Monday, November 30, 2009

End of month view - November 2009.

A few months ago I joined in with Helen from The Patient Gardener's Weblog and chose a spot in my yard to take an end of month picture. Since this it at the entrance to the front of my house I thought it would be a great place to focus on and see what might need changing.

It was interesting to go back just one month to see the changes. Last month there were still some leaves on the Japanese Maple and many on the ground below the tree. Since then the rest of the leaves have fallen and most of the leaves raked. I've gotten the bulbs in the ground and some Violas planted as well. After looking at these pictures I see that the hydrangeas could do with some pruning, but I won't prune them back until very early Spring.

Hardy fuchsia 'Pat's Dream' is still blooming.

Another difference this month is the Hydrangea leaves changing to a yellowish-gold color. It's difficult to see in this picture the pretty red color of the new branches on the Japanese Maple 'Orido Nishiki'. They definitely add some color to this area.

Most of the flowers on 'Nikko Blue' have become an extremely pale shade of blue, except for this late bloomer. I've cut several flowers off to bring in for some color inside this winter.

It's hard to believe in one month it will be the end of 2009, and the eve of a new year starting. I wonder if we'll have had our first hard frost by then or maybe even some snow?

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Not bad for the end of November!

I've always said I love gardening in the Pacific Northwest. We are very lucky to have a fairly long growing season. While in the early spring it sometimes feels like it's taking forever for much to happen, it's the late fall and early winter time that I realize just how much will still grow and bloom here into November and December. I think many gardeners around here garden almost year round. Except for the days that we have some very cold weather or snow, there's almost always something I can find to do outside. I once read that if the ground isn't frozen you can still move plants around here, and believe me I do.
So when I saw that it wasn't raining outside today and we had no other plans I of course decided to do a little cleanup and take a look around the yard.
These are some of the buds and blooms I found in the front yard today:

An 'Endless Summer' bloom that's still hasn't changed to pink like the rest of the flowers on the shrub.

Rose 'Kimberlina' has had this bud for awhile, but it's just decided to bloom. There are several other buds as well.

An unknown pink Pentstemon. This plant died all the way to the ground this past winter which is unusual for them in my garden. It will probably bloom until the first hard freeze.

The $2 Penstemon 'Raven' has the most gorgeous deep purple blooms. The camera really didn't capture the color very well.

If you want an easy rose that blooms forever and has the glossiest green leaves then Flower Carpet Roses are a great choice. It is loaded with buds and flowers and I think it will also bloom until the temperatures drop into the freezing range.

No flowers here, but look at the vibrant color of Bloody Dock (Rumex sanguineus). I planted this months ago but the surrounding plants covered it and I forgot all about it until today. It's hardy in zone 6a - 8b so it should overwinter here. If it survives it will get moved to a much better place.

Rudbeckia hirta 'Rustic Colors' is still managing a few little flowers.

Hellebores (H. orientalis) all seem to be pushing their buds up almost a month early. These are one of my favorites. I remember buying these many years ago and my husband being shocked at the price. They've been worth every cent and I've gotten quite a few seedlings which have been moved into my backyard.

And last is the cute little Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium). It was plopped in this spot at the end of summer after not looking too happy in the pot I had it in. It seems to like where it is now, I was surprised to see blooms on it now.

What a nice way to finish off a busy weekend to see so much color outside.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Hummingbird in sports mode.

While the flowers have pretty much finished for the season I've been focusing more of my picture taking on the different birds in my yard. The hummingbirds, as many people know, are some of the most difficult to take pictures of. We've had quite a bit of hummingbird activity lately here. Over the last three or four years I've noticed that the Anna's hummingbirds stay here through the winter. They love the hardy fuchsias and Abelias, but I also keep the feeders freshly filled. If we ever do have a heavy frost or freeze the fuchsias will be no longer be blooming and I want them to have a place in my yard for them to get a drink.
I've taken pictures of hummingbirds before, and gotten some pretty good pictures for a "point and shoot", but the one thing I've had difficulty in doing is getting more than one shot before they fly away. Now that I have my new camera (new since around May), a Canon Powershot SX10 IS, to use this winter I've been trying all different settings to see what works the best.

Perched in a resting spot in a tree in the schoolyard, this female Anna's hummingbird rested between visits to our feeder.

I've been trying everything to capture them, but they are so fast that it's hard to get a good shot.

Not long ago Kathleen mentioned taking some bird photos in Sports mode on her camera. That made perfect sense to me. So I changed my setting to the Sports mode to see what would happen. All of these pictures are taken in that setting.

Although the lighting wasn't the best I was able to capture quite a few shots in this mode. I was able to take continuous shots which is something that I've had hard time getting my camera to do in other settings.

I hadn't been able to capture a wing in mid flight before, so the Sports mode really helped. I've read reviews on my camera and found that others saw the same thing in Sports mode, not the most clear but able to capture continuous action photos . In this review I read that using the Aperture Priority mode ISO 80 took a much more clear picture.

The main reason I got this camera was to take pictures of my family, and with one daughter already in sports I want to be able to take some clear action pictures of her. Basketball season has just begun and now thanks to the hummingbird I'll have some experience with the sports mode. I'll also be trying the Aperture setting mentioned above and see what the differences are.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Thankful.

I'm one of those people who peeks out the curtain every morning to see what the weather is like. Lately it's been the same thing every morning, rainy and dark. What a beautiful surprise I had this morning when I looked out and saw the pink skies from the sunrise.

The sun cast a pink glow over everything.

I loved how it illuminated the trees from behind.

It was difficult to capture Mt. Rainier during the sunrise because of the lighting, but the lower foothills of the Cascades were visible.

It's always surprising how fast the sky changes while the sun is rising. I stood in the front yard to soak in the pink glow, it was amazing.

About 2 hours later you could see all the snow on Mt. Rainier. Just breathtaking!

How thankful I am to be able to take the time to enjoy this beauty!

It was never completely clear of clouds this morning, but it was bright and dry. So bright that the Littlest Gardener brought me her bathing suit to put on her and was quite upset that it wasn't as warm as it looked.
I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving that will be celebrating tomorrow. We'll not only be celebrating Thanksgiving, but my nephew's first birthday. I am so lucky that my whole family will be there, including my sister and her family from Idaho.