Weekends are for fruits and flowers: Part 1 (Warning: PIC HEAVY)

vAs people have time to look at pretty pictures on the weekends (or will just ignore these posts because they have better things to do during the weekend...can't blame them!) I decided to post some recent pics of the garden as I don't think I share the prettier side often enough.

This is during a time when I had time and get my artsy pics on.  (Click to enlarge pics btw, I kept most of them at medium for easier loading, but they're obviously better when expanded)

Surprise! I left a daikon radish in the ground too long and it flowered!

 Unexpectedly pretty purple geranium-like looking flowers to me

 

 The everbearing strawberries have all been in full bloom and looking healthier than before.  Many are starting to bear fruit, but it will take a while before they go from this:

 ... to luscious and red.  This one looks like it's got a bonnet on and has fingers to its lips in thought.

 Even the mache has cute little flowers, tiny ones that I am sure hoverflies will like.

Some waxy broccoli holding onto a drop of water

Sweet, sweet sugar pea!  It's relatively hot, but I suppose for their cool steeple shaped flowers and nitrogen fixing properties even not get a good crop is fine (I started them a bit late too anyways)

Sunny mustard flowers. Look like little butterflies.

The salad burnet, which is doing AMAZINGLY well from the winter into this weather is flowering for me for the first time. Meaning: I need to cut it back hard and as I don't think I will be using this like a mad woman the flowers will probably have to go because it makes the leaves tough (like they sort of are now... probably a good idea to split this baby too.  It's big and beautiful!)

My happy columbine!  Love these unusual flowers!

 Closeup:  (each flower bud just prior to blooming looks like an alien space ship or a squid or octopus!  

A whole bunch of them together looks like a school of them swimming in an ocean!)


Finally, for this last part I leave you with a hyacinth bean just emerging:

I am the WORST vs Ali's "The Greatest" (Ali wins hands and feet down)

Ice storms, writing deadlines, volunteering commitments, a lack of seed starting (surprise), and generally gloomy weather have kind of made my brain flat-line.

I suck at blog updates in the winter and am seriously wondering if I've got SAD or something because lack of warm sunlight and I feel like a puddle of mush.  A puddle of mush that just wants to hide under blankets.  Reminds me of genteel times when gentlemen would put coats over puddles for women to step on top of to cross a street or something. 

Except I'm the puddle and not the lady. 

Had a plan to write for the longest time about cold damage and with recent snows and ice storms sort of nudging me at that/poking me in the eye to say, "'Bout that time you planned to write a great blog article about terrible cold weather conditions, how to handle and prepare for them and repair damage... eh?"


So, I am sure that you all have seen a plethora of icy pictures as of late, and as I am late, maybe these icy pictures will still be fresh for you?
(PS click on any of the pics to make them bigger, some of them are quite nice that way)

(hurray, good to know, Bok choy is super hardy har har in the winter!)

(spiffy generic spirea, I think!)

(oak limbs with dripping icicle/stalagmites)

 

 (saffron leaves all individually iced over, click on it! Might make a nice desktop pic)

  

(The colors Duke!  Nandina with ice drops on the EDGES)

  

(Poor under-going vernalization rose... new shoots starting only to be greeted by the icy touch of winter)

  

 (Even the gnome/gremlins could not escape... it looks like the frogs have a freezing stare power!)

  

(more colors!  Fall/dying azalea leaves colors being magnified by the ice)

  

(same deal, less color, still pretty)

  

(Bad news, I'm a terrible gardener and left my hose AND wheelbarrow AND various door mats outside in the weather... just testing the durability of this hose's material... yes.)

  

(sugar gum maple ball!)

 

Hope this was a decent update and until then, I am giving my brain some serious CPR and getting my butt into the local seed shop to pick up good potting soil for seeds.  Alas, no soil blocker this year for seed starting, but yes... I'll get you my pretty!

Do you see what I see? Artsy pics of fungus and things (WARNING: image heavy!)

When off on my trip last month I captured a few snapshots of things I wanted to share from my parents-in-law's property.  Mostly they're images of fungus, lichen and moss that remind me of other things which I will suggest below the pics.  Granted fungi  and lichen are not plants, but we all sort of like to lump 'em there.  (Click on the pics for better resolution of the prettiness!)

Here it looks like it is, fungi on a tree stump!

A closer peak and you can see the stripes and whorls and texture, a little fuzzy but pine cone-like? Sadly, it also reminds me of swirls of bacon (<---always hungry for bacon!)

The cold setting makes the fungus remind me of stone, like an agate!

It's so ruffly! Icing on a cupcake or an autumn tu-tu?

I like this detail and angle.

Pure texture here.  Makes me think of something Martian/alien; a mars'-scape.

This one made me think of stylistic Chinese clouds.

Just likin' the lichen! Reminds one of coral sea reef.

...with sea urchins!

Lots of them! on a stony ocean floor.

Moss/sea urchin city!

Monolithic  acorn caps!

 

The colors, Duke!

Just stumped by the texture. A bit circle labyrinthian.

Hope you enjoyed seeing things from my point of view!

Sunshine and lolly-pops...

Going a bit nuts getting things prepared for impending closer to Thirty-ness n' family n' stuff as we celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas all as one holiday (so difficult when you only get to be with them about once a year at major holidays!)

Anyways, allow me distract you with this:

It was a pretty day and I felt like taking some art shots with the squirrel sown sunflowers.

It always seems like there are a million pics of sunflowers in their namesake yellow petaled glory, so I felt like bucking the trend and taking some intimate pics of them in bud or just prior to them bursting open.

I know a bunch of these look really similar but if you click on the pics and blow them up there are subtle differences that I like.

The slight open buds make me think of slightly pinched faces and I love the curved tendril-iness of the sepals and small little hairs.

This one is a bit off kilter, but I figured it would make a nice desktop background if anyone was interested.

A little "cold" filter on a couple just for contrast made it look frosty indeed and I liked the effect a lot!

Hope you enjoyed!