Tag Archives: garden images

Nature Seeks to Heal a Wound: FOTD Feb 26, 2020

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See Cee’s gorgeous orchid here.

Palm Trees at Sunset

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Taken from my backyard. The sunsets have been incredible for the past month!!!

 

For Sunday Trees, 2/16/20

A Garden Walk with my Mother on her Birthday: FOTD Nov 16, 2019

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Two of my favorite people share today as a birthday. One is Forgottenman, who has, I hope, already received his photo tributes via Jibjab, but now I’m thinking about my Mother, who would have been 110 today if she had lived.

Recently I read a letter where she mentioned how when I was a baby I used to pick the heads off flowers and bring them to her. Misguided then, as I still am now in some matters, I have nonetheless learned to leave the flowers where they grow. I took a little walk in my garden today, Mother, imagining you were here with me, seeking out the flowers that are less profuse now than they were a few months ago.

Winter comes to Mexico as well, and although it cuts a less-wide swath, our cold snap seems to have inhibited the hibiscus and even the poinsettias, that should be fully in bloom by now. This is what you would have seen if you had been able to take my walk with me. If you click on the first photo, all of the photos will enlarge and you can go through them as a slide series and also read their captions:

 

Click on photos to enlarge.

This little begonia is easily overlooked.
Berries on the heavenly bamboo not for human consumption
This orange thunbergia is beautifully invasive.
The lipstick plant seems to bloom year round but is hard to photograph.
I almost missed these papaya blooms. In another month I hope to be eating the fruit beneath them.

 

 

For Cee’s Flower of the Day prompt.

Tweaking the Backyard

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A vine on the post supporting the terrace roof had grown so big that it totally blocked off access to the sidewalk from the terrace. Going down to turn off water to the pool, as a result, was a tricky and dangerous business, especially at night, when I had to step off onto an uneven area of dirt and plants.  I also had a whole set of lawn furniture I couldn’t use because the yard incline was too severe, the back legs sunk into the dirt, and I tipped over backwards when I sat down on them. Lastly, the junction of the two brick pathways had become a favorite digging site for the dogs.  Solution? A little brickwork and a few plants. 

Please click on first photo to see captions and enlarge all photos.

The maestros at work.
Wedding of the ways.
Parting of the ways.
Fourteen small shrubs and a few smooth stones filled out the junction
Payday makes for a happy maestro
I meant for this to be a bit more irregular. I can’t decide if it looks more like a footprint or a peanut.
A place in the shade. Scrabble, anyone?

 

(This post was done at the request of Forgottenman, who has been dying to see what is going on.)

Travel Grump

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Travel Grump

Look at all those spendthrifts paying for the view
as though it is a contest to spend their cash anew
on hotel after hotel, on safaris, tours and cruises–—
climbing up Mount Everest, amassing scrapes and bruises.
I’ll keep my money in my pocket. I’ve worked for it too hard,
and simply do my viewing here in my backyard.

Prompt words today are view, spendthrift , and contest.

Reflections: FOTD May 23, 2019

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Click on photos to enlarge view.

For Cee’s Flower of the Day prompt.

Lucky: The Pleasures of Advancing Age

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(Click on photos to enlarge.)

Lucky
(The Pleasures of Advancing Age)

If I were a golfer, I fear there’d be no putting,
for my grass is lush and verdant— badly in need of  cutting.
Meanwhile, the bougainvillea has gotten out of hand.
It’s like a barbed wire jungle—every twisted strand.
If I were more rambunctious, I’d grab work gloves and scramble
to gas up the mower and to tackle every  bramble,
but those days of industrious gardening are far back in my past.
Those Olympian feats of plant and tend simply didn’t last.
Instead I lie here in my bed growing and trimming words.
Outside, through the curtains, I hear the wakening birds.
I hear the front gate opening, make out the squeak of wheels.
Is there a single reader who detects how good it feels
to just fluff up the pillows and type on throughout the dawn
as Pasiano trims the thorny vines and mows the blasted lawn?

Prompt words today are verdant, meanwhile, rambunctious and lucky. Here are links:
https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2019/05/13/rdp-monday-verdant/
https://fivedotoh.com/2019/05/13/fowc-with-fandango-meanwhile/
https://onedailyprompt.wordpress.com/2019/05/13/your-daily-word-prompt-rambunctious-may-13-2019/
https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2019/05/13/lucky/

Layers: FOTD May 10, 2019

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For Cee’s FOTD

Flower of the Day: May 1, 2019

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Happy May Day!! No Maypoles in Mexico.  Here it is celebrated as Labor Day which means no one works. Ha.  I, however, will not use that as an excuse to shirk my duty. Here is a shot of Morrie and Diego enjoying the pleasures of the back yard. Diego sips from the biggest water dish in the world as Morrie seems to be in the act of sitting down, rather awkwardly, I might add.  In the foreground, the last of the poinsettias, in the middle, a plumeria/frangipani tree in full bloom, cactus, various bougainvillea, Virginia creeper and palms. This is the view from my writing desk. Not my usual flower closeup..

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And the jungle side of the view.

 

I always love Cee’s peonies.  You can see one HERE.

Pre-Flower Garden Collage: Flower of the Day, Sep 3, 2018

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IMG_2037When this new little hibiscus blooms, it will hopefully add some color to this area of the garden.  You can barely see it’s spindly little limb sticking up above the citronella, succulents and new bushy red plant. The cactus spine was one we collected in AZ to make a lamp out of before Bob died.  It has found a new purpose in this arrangement. The terra cotta cone is the top of a clay sculpture the animals knocked over and broke, now repurposed .