast, I did a brief inspection of the garden. I lost the what was left of my hibiscuses, the potted impatiens, a few hostas, all of my Autumn Joy sedums, and some of the chrysanthemums. Overall, not too bad.
Sunrise This Morning
Though we are stilling having temperatures in the 90’s, and though there are nearly three weeks left to summer, the change of seasons is in the air. This was apparent to me when I was at Eastside Market yesterday … so much so that I just had to take some pictures to document the moment when I noticed autumn’s approach.
Thank you to the gracious folks at East Side Market for letting me take photographs.
A Taste of Morning 