Monday, May 17, 2010

Around the Garden 05/17/10


Jamie and I were out working in the garden a little this weekend. I was trying to catch up on a little cleaning and Jamie was busy planting some annuals. He got some beautiful African Marigolds, a few of his Petunias and three ‘Firewitch’ Dianthus planted. I had gone over to inspect the Louisiana iris because we are getting ready to do some serious thinning out and I found this beautiful guy.

Dragonfly1


Look at those beautiful pearl colored eyes and the pretty blue spot above his jaws. Those gold wings shimmer just like little jewels.

Dragonfly2



Dragonfly3


In another area of the garden two of the clematis have managed to escape the wrath of the weedeater. This one is called ‘Galore’. The blooms were much bigger last year. I’ve been afraid to throw out any fertilizer this season for fear Maxx will eat it. He eats everything. He has a special fondness for garden spiders and pieces of bath towels right now.

Galore


We have a couple of late blooming azaleas in our garden. This first one is ‘Gumpo White’. It’s a very compact plant and we purchased them for that very reason.

Gumpo White


Here it is again coupled with some yellow ‘Anblo’ Yarrow blooms that have fallen over on the top.

Anblo and Gumpo


Another late bloomer is ‘Cascade Pink’ it stays very low to the ground and can spread to about six feet in perfect conditions.

PInk Cascade1


This plant is 3 feet wide and only about 11 inches tall. It’s almost like a ground cover.

Pink Cascade3


‘Pink Cascade’

Pink Cascade2

22 comments:

Antique ART Garden said...

Is that an actual picture of a dragonfly you took ? It looks like a Tiffany jewelry piece. Are you a professional photographer ?!! That picture is amazing, not a staged piece of jewelry huh ? ha, too fun. Garden looks lovely, Gina

Randy said...

Yea Gina,
He's real and no I'm not a professional. I just get lucky sometimes and he was very cooperative. :-)--Randy

Darla said...

Dragonflies are so fun to photo. Yours a spectacular. Framing quality I say! Your flowers are looking great guys...I'm still thinking I want some of that vine, just can't think were to grow it..

Unknown said...

Your garden is putting on a spring show just for you. Thanks much for letting the rest of us see it as well.
Your dragonfly pic is great! Tis just another talent you have.

sweetbay said...

Wow Randy, those shots of that gorgeous dragonfly are the best I've ever seen. I've never seen a dragonfly with eyes that color before, they are really extraordinary!

Southern Lady said...

That has to be the best dragonfly picture I have ever seen. I have a lot of blue ones, but none that beautiful. Carla

Barbarapc said...

I've never seen a green dragonfly - it's just so lovely. I hope you make a print for your desk. I'm so jealous of your azaleas - absolutely gorgeous. With the clemmies find that here anyway, the size will vary year to year - with or without new compost. They seem to run on a 3-year cycle - good, better, best & repeat.

Roses and Lilacs said...

Spiders are cheaper than dog food:) I'm frightened of fertilizer too. A friend had a cat get very, very sick from licking lawn fertilizer off her paws.

Love those little azaleas. Would love to grow them here but they don't like the climate or the soil.
Marnie

F Cameron said...

Fabulous dragonfly

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Wow, that dragonfly is something else. I have never seen such a thing. The gold does make it look like a brooch. Something I would love to have. That short but wide azalea is a beauty too.

compost in my shoe said...

Amazing flowers on that azalea. What are you feeding those things? The good old fashioned manure never made anyone sick including the dogs!

Les said...

I'll second and third the comments about how nice the dragon fly close-up is.

tina said...

Such pretty shots and like you haven't heard it enough, awesome dragonfly-good photographer!

Jamie, Randy and Maxx said...

I'll have to admit, I was pretty stunned myself of the size and coloration of the dragonfly. He was sitting on our irises just as pretty as you please saying, "All right, Mr. De Mille, I'm ready for my close-up." Gorgeous creature to see first hand.

Bob said...

WOW, that dragonfly close up is unbelievable. it's truely the best I've ever seen. I do about the getting lucky part though. For other good bug close ups you should check out East Side Patch blog. Philip takes some pretty darn good close ups as well. I can never get close enough for those close ups. You guys must camo or something.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Great picture of the dragonfly, Randy....

Love your Clematis. Ours hasn't bloomed yet. And those 'ground' Azaleas are NEAT. Don't think I've seen that variety before.

Have a great Thursday.
Betsy

Chandramouli S said...

Whoa! That's lovely, Randy, with those silvery wings! Aren't there pet-safe fertilizers?? Not sure if there's something like that, but your blooms would do awesome with some extra food.

John Jardin said...

That winged guy is fantastic! And your shot is stunning. Very nice photos!

F Cameron said...

(I had to return to see these photos on the large screen of my MacBook instead of the tiny iPod that I had with me in France! It allowed me to keep up somewhat, but I still missed the impact of the big pictures!)

You have truly great captures of nature!

Gail said...

Stunning photos Randy! gail

Window On The Prairie said...

Oh wow, love the pics of the dragonfly. Macro? And if so, how did you get close, without him getting spooked?
Suzanne

Randy said...

Hi Suzanne!
Welcome to creating out Eden. Yes, I use macro to take the picture. He got a little skiddish a couple of times, but for some reason I have a way with dragonflies. They tend to light on me alot. Sometimes I can hold my hand out and they will actually fly down to it. I have no clue why. LOL -- Randy

To everyone else, thanks for the wonderful comments. I use to do alot of my blog reading at lunchtime, but now I'm not able to do that any more. So I may be a little less visible until I get a 4G connections for my laptop. Dang those darn IT people! LOL