Saturday, April 12, 2014

Flower Photography and Dinosaur Bones


It's that wonderful time of year again, where I roam through the yard admiring the blooms and pretending to be a garden photographer with my cell phone.  Admiring my blooms with a camera is very satisfying, and I don't think it's just because I get to share my pictures with you.  The myopia of the camera screen helps me really look at composition and detail that's harder to do when seeing everything at once.  So even when my pictures don't look very impressive, I still enjoy taking them and sorting through them.  Even better, now I get to talk about them and share them, which extends the experience of appreciating my flowers.   


I just can't resist the daffodils right now.  After such a dreary winter it's nice to see some bright color when I walk out the door.  Daffodils must be the most cheerful flower ever as they can lift my spirits even when composed with dinosaur bones.  Okay, so they aren't really dinosaur bones, but ever since my young nephew got so excited when he "discovered" the dinosaur bones under the tree, and collected some cow or mule teeth in his pockets to take home, I've thought of them as dinos.  


I like the pairing of flowers and skulls - Georgia O'Keefe style, but sometimes wonder if my neighbors appreciate the bones in my front yard.  No one has ever said anything, but after all these years I hardly know my neighbors, and maybe this is why?!  Skulls near the front door may be like having an anti-welcome mat.      


The grass looks a little scruffy right now, but it doesn't stop me from pausing to admire the swatch of grape hyacinth in my untidy flowerbed.  Seeing the purple blooms trying to peek out of last year's old stems inspired me to take a few moments to pull down the brown stalks.  In the process I found a preying mantis egg case, which dissolved all my guilty feelings about not doing a good job during fall clean up.  See, it's not a mess, it's habitat!  


The pink hyacinths smell wonderful if you get close enough.  


And the pear trees are just on the verge of a full bloom.  Jamie and I made an attempt to prune these trees last fall, and since then I've done a little research about proper pruning and know that we made a hash of it.  Oh well, they don't seem to mind that much and are making plenty of flowers.  


If I look closely, even the weeds have pretty blooms, like these little dead-nettle plants growing under my young trees.  


There's also pretty purple violets sprinkled in the grass in the back yard, but instead of lovely violet photos I got a bunch of shots like these.  


Just because I'm focusing on the ground doesn't mean there's something tasty to eat!  

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