06/15/16
dward peach bonanza 2016

Dwarf Peach Bonanza 2016

Dwarf Peach Bonanza 2016

Dwarf Peach Bonanza, my first one that I had for many years and loved for its early spring blooms, peaches, the beauty of the little tree itself in the growing season, the interesting bare branches in the winter, died in the extreme, brutal cold of February 2011. It had produced and been a joy for many years.

In the fall of 2014, my wonderful neighbors not only gave me a new one, but planted it for me. It bloomed in the spring of 2015, but didn’t produce (late cold). This year the bloom was gorgeous, to no one’s surprise, but it once again got cold late and I was doubting production of any peaches.
I am happy to say the little tree is producing some peaches this year, beautiful little blush covered peaches! I could have thinned them a bit to produce larger peaches, but I really wasn’t looking for peaches after the cold snap. These were something of a delightful surprise.

dwarf peach bonanza

Dwarf Peach Bonanza 2016

The peaches will be ready to eat before too long. I’ll want to harvest them before the birds get them, but in the brief time before that, the tree and the peaches make wonderful photographic subjects.

Thank you, Rosemary and Burton!

06/9/16

Rose Gold Medal with Butterfly

Rose Gold Medal with Hair Streak Butterfly

The rose ‘Gold Medal’ has long been one of my mother’s favorites. I photographed the rose in her garden near sunset. The hair streak butterfly is from a macro shot taken in friends’ garden on a wonderful day. This image is a composite that brings together people important in my life and two gardens I love.

This image was chosen as the winner in the Judges Class of the 2015 American Rose Society Digital Photography Contest. I thank the special selection committee for that honor of an image that was already important to me for so many reasons.

rose Gold Medal ARS Photo Winner

Rose ‘Gold Medal’ with Hair Streak Butterfly

05/18/16

Dr Huey, 2016

Dr Huey, 2016: The 3rd Annual Corrales Rose Society Dr Huey Tour

Dr Huey, know best among most rosarians as a common root-stock for grafted roses such as hybrid teas, floribundas, and many other classes of roses, may be seen in all of its own glory all over the Village of Corrales, New Mexico, for approximately one week in May. The Corrales Rose Society held its 3rd Annual Dr Huey Tour on May 15 this year, and the blooms were truly at their peak; the best overall I have ever seen them.

You may wonder why Corrales has so many of this hybrid wichurana, not usually planted for its own good qualities. Corrales sits on the river, here in the Middle Rio Grande Valley. You may recall from elementary school that “hot air rises, cold air sinks.” When I’m visiting friends in Corrales, even in the summer, if I am going to be there in the evening, I always take a jacket. Winter nights can get 10°-15°F colder than my location in Albuquerque. Corrales could be considered a “cold sink” and is just another example of one of many micro environments in the high desert.

People buy and plant grafted roses, and enjoy them as such while they are in that form. But many winters have killing freezes, often prolonged. In a desert area where winterizing of roses is rarely, if ever done, the grafted portion dies. In spring, the very hardy, alkaline-soil-thriving root-stock appears. The blooms are not at all unattractive, as you will see. People in the high desert tend to appreciate what grows and thrives, and most of these are kept. Some people keep them trimmed; some allow them to grown into their natural fountain shape; many allow them to cascade beautifully over walls; and one in particular has gotten quite huge!!!

I hope you enjoy these images as much as I enjoyed seeing the roses in person.

05/17/16

2016 Corrales Garden Tour

2016 Corrales Garden Tour, Sunday, June 5

The 2016 Corrales Garden Tour is coming up very soon, Sunday, June 5. The information for times, as well as for pre-sale and day of tour sale are on this poster.

2016 Corrales Garden Tour

2016 Corrales Garden Tour

Gardens Fulfill Needs

Gardens answer so many desires. They are places of beauty, offering emotional and physical recharging and introspection, or a chance to share hospitality. Our gardens are the first place to act locally as we think globally about caring for the environment.

The six unique gardens on the Corrales Garden Tour on June 5, from 9AM-4PM, speak to all those needs and yearnings. Some are quietly serene and very private, others capture rain runoff and allow it to return to the soil; some have whimsical elements and a variety of seating areas. You will see gardens in the trees, others in the sandhills, and each has taken our climate and need for water conservation to heart in various ways.

Different gardens are featured each year, and the gardens are always interesting. Here is a post from last year’s tour on water features in the garden.

Six different gardens will be featured this year, and Master Gardeners will be available to answer questions. It will be a very enjoyable day.

Be sure to wear sunscreen, and it is always a good idea to have water with you.

09/9/15

Cosmos in Corrales

Cosmos in Corrales: The Beauty of a Naturalized Landscape

Cosmos this past Labor Day weekend were spectacular in the Corrales garden of our friends Tim and Laurie. They grow many different plants, with roses being the focal point of the formal part of the garden. But, sunflowers, brown-eyed Susan, echinacea, morning glories, coreopsis, and others, have been allowed to naturalize portions of their land along the Rio Grande. All were spectacular this past weekend.

Cosmos attract many different pollinators as well as hummingbirds, goldfinches, and other birds and butterflies. The entire garden was buzzing with lively critters.

There were so many different colors and combinations in these naturalized, self reseeding annuals . This is a small sample to give a feel for the beauty of even just one kind of flower in the garden.

cosmos

Field of Cosmos

cosmos

Cosmos, Up Close

cosmos

Almost White Cosmos

This is just a very small sample of the cosmos in the landscape. They appear among a wide variety of flowers allowed to naturalize the garden space, which was spectacular in its color and beauty this past weekend.

The prolonged drought has taken its toll among many flowers. One very good adaptation to that appears to be growing a wide variety of plants. More images of different flowers growing in this beautiful space will appear later in different posts.

08/24/15

Green June Bug

Green June Bug in August

Green June bug: although quite common here in the summer, I had never really looked at one until I caught a glimpse of something metallic blue as I took the garbage to the curb for pickup the next day. At first glance I thought maybe it was one of the metallic blue cutter bees I have seen here on roses in early spring. I got my camera, moved the dead insect out of crack in the sidewalk, and proceeded to photograph it. I had to get down on the ground to do it, and I just ignored the people who slowed down driving by who wondered what this woman was doing on the driveway.

It wasn’t until I turned it over that I realized it was a very common green June bug, a type of scarab beetle. The back view is not particularly impressive:

green June bug

Green June Bug, a scarab beetle

I had seen that view many times. It was the complexity and beauty of the underside that I had never seen before.

green June bug

Underside, Green June Bug

green June bug

Green June Bug: Beautiful in Its Complexity. “Facial” View, the Eyes Were Missing

Garden takeaway: green June bugs do not harm the garden.

Photography takeaway: you don’t always have to go looking for things to photograph; sometimes they just appear when people keep their eyes open. 🙂

Update: There are two species of Green June Bugs. The one that occurs in the West, from Texas to California (including New Mexico) may also be referred to as the Fig Beetle of Figeater Beetle. More info here. Thanks, Tim.

08/19/15

Green Rose

Green Rose, a Hybrid China

Green Rose really is a rose. It is a sport, or a mutation, made up of sepals. Its official American Rose Society color is “white,” something of a trick question on some of the practical exams to become an ARS Accredited Horticulture Judge. I have never seen this white part, but it doesn’t matter. I enjoy having this rose in my garden.

green rose

Green Rose, a China rose, discovery in US dated circa 1827

Not only is it interesting just to look at, but rose arrangers find it useful as line material in rose arrangements.

In a previous post I mentioned the discussion among friends regarding editing of images, and the use of jpg versus raw files. Here I would like to briefly mention composition. Rule of Thirds can be a very useful composition guideline in floral photography. Those of you who read here frequently know that it is a guideline I use in a wide variety of my photography. When photographing rose sprays, however, my personal preference for my own photography is symmetry and balance. I like to show the structure of the spray, and tend to photograph sprays from that perspective, rather than from the top down. To my eye, symmetry and balance is a good way to show both the structure and beauty of rose sprays, at least in many instances. This image of the Green Rose uses symmetry and balance.

Another example is my image of Dream Weaver:

Spray of Rose Dream Weaver

Spray of rose, ‘Dream Weaver.’ Image awarded ‘Queen’ (Photography) at the ARS Fall 2014 National Convention.

Green Rose, one of the unique roses in the roses in the rose world.

Happy World Photography Day! #worldphotoday

08/16/15

Beautiful Spider and Web

Spider and Web

This beautiful spider and its equally beautiful web greeted me one recent morning. The web had been woven overnight, and blocked my way from the patio to the remainder of the yard. Oh, well… I went in to get my camera, and then walked through the round garden to get to the other side, where the light was better for a photograph.

spider

Beautiful spider and web

Close up view:

spider

Beautiful spider and web, up close

Spiders of a wide variety are found in the gardens of the Desert Southwest. Here in Albuquerque, I expect to find beautiful webs such as this one, some stronger, some less strong, from August until a heavy frost. They may occur at other times, but this is the time I expect to see them. At times, I have had access to the front door blocked by a beautiful web I did not wish to destroy. This was the first web I have had that blocked usual access from the patio to the rest of the yard. Although I would have preferred its location to be elsewhere, I was happy to find such a beautiful web in the morning light.

08/13/15

Sphinx Moth

Sphinx Moth and More

The Sphinx Moth is one part of a life cycle that gives rise to what is known casually as a “tomato horn worm” (not a worm at all). But the critter referred to as such can destroy not only tomatoes, but other plants such as datura, in a very short period of time. The moth phase is the beautiful portion of that life cycle, IMHO (some entomologists might disagree 😉 ).

Recently, as I was picking some cherry tomatoes, I thought to myself how wonderful this year was in that I had not seen destructive activity on my tomatoes, pepper, or datura. Walking into the house with my harvest, what did I see? A sphinx moth! The moth is quite attractive, but spells trouble down the road for my tomatoes.

sphinx moth

Sphinx Moth

Of course, I had to photograph it. But, as I did, I noticed a very tiny moth on the stucco as well.

sphinx moth

Sphinx moth and another tiny moth

Time to get up close and personal.

small moth

Very small moth

I do not know the name of this small moth. I think its pattern is quite attractive, although not as complex as the sphinx moth.

The appearance of the sphinx moth has officially put me on notice to carefully watch the tomato, pepper, and datura for the appearance of the destructive “hornworms.” The beauty of the moth phase, however, cannot be denied.