I wondered if I would get a sight like this by this weekend! Despite Storm Doris, I found this first tiny tête-a-tête daffodil today, next to some open, but rather battered, white crocuses. This makes spring another stage nearer, surely?
Just today, I found this advance on last week. It seems all the more like spring being not far away. There’s definitely something about flowers that typifies the triumph of gentleness in adversity. Three days of sleety rain didn’t stop these crocuses from putting in an appearance!
I was frantically looking for something even slightly festive for today’s picture. Sadly, the holly had no berries, and its leaves were only wet, instead of decked with snow. Then I found this. It has the rather imposing name of gaultheria procumbens. To you or me, that’s boxberry, eastern teaberry, or American wintergreen. That last name, I think, is quite a bit Christmassy. And the snow? We’ll just have to wait and see…
I think most of us would agree, we’ve been having a lot of weather lately. Cold, warm, fine, wet, clear, cloudy… you name it. What I caught in this picture is, no doubt, one of the many strange results. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything similar before!
It may be autumn, but in gardens, nature still has a good many delights. Once again, this is a picture from my father’s garden. These rose hips with a waxy sheen are the fruit of the delightful rose Rosa Rugosa the flowers of which I have shown on here previously.
I think the tinges of yellow and brown in the background foliage only makes them look more beautiful.
This picture was taken a day or two back, once again in my father’s garden. I like roses to be like this; you’ll notice these blooms aren’t perfect, according to the commercial notion of perfection. But they seem to just shout nature and floral beauty, and they have a delicate, but very present, scent. Only yesterday, I saw roses for sale, that had no scent, and looked almost artificial!
I took this photo only yesterday. It seems to show how I was feeling; it’s as if summer is already flying by. For many schoolchildren, the holidays have only just begun, yet many flowers are almost over. Thankfully, there are more following! The ‘bell’ of this campanula flower seems to be looking outwards at the two seed-heads. But hopefully there are still many good things to come.
OK… My usual theme, but with a variation: to find pretty patterns that repeat, you don’t have to go to a colouring book. They occur all around us! I took this picture of a hebe plant in full bloom just this morning. Nature got there before pop-art, yes?
I hope you won’t just get bored, when I keep posting pictures that fit the same theme! But this morning, I only had to step outside to find this – it’s actually part of a blueberry plant. That awesome and paradoxical combination of complexity, simplicity, and beauty in nature just absolutely stunned me, once again. Click on the image to enlarge it, and maybe, you’ll see what I mean.
Looking round my garden yesterday (June 18) I was glad to find these baby apples starting to swell. I’m hopeful of a good crop this year. From a photographic point of view, though, I love it when I can successfully capture some sense of the texture of something – in this case, that slight furriness, left from when the flower dies back to leave the beginnings of a fruit. Try clicking on the picture to enlarge it, and I think you’ll see what I mean. I’m not always successful, mind!
