Now this is bright!

Wow, I muttered, when this photo downloaded from the camera, my new Nikon.  Who saw that pink in the center of those New Guinea Impatiens?  Not you, I replied.  Right after a rain, these flowers are radiating color galore.  Imported from the tropics to the temperate zone and not an invasive species -- I give you the perfect potted, not to mention psychedelic, summer plant to cheer your day.

Speaking of color galore, try visiting City Daily Photo for all the responses to the August theme of Bright Colors.   This marvelous site inspired me to begin Fabius Day by Day.  It will give you an amazing trip around the world through the World Wide Web which is less exhausting than a plane or boat or bike or foot!
Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Can't quite get this right....for Weekend Reflections

Hosta leaves reflecting in the pond as well as gray sky, summer froggy and the "we live here all year now" goldfish resting or swimming about, all this for Weekend Reflections.  Enlarge by clicking on the photo.

Problems photographing this scene I gaze at so often: too many planes to focus and too much light contrast between the pond open to the sky and that part of it shaded by the roof.  (For full disclosure I should use quotes around pond.  They began life as horse troughs......)

Have I mentioned the Bouncing Bet?

In an earlier blog posting I listed all the wildflowers inhabiting our meadow.  And as promised I now belatedly bring you the "bouncing bet" for B on ABC Wednesday.  It is especially beautiful as it is beginning to open.  When in full bloom it loses the lavender you see in this blossom and is basically white.  Here is another site from Cook County, Illinois, detailing its pros and cons (somewhat poisonous to grazing animals) through recalling an abandoned farmhouse garden.  And like all my volunteers, Invasive.Org has it on the no-no list! 

In our strolls, and actually while simply standing on the front porch, we see wildflowers everywhere this year.  Did I just not take the time in previous summers to wonder at their being so abundant?  Even without camera in hand I am taking more time to look and to see what is growing all around us. And watchers of my blog know that this summer I cannot stop showcasing what some think of as weeds, invasive species no less.  I suppose they are if you do not want them in your garden or they are harming native species.  A neighbor has tried very hard to bring the meadows of his land back to original southern Michigan prairies.  It has proven very hard to do and I am sure he is bemoaning the lack of help from neighbors like me.  I just give up fighting them in the face of the overwhelming odds that they spread faster than I can hoe!

B's are everywhere this week on ABC Wednesday.  Be sure to visit!

My, how you have grown!

Yes, I am the Mullein and you have seen me before when I fought the frost and the frost didn't win (Frosty the Mullein from April).  So see me now, straight and tall, guarding the Queen Anne's Lace at my feet.  I have a smaller cousin, who some may think is more refined, and I will introduce him to you some time later.

My photographer has found yet another botanical site for learning more about me: Botanical.com, a Modern Herbal by Mrs. M. Grieve.  She calls me "Great" and tells that I was once used as lamp wick.  More importantly, I think, I could drive away evil spirits.

a beast among the beauties

It was various shapes and shades of green that attracted this wandering photographer.  The hosta, the ginger, the holly I knew were there, but only as I edited the photo did I recognize the beast lurking in their midst, the poison ivy with its three toothy leaves.  Along with every other plant this summer the PI is also abundant, hanging out along the edges of the paths and, most dangerously, amongst the wild berry patches.  Caution in reaching those large, luscious berries is a requirement of enjoying them this year!

gushing about another gorgeous wildflower

(Click on photo to enlarge)

So once more she's wild about a wild flower, the very orange butterfly weed, very officially Asclepias tuberosa, or, as she just discovered, also called the pluerisy root because its tough root (very long I am told, thus making it a difficult transplant) was chewed by Indians for pulmonary problems.  And finally it is part of the milkweed genus.  Check out the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center for more information and the opportunity to buy seeds.

the wild rose

Some summers they are there at the top of the drive but other summers they have disappeared.  They are not showy but what a pleasure when one appears.  And today with a visitor to boot.  Unlike my sister I cannot grow roses well, so I rely on the these wild volunteers for my at-home rose fix.

Learn more about wild roses (only five single petals is their calling card) from the founder of American Meadows seed company,  Ray Howard.

So fetching this vetch for ABC Wednesday

Crown vetch is everywhere blooming its heart out right now.   I was happy when it migrated off the banks of the neighbor's road into the meadow and it is all around the house now where I have kept the landscaping natural, i.e., no grass to mow.

But now I learn two facts: that it is not really a "vetch" but a legume and not really a good choice for ground cover or erosion control.  It may be fetching to some but it is a pest to many.  Originally from the countries bordering the Mediterranean and Southwest Asia, it is considered an invasive plant that will exclude native plants.  Indiana to the south of us actively discourages its use as do Wisconsin and Minnesota.  The City of Ann Arbor is trying to eradicate it.  It does climb over everything in its path.  Here it is climbing up the Russian Olive also considered an invasive species.  I am surrounded!  But maybe I am an invader, too?  Thoughts to ponder at night in the country as we try to get the right balance in our world.

For less musing and more amusing on ABC Wednesday, please visit the other contributors.

Can you stand one more spring bloom?!

Yes, finally, the rhododendron are blooming out here in the country.  What can I say, except, aren't they gorgeous?!  We have had fantastic rains several times in the last couple weeks and the growth produced by those waterings is wonderful.  The iris are the best in years with four blooms to each stalk and some are doubles.  The regular peonies are just starting to pop open.  Big debate in our family about whether it take ants on the buds for them to open.

Wonderful, unless you are the one who mows the paths during the heat wave that started yesterday with temperatures of 85 as far north as Grand Rapids.  Today the local weathermen are giddy with the thought of hitting 90 in May, warmer than we ever got last July.   Already Gene is muttering about when will fall come.

Red is for rhubarb on ABC Wednesday

A range of choices today: R for red or rhubarb or rhododendron or retriever or rusty, but always Rock n Roll!  (Speaking of which,  for fans of The Doors, there is a great documentary film on them on PBS American Masters.)

Ah, but back to my rhubarb plant for a minute.  Those luscious looking leaves are poisonous, but the tart red stalks make tasty pies and a rhubarb sauce on vanilla ice cream is scrumptious.  They are those though who refuse to go near a dish with rhubarb in it.   The rhubarb belongs to the Rheum genus and grows from rhizomes.  Could we get any more R's than this out of one image?!  Well, let's see: it has grown for centuries in Russia near the Volga River.  But the Chinese have used it for thousands of years; it is mentioned in an herb-root compilation from around 2700 BCE.   Check out this excellent Wikipedia article.

Find many more results for R at ABC Wednesday.  While you roam through the riveting blogs with images of R, enjoy a piece of refreshing rhubarb pie!

Beautiful iris

(Just click on the photo to enlarge)
But I cannot remember its name!  Does it really matter?  Perhaps contemplating its beauty is the important thing to do when encountering it.  It is a wonderful optimistic color even in the rain!  Cheeky, too, sticking out its tongue at its admirers.......

the snowball bush

Here it is the latest arrival among the blooming bushes, the snowball,  and it is one of my favorites.  (Do you, Miss Giddy with Spring, have any flowering bush you do not like, you could well ask?!)  I have loved the snowball since I was a child and played round it in my grandparents' yard.  One of life's little ironies to love a plant called snowball while celebrating the absence of snow.

Small but standing tall

The woods where they thrive are full of trillium this year.  And I am equally obsessed with these triple- leaved beauties as I am with dogwoods.  The major difference is that the trillium are much more elusive.  Thus my pleasure with the woods full of them that I have found thanks to Beth and Leilani.  I ran into Leilani this photographic trip as she was hunting for mushrooms.  We all have our obsessions!

Aspargus time at Corey Lake Orchards!

hmmm, hmmm, good!  Fresh from the fields is what you will get when you buy asparagus at Corey Lake Orchards.  Beth says "call ahead" as the recent cold nights have slowed the growth of asparagus.

These photos are from yesterday and show you the guys who get the asparagus out of the fields on this ingenious contraption built by Mr. Hubbard.

As you can see, we really need rain as well as warmer nights to help that asparagus grow.  Tonight asparagus, pancetta and penne!

Frosty the mullein

Another cold morning and this poor mullein was folded in on itself and sparkling with crystals of frost.  Truly beautiful!  We are in that period of spring when one day starts with 32 degrees or less and the next day will end with a temperature of 80.  Just when you think you put that winter coat away, don't!

What awaits

In the greenhouse at Corey Lake Orchards tomato plants abound and new fruit are forming from blossoms almost as you watch.  Oh, just the thought of the taste of homegrown tomatoes once more makes one's mouth water!

Rows of tomato plants in all their glory thanks to Mr. Hubbard who has already planted out 175 little ones in the field -- a sign of how far ahead we are this spring.  Or a sign of how far away we now feel winter cold is.  Keep your fingers crossed!