TRUMPETING INTO SPRING

My trumpet dafffodils are always among the first sign of Spring in my garden. Today as temperatures climbed above ninety it felt more like summer. I'm just glad the brutal winter is behind me.

RELAXING

After a long day it is nice to be able to sit in my kitchen and stare out at my garden. Not much in bloom yet, but sometimes the cats really perform. Pistachio seems to love sitting in the birdbath. He'll be surprised when there is water in there.

A SIGN OF SPRING

I walked around my backyard this afternoon and spotted my first sign of spring. One brave little yellow crocus had bloomed and in an instant I felt more hopeful. Ah, the promise of spring.

MAPLE LEAF

I was in the yard preparing for the coming cold weather when I decided to bring in the birdbath. It was a birthday present from my Mom about five years ago. I always store the top to prevent it from cracking during the winter. I was surprised to see that the birdbath was bone dry and the only thing in it was a small maple leaf! I just liked the composition of this photo and the rich color in the leaf.

MORNING GLORY

I am not a morning person but I have come to appreciate morning glories. These flowers which grow on a climbing vine typically last for a single morning and die in the afternoon. New flowers bloom on the vine each day. For years I have tried to pull morning glory vines from my garden. They climb on my other plants and twist around my shrubs, yet no matter how many times I pull them out they return. Today as the sun was setting I saw this lone morning glory which was climbing on my butterfly bush still open. Usually by the early evening the blooms have closed and the flower has begun to die. So I wondered if this bloom would see two mornings? I suppose if I knew that I didn't have the night ahead of me I would embrace the morning and get a whole lot more done.

ABOUT FACE

Out in the garden today I noticed how the sunflowers I love drop their heads and face the earth as they start to die. There is something wonderful about the back of their head the geometry of it is striking. So as I studied the backs of things today I decided to move forward with my blog. It's a good visual exercise and requires a certain discipline. Discipline doesn't come easily to me. Most of all, Looking for Light has helped me to see many things in a different light.

WORKER BEE

I couldn't help it I was out marveling at the "from the birds" sunflowers again today. I'm not alone in my fascination with them. There were about a dozen bumble bees hard at work gathering pollen form them this evening. The bees worked tirelessly and I now have a much clearer understanding of the term "worker bee" and its genesis. I always get a lot of joy watching the little seedlings that I plant grow and flourish, or seeing a perennial I have planted return the following season. I can't get over how happy these accidental sunflowers make me. They are special!

A GIFT

I am still amazed by the large clump of sunflowers growing in my yard thanks to the seeds serendipitously dropped by the birds who frequent my feeders. These unexpected beauties are a real gift since my gardening efforts were quite limited and really short-circuited by my knee problems. I like to think that the birds sent me a get well bouquet! The sunflowers are beginning to open. I love the geometry of their unfolding the green triangular tips of their leaves and the symmetry of their lovely yellow pointed petals. I love the mystery of it all, the way they got here, the way they open and then wondering what their faces will be! This unexpected gift from nature amazes me and I am so grateful. But sometimes I think this wasn't an accident at all.

A ROSE IS A ROSE

As the sun began to sink this evening my eyes scanned my yard for a photo. I was walking my Mom to her car and both of us noticed the way the light was hitting the fence near my driveway. The iris, day lilies and rose bush that bloom in front of the fence are survivors. Faithfully they bloom every year despite the fact that this is part of my yard is terribly neglected. It is a small spot that I just never seem to get to. Actually, I have always hated the scraggly rose bush that grows here. Countless times I have cut it down to nothing and yet it comes back. Tonight, the lone rose that blooms on the bush I have tried to eliminate from my garden is the dot of color that brings this picture to life. I almost feel as thought the rose bush was speaking to me.

THE BUTTERFLY BUSH

I have a big white butterfly bush at the edge of my patio. When I first moved in it was unwieldy and I almost took it out when I had the patio redone. Every year in early Spring I cut it down to nothing and wonder if I cut too much. Will it come back? Did I go to far this time around? This year it is the perfect shape, not too tall and not too wide. Today the first Monarch butterfly of the season stopped by for dinner. In a few weeks the butterfly bush will be in full bloom and lots of butterflies will be passing through.

HERE COMES THE SUN

The past few days I have flirted with the idea of abandoning my blog for awhile. It is really a challenge to try to find photos worth posting when all I can see is the view from my couch. Feeling very frustrated and discouraged today, I did look out the kitchen window to see the first sunflower in bloom. Sunflowers are my favorite flower and I always forget to plant them. This year I have a huge clump of them coming up though... right near my bird feeder. I guess the birds managed to drop enough seeds and I have at least two dozen sunflowers stretching their heads toward the sky. A true sun worshipper, its head follows the sun as it crosses the sky. The common sunflower is often referred to as big smile and that is exactly what I did when I saw this one blooming in my yard. I hope I am moving a little better tomorrow.

FIRST OF THE SEASON

I was crazy busy this morning getting ready for work tonight but as I passed my tomato plants I spied a red cherry tomato! I was so excited I picked it although it probably could have stood another day or two on the vine. I haven't eaten it yet, and will probably let it sit on the window sill and ripen a day or so. I thought it was kind of neat that the first tomato of the season was picked exactly half way through the baseball season on the day of the All Star Game at Yankee Stadium which is in its final season. There are all kinds of seasons in life.

LONE LILY

On the very edge of my property near my white picket fence is a clump of daylilies. I have never paid them a whole lot of attention, but today when I got home from work I was struck by the way the light was hitting them. They seemed to be almost an electric orange and their contour and graceful form was so pronounced that I had to grab the camera. It's funny how you can walk past something for years taking it forgranted and never give it a second look. Then all of a sudden your attention is drawn to it and you see it in a whole new light.

A GORGEOUS GIFT

About seven years ago I was admiring an enormous hydrangea at a friend's home. Several weeks later the friend stopped by and gave me a cutting from her shrub. That little cutting is now a big beautiful plant that brings me joy every year when it blooms. Of course there is great satisfaction in seeing plants you have placed in your garden grow and bloom, but there is something even more special about a cutting from your friend's garden that takes root in your own garden! It's like having a part of them right there in your garden!

HOLLYHOCK

I know a friend of mine that reads my blog will take me to task for posting another flower photo. He will tell me I need to get out of my yard and look for fresh images. I hear you, but you know I really like this image. I like the form of the green leaf on the left and the way it adds depth to the photo. I like the detail in the flower and the contrast of the deep pink with the green leaves. I like the composition and balance of it too. And, I like hollyhocks! My Mom, who taught me just about everything about flowers and gardening, bought me this hollyhock. They are among her favorite plants too. We both think they are happy plants and you can never have too much happiness!

LILY MYSTERY

I can count on the fact that every Easter my Mom brings me a traditional Easter lily. She always picks a nice squat one, so that it doesn't get "too leggy". I enjoy not only the plant but the wonderful fragrance that permeates my home. Of course after a few weeks the blooms are spent. Gradually it makes its way to the porch and then sometime in May I plant them in the garden. Actually I did this on a whim, never expecting that the lily would actually flower again. Now I have a big clump of about eight plants in the garden, but the amazing part is the lilies bloom every year in June, but the blooms are this marvelous orange color, not white as they originally were.

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

My afternoon in the garden was cut short by a very dramatic thunderstorm that continues tonight. I got some of my plants in, but not nearly what I had hoped to. It was probably a blessing in disguise since my knees aren't what they used to be. This year I even caved in and bought some blue kneepads to cushion them when I plant. They make quite a fashion statement!

COOLING OFF

Today's sudden heat took its toll on my flowers and on me. As I turned the hose on the garden I really felt like turning it on me. No relief in sight for the next several days.

PEONIES

When I moved into this house the garden was neglected and very overgrown. I wasn't sure what flowers (if any) to expect. The peonies were a big beautiful surprise. Every year there is lots of anticipation about the peonies. Will they come back again? Did they make it through winter? Then we watch as the buds get bigger, we stake them and wait for the first bloom! Yesterday they started to open and today we had lots of flowers. Heavy rain is forecast for tomorrow, so to savor them a little longer we cut them and made a gorgeous bouquet. The bouquet is a show stopper for everyone except Slugger. As you can see he is not impressed.

LATE AFTERNOON

There is something about late afternoon light that makes everything more photogenic. I love to shoot in the late afternoon, the contrast seems to lend more definition to the subject matter. Everything looks crisper and more interesting, at least for me. As for this geranium, I just loved the way it separated from the dark green background. I also like the way the leaves on the right side lend interest and a kind of texture to the predominately green background. It's a simple photo, but when I looked at it for a few minutes I just liked the composition and the light. Once again... for me, it is all about the light.