Random Photo: Lantern Light

Wordless Wednesday 113: Garden Trellis



Garden Trellis and Russian Sage ~ October 12, 2013




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Create With Joy

Wordless Wednesday 111: Sit a Spell

A variety of chairs and benches are scattered
throughout Olbrich Botanic Gardens, Madison, WI.



LINKING TO:

Wordless Wednesday

Create With Joy

Thursday Thirteen 304: Olbrich Botanical Gardens

Last week I shared a few of my butterfly photos taken on a visit to Olbrich Botanical Gardens last month. Today I thought I'd share a few photos taken in some of the outer gardens.

Flamingo Feathers

Chocolate Daisy--and yes, it really smells like chocolate!

Waterfall in Rock Garden

Grape Arbor

Quick Fire Panicle Hydrangea

LINKING TO: Thursday Thirteen

Fairy Gardens

Fairy gardens seem to be all the rage these days, with classes, books and websites devoted to them. When I asked a friend if she had heard of them, and showed her a few photos online, I had no idea what I was doing. She has become infatuated with the idea and immediately did up a small one in a terrarium for work. Last weekend she created two more, with -- I confess -- a little help from me.

First up, a small one done for a friend's birthday. We found the tree stump pot at Menard's, where we also picked up a few herbs. We found the bench at Wisconsin Craft Market, which we stained and waterproofed along with the cabin in the larger garden we did. I found the fairy at Johannsen's.

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And this is the one K made for herself. It is in an old fire pit, repurposed as a planter. We're not sure how the assortment of plants are going to do as 1) they were not marked as indoor/outdoor 2) they were not marked as sun, shade, or partial and 3) the containers did not even have plant names, but were only labeled as "tiny plants, assorted." Yeah...so helpful.

We found the log cabin at Wisconsin Craft Market, and picked up the some of the other items at Hobby Lobby. Glass stones make up the river, and we have some tiny birdhouses to mount on twigs to place around the cabin. K also wants to get a fairy or two, especially one like that I bought for M's above, and some small fish tank gravel to line the path leading over the bridge and towards the cabin. She also wants to find a small swan for the river.

Wordless Wednesday 82: Garden Oasis



Chicago Botanic Garden, 2006



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Random Photo: Woolly Bear Caterpillar

Found this little guy crawling amidst the bean plants Monday afternoon. I haven't seen one of these in ages! I relocated him outside the garden after taking his picture.

Zucchini

So, you remember that heat wave we had in July with temps near 100F and heat index up to 115F? Well, we thought it killed both zucchini plants in the garden at work. The one in back was definitely toast. The one in front--the excessive heat killed the couple little zukes that had been growing, and we saw no more blossoms all of July and August.

Then last Friday I'm out there picking beans and tomatoes when I catch a splash of orange/yellow out the corner of my eye. I walk over to investigate and find a small zucchini and a large blossom growing on the front plant. Amazing! Checked it again Monday and the little zuke had grown and there were three more blossoms.

I picked the little zucchini Wednesday morning (it was about one pound, just the right size), and the blossoms are still there, so looks like we may get a few more off this darn thing yet. I was disappointed that we only got two squash off the plants before that heat wave, and that we had no zucchini the last month and a half, so am a bit excited that we may get a few after all.

I fried this one up Wednesday and Thursday night with some of the fresh green beans I picked. It went well Wednesday night with some of the Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo I made earlier in the week. I added potatoes and corn to the beans and zucchini Thursday night. Mmm...delicious!

Thursday Thirteen 216: Olbrich

Two weeks ago, I shared pictures from Olbrich's Blooming Butterflies exhibit. Last week I shared photos of some of some of the plant life found inside Olbrich's Bolz Conservatory. This week we go outside. As it was 90F that day, with humidity that made it feel a good ten degrees worse, we did not tour all 16 acres of the gardens as we normally would have, but I did get a few good pics from the two or three gardens we did walk through.




Entrance to Sunken Garden~
you can see Lake Monona in the distance.


Pretty blossoms everywhere.






Ornamental grasses.


Black-Eyed Susans


There are chairs and benches tucked in
quiet nooks all over the gardens.


"Fiddleheads" by Sylvia Beckman.


A memorial bench.


I absolutely LOVE this grape arbor.
The pathway leading to the herb garden
passes through it, and you can see
that there is a bench on either side.




Partial view of the pergola




LINKS TO OTHER THURSDAY THIRTEENS: (Please leave your link if this is your first visit!)
Maddy Barone * Alice Audrey * Shelley Munro
Ron * Brenda * Janice Seagraves * Xakara
Jennifer Leeland * Paige Tyler * Darla M Sands
Robin L Rotham * Nicholas

Wordless Wednesday 15: Pink Rose

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Thursday Thirteen 166: Fresh From the Garden

One of the benefits of where I work is that we have a garden. Not a lot in it that I like, but it's nice that I can help myself to whatever is growing. Tomatoes and zucchini have been especially plentiful this year. Here are thirteen photos I've taken over the past month. Enjoy!



Zucchini bud



You can see three of the zucchini growing on this one plant!
Click here for an easy and delicious recipe.



Cucumbers



Eggplant blossoms.



Small eggplant. Yes, small. You should see them now!

Acorn squash, not quite ripe yet, but getting there. Mmm...



Green pepper blossom.



Green peppers, still glistening with the morning rain.



Green bean blossoms.


Mmm...yummy green beans. I pick a ton of these every week, and have been eating a lot of them the last month. As long as you pick them regularly, when they are about 6-8 inches long, you will have beans into September. Hope I don't get tired of them before then!


Jungle of tomatoes. If you look closely, you can see how storms have knocked over the heavy metal stakes and plants alike. The vines are so heavy with fruit we can't seem to tie them up off the ground.



Cherry tomatoes.


LINKS TO OTHER THURSDAY THIRTEENS:(Please leave your link if this is your first visit!)
Maddy Barone * Journeywoman * Jennifer Leeland
Bratty * Adelle Laudan * Janice Seagraves * Elise Logan
Brenda * Colleen * Shelley Munro * Tatiana Caldwell
Harriet * Darla M Sands * Janet * Paige Tyler * Hazel * Jana
KS Manning

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