Nature

Wild flax flowers, 6 August

by Lizl Bennefeld
Wild Flax in Raindrops © Elizabeth Bennefeld, 2018-08-06
Wild Flax in Raindrops © Elizabeth Bennefeld, 2018-08-06

During the night hours, a thunderstorm came through the area. When I first took the Scampers out for the before-breakfast outing, I brought along my camera. In the course of taking photographs, I found raindrops coming down once more. Lovely!

Wild Flax in Raindrops © Elizabeth Bennefeld, 2018-08-06
Wild Flax Flower #6171
Wild Flax Flower #6163
Wild Flax #6160
Wild Flax Flower

The top photograph and the other wild flax flower that resembles it are growing in the south side garden, where I was in despair that nothing would grow, this year. I’ve more Baby’s Breath, a number of Blue Wild Flax, and the Plains Coreopsis; I am under the impression that the one version of the Wild Flax is annual and the other, perennial, but I do not know which, anymore. I do know that the flax plants that have the larger, smoother petals reseed like crazy. Only one of the other type showed up in this year’s backyard garden.

The only moth that I spotted today was resting on the outside of the back door, protected by the storm door. A smaller version of the other that I recently posted (on one of my blogs), but a bit darker and with sharper markings. (Ach! I will see if that photo is also close at hand.)

This morning’s moth
Advertisements

Insects and Flowers, 4 & 5 August 2018

by Lizl Bennefeld
Cabbage Butterfly
Ladybug Wings
Green Grasshopper
Honeybee, On the Edge
Honeybee in a Poppy Flower

The weather was stormy, earlier in the week, with small clusters or lines of thunderstorms and rainclouds. This is the time of the year when the wildflowers die off in my garden. There are lots of seed pods on the blue wild flax stems. I do not know about the coreopsis, other than a few have appeared that might be from the second sowing of seeds, a few weeks back.

In the side garden, I’ve got mostly weeds, but a couple of Baby Breath plants have flowered, and also a Plains Coreopsis. Waiting to see if anything else appears from those seeds. They are supposed to be drought tolerant, once they germinate. Below are a few photos from my last outing with the Scampers, this evening.

The Scampers, Oblivious
Rabbit
Wildflowers
Plains Coreopsis
Baby’s Breath

I expect that ragweed season will soon begin, if it hasn’t already. I’ve just changed the filter in the air cleaner in my room, after Al gave it a good cleaning out. Hoping that if I stay inside on the breezy days and exercise in the gazebo (glass all around and equipped with a fan to maintain the direction of the air flow), my breathing will loosen up, again.

Hate giving up the out-of-doors for any reason, for any length of time, however short.

New Day, New Flowers

by Lizl Bennefeld

 

Wild Flax
Poppy in the Garden
Flowers at the Gate
Hidden

dawn’s deep shadows
lighten as breezes flow
clouds fade away

the dogs have overslept and
now the rabbit takes his nap

Copyright © 2018-07-29, by Elizabeth W. Bennefeld.

I expect to be in the back yard, again, this second day of the Air Show, waiting for the Blue Angels to fly overhead. During their rehearsal on Friday, they came right over the house. The joys of living in an airport’s flight path. The rattling windows!

And the skies cleared…

by Lizl Bennefeld
Coreopsis lanceolata

The sky was cloudy, and there was a mist of rain carried by gusty winds, until into the early afternoon.  Then the winds died down and the sky cleared. Throughout the afternoon, I listened to the sounds of the airplanes going past as pilots timed and rehearsed their acts for the air show, this weekend. Too many mosquitoes, today, for me to sit outside and watch for the jets speeding past. They’ve another day for practicing, and so I might get out there tomorrow. Or wait for the shows on the weekend days. Normally we (our house) are close to the flight paths, so we have good views. (I dug out the weather-spotting binoculars, a few weeks ago.)

These photographs were taken just before the Scampers’ five o’clock dinner. I (unfortunately) frightened the resident rabbit away from the side garden (which has not managed to produce flowers, this summer).  Thadd only took notice as the rabbit’s hind feet disappearing around the corner of the neighbor’s garage. After the dogs ate, we went outside, again, and I managed three and a half miles on the exercise bike in the gazebo. Far short of yesterday’s sixteen miles; perhaps I will have opportunity after the Scampers are in their kennels for the night.

yellows and oranges
rays of the sun soon to set
backlit petals glow

next after last, days go by
their glow passes…petals drop

Copyright © 2018-07-26, by Elizabeth W. Bennefeld.

After the storms

by Lizl Bennefeld

We had a number of thunderstorms. (I slept through two Code Red storm alert calls, the phone within 30 inches of my head.) Tuesday night’s took out most of the Sweet Williams and in the early morning, a lot of the day’s new blooms. The rain has, however, encouraged some new flowers. The pollinators were also in evidence.

Some of my favorites from the past few days, now. Clicking on the photo and likewise on the attachment page should bring you to a larger version of the picture.

4 July 2018

Coreopsis tinctoria (golden tickseed)
Bee, another Coreopsis Lanceolata
Bee and Coreopsis Lanceolata
Bllue Wild Flax

5 July 2018

Blue Wild Flax & Hoverfly
Coreopsis tinctoria & Bees
California Poppy
Blue Wild Flax
Coreopsis tinctoria
Blue Wild Flax, Morning Light

3 July 2018

California Poppies
Monday’s Thunderstorm
Storm Clouds
California Poppies

While the U.S. Independence Day fireworks (illegal, but omnipresent) were loud, including someone shooting off the stuff on the street in front of our house, the Scampers and I weathered the noise. I put on some opera music (mostly tenor arias and operatic songs), and the dogs soon fell to sleep. I later switched to Mozart symphonies, and they napped until it was time for their last snack and outing and into their kennels for the night. I am quite happy that the celebration is over for another year.

Our dogs are accustomed to joining us in the gazebo for thunderstorms, and so the loud noises do not upset them. I jump when the strikes are too close. When we were children, we lived in a large house on a double lot that had ten or more gigantic cottonwood trees that inevitably drew lightning strikes. And we would be out in it, since the water buildup in the basement window wells (we started out living in a “basement house”, the main floor not added until the ’50s), with our little buckets, bailing out the water before the windows could pop open and send the water into the living room, bathroom, and bedrooms. Such fun!

A Photo a Week Challenge: From Below

by Lizl Bennefeld
The Gathering
Decisions, Decisions
Homing In
Settling In to Natter

The crows were unusually quiet, this morning, before they’d settled on a treetop to gather in. It is not often that they settle in a tree this close to our house.

Best wishes for your week!

A thank-you to Nancy Merrill for A Photo a Week Challenge: From Below.