08/12/17

Albuquerque August

Albuquerque August: the smell of roasting chiles, frequent afternoon monsoon showers and occasionally heavy rains, the last days of the rufous hummingbirds, and a view toward the State Fair, Balloon Fiesta, and arrival of the sandhill cranes and other migratory birds. August suggests the coming of fall in New Mexico, one of the truly magical seasons here. But, August has magic of its own!

A typically beautiful sunrise one August morning, calm and colorful. The afternoon brought a 1.5 inch rain to my house, very welcome and needed moisture! However, the flash flooding that followed resulted in one known death yesterday. Stay away from arroyos, and don’t drive through running water on a roadway!

August Sunrise. Late Afternoon Brought a Monsoon Rain!

I planted cosmos somewhat late this year, and they are beginning to bloom. They are a lot of fun to photograph. The goldfinches will soon be playing in them, eating seeds. The black-chinned hummingbirds, who stay later than the rufous, will enjoy the nectar of these flowers until they head south. I just enjoy photographing cosmos.

Cosmos – Another August Flower in Albuquerque

The sunflowers are in full bloom, and attracting many very busy bees. These bees are laden with pollen!

Albuquerque August: Bright Sunflower and Busy Bees!

More August Sunflowers

06/17/17

More Price Garden, Corrales

More of the Price Garden, Corrales

The Price Garden is always fun to revisit, even if only in the form of images. Today was the hottest day of 2017 to date in Albuquerque. It was nice to be in and working on photographs. These images were taken in May of this year.

A David Austin Shrub Rose:

David Austin Shrub Rose

‘Belinda’s Dream,’ also a shrub rose, even though it sometimes masquerades as something else 🙂

Shrub Rose, ‘Belinda’s Dream’

On this very warm day of late Spring, almost to official Summer, the beautiful blues project a feeling of cool:

Beauty in Blue

Beauty in Pink and Blue:

Beauty in Pink and Blue

Thank you, Tim and Laurie!

06/3/17

The Price Garden, Corrales

The Price Garden in Corrales is as interesting and as beautiful as the Rio Grande bosque on which it is located. Those of you who read my other blog, Susan Brandt Graham Photography, know how much I love to photograph there. Gardening on their property presents benefits and challenges that are different from those in the NE Heights sections of Albuquerque. On the positive side, given its location along the Rio Grande, the water table is not so far from the surface. They have irrigation access, a part of the old New Mexico acequias system. Those of you who read Tim’s blog, Off Center and Not Even, know that he often is up in the middle of the night to open the gates and later to close them. Sometimes there is adequate water, sometimes there isn’t. More challenging, at least in my opinion, are the temperature extremes at night, especially in the winter. “Cold air sinks,”and that is readily observable at their home. I always keep a jacket handy, even in summer, if I plan to be there in the evening. Winter nighttime temps are often 20 degrees colder than at my home. In other places I have discussed the microclimates and environments of the area, and the abundance of Dr Huey roses in Corrales. With a lot of hard work, Tim and Laurie have a beautiful garden that fits well into the natural landscape. I was fortunate to be able to photograph it twice in May, 2017. These are just a few of the images.

Colorful Beauty

Garden Study in Orange

David Austin Rose

Betty Boop, Fourth of July, and Purple Salvia against Adobe Wall

Rose ‘Ballerina,’ a very hardy hybrid musk

Rose ‘Ballerina,’ a Very Hardy Hybrid Musk

Price Garden, Roses

Price Garden, Peonies

Price Garden, Dr Huey, Bamboo, iris, gorgeous light!

This just a glimpse at the Price Garden, and over time I will post more images of their wonderful, peaceful, inviting garden. This is the best of natural, sustainable gardening in a very challenging spot in the Desert Southwest, Corrales in the bosque. I hope you have enjoyed this brief tour.

04/26/17

Gardening Challenge Coming

A gardening challenge in the way of a very late and possibly hard freeze this weekend is headed to the Albuquerque area. The “average frost free date” for much of the time I have been here has hovered around April 15. Late freezes are not entirely unknown, however. We had a hard freeze in May of 2005. An Arrangement School was held at the same time as the Albuquerque Rose Show at the end of May. I still smile at the number of “Betty Boop” roses featured in rose arrangements that year, as well as in the show itself. That happened before we had rose photography in our rose shows. Floral photography does allow shows to thrive even with all the challenges of gardening.

This year, many of my roses have bloomed earlier than usual. However, I have a couple that I have babied that will be damaged by a hard freeze now. I’m also a little worried about the developing peaches and pears in my yard. I’ll keep an eye on the forecast and see what I can do to protect some of the plants.

Tim and Laurie, whom many of you know, face more difficult and frequent challenges in their gardening in Corrales, along the banks of the Rio Grande. However, once the freezes end in the spring, their property is full of lush floral growth.

These following images are from their yard in mid-May of 2016.

Beautiful Climbing Roses

Iris

More Iris

Even More Iris

Even More Beautiful Iris

For those in the Albuquerque area, watch the weather forecasts. Good luck with your tender plants if the late hard freeze really happens.

04/4/17

ANMPAS 2017 – A Reminder

ANMPAS 2017, the Annual New Mexico Photographic Arts Show, is now open and runs through April 23. The show is in the Fine Arts Building at EXPONM. Hours are 10:00am-5:00pm daily, except closed on Easter Sunday. If you live in Albuquerque, or will be passing through the Albuquerque area, consider visiting the show. I think you’ll enjoy it. All photographs are framed and available for purchase.

2017 ANMPAS. “Fruit of Ancient Myths.”

(For those of you who read at my other blog, Susan Brandt Graham Photography: A Southwest Point of View, I am posting the same notice there. I wanted to warn you about the double post.)

For those of you who do not read at my other site, I invite you to see a variety of my other pomegranate images, as well as rose images and two from “Persephone’s Choice: Every Woman’s Dilemma.” These were published in the March/April Shadow and Light Magazine, Tim Anderson, editor. Tim was kind enough to allow me to use a pdf of my portfolio published there, as the Featured Photographer and Grand Prize Winner of the 2017 Color It Red Contest. Thanks, Tim, and also to the jurists.

03/11/17

Daylight Savings Time Tomorrow!

Daylight Savings Time Starts Tomorrow!

Daylight Savings Time starts tomorrow. “Spring Forward, Fall Back.” Be sure to set your clocks an hour ahead before you go to bed…or not. These days I often change them in the morning. I do try to catch sunrise, and in this image you can see quite clearly where the sun will rise.

March Sunrise

Wishing you a beautiful sunrise!

02/8/17

2017 ANMPAS in April

2017 ANMPAS: “Fruit of Ancient Myths”

2017 ANMPAS – Annual New Mexico Photographic Art Show – will open with a reception on April 1 and run through Sunday, April 23, 2017. The show will be held in the Fine Arts Building at EXPONM, the State of New Mexico Fairgrounds.

This April I am pleased to be showing “Fruit of Ancient Myths” as a 16×20″ print. I thank the 2017 jurists.

2017 ANMPAS – “Fruit of Ancient Myths”

The Annual New Mexico Photographic Art Show features photographic artists who are residents of New Mexico. Accepted entries have gone through a rigorous jury process. LeRoy Perea began ANMPAS as a way for photographers in New Mexico to showcase their work in a gallery setting. Begun as one show each year, it rapidly expanded to two shows a year, and may, at some point, reach three. Until 2017, the “main” ANMPAS show was held in December. Ïnsight New Mexico” for women photographers was added in April several years ago. In December of 2016, things were mixed to add variety. The December show was a pure black and white show. The main 2017 ANMPAS show will be held in April. I do not yet know what the show in December will feature.

You might be wondering, “why is this on a gardening site?” I began this site years ago about growing roses. Over time, I became interested in photographing roses, which led to the PSWD Guidelines for Judging Rose Photographs. My interest in photography has branched into many areas, but I still enjoy pushing the envelope with botanicals. These pomegranates were grown by my mother. I photographed them – many of them – for the conceptual series, “Persephone’s Choice.” Now I am taking time to enjoy the pomegranates themselves, apart from the conceptual series.

For those of you in the Albuquerque area, I hope you’ll visit 2017 ANMPAS this April.

09/12/16

Late Summer Flowers

The Earth Laughs with Flowers ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Late summer flowers in the Middle Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico are magnificent.

Cosmos in Corrales

Visiting with friends Tim and Laurie is always fun. Visits usually include Tim and I photographing, and Laurie sketching. This weekend was no different. Our “photographic expeditions and excursions” are on temporary hold. However, we make the most of what is locally available. Their property always has great photo ops, but their Lively Meadow is especially lively in late summer.

A forest of sunflowers greets the arriving visitor. As I was driving into Corrales, I almost stopped to photograph some sunflowers growing along the highway. I laughed at myself as I drove into their property. I was also glad I did not stop along the highway!

Sunflowers

The tall sunflowers provide a natural backdrop for the cosmos.

Sunflowers and Cosmos

Cosmos are a riot of color. The little blue flowers are morning glories.

Colorful Cosmos

Laurie sketched while Tim and I photographed.

Laurie Sketching

Later, as we always do, we went back to the house and deck.

Tim and Spunk:

Tim and Spunk

On the deck and outdoor kitchen:

Tim Relaxing

Laurie

I don’t know how or why, but something a little special and always unpredictable seems to appear at just the right time. I love this beautiful, sparkly little damsel fly that visited the butterfly bush as we were enjoying conversation on the deck.

Damsel Fly

A beautiful late summer day with friends and flowers.

07/26/16

Sunflower and BIG Bee

Update from Baldo Villegas, regarding identification:

this is not a carpenter bee. This is an anthophorid bee. This group of bees are famous for pollinating sunflowers. The males have longer antennae than the females and this is usually how I recognize them right away. Unfortunately, I can’t see the antennae from the picture so my guess is that it is a female.

I’ll be working to get a better image showing the antennae!
Thank you, Baldo!

Sunflower and big bee, and a beautiful blue New Mexico sky! I was out photographing goldfinches playing on the spent sunflowers and cosmos, enjoying the seeds and showing it. This time of year I see a lot of pollinators on most of the flowers in the yards, buzzing around, very busily. Sometimes I specifically photograph them. But, this particular day I was focusing on the goldfinches.

As I sat on my porch enjoying a quiet afternoon, I saw what, at least from a distance, appeared to be a HUGE bee. I’m used to the black and yellow “bumble bees,” and the smaller brown and yellow bees. But this had the appearance of a brown and yellow bee, but very large, and spending a lot of time working a sunflower. Finally, I had to investigate more closely, even though I knew the birds would fly, at least for a bit.

Sunflower and Large Bee

As you can see, this was, indeed, a very large bee. And, it had been very busy! It was covered with pollen it had collected from the sunflower. I think it may be a male carpenter bee, although I need to check this identification.

Under any circumstances, it was a new bee for me, and certainly caught my eye even though I thought I would focus on birds that particular day.

06/27/16

Gardens and Friends

Gardens and Friends: A Day in Corrales with Friends and Family and Friends of Friends

Gardens and friends – gardens are such a wonderful gathering spot for family and friends in the summer. Regular readers here know how much I love to visit with the Price family in their Corrales garden, as well as our “photographic expeditions” to various places. We frequently end those travels back at their home and garden. I have rarely shown all the socializing that goes on in that garden and on the deck. Yesterday was a day for being in the garden and visiting with friends and with friends and family of friends. It ended, as it always does, with wonderful food, drink, and conversation in the outdoor garden kitchen.

I always love driving down the little lane to Tim and Laurie’s home – it is so Corrales!