Tag Archive: garden


Seeing Double in the Garden

Flowers are blooming in every corner of my garden, but I was greeted by two very interesting surprises this week. One of my gerbera daisy plants sprouted a double-headed bloom at the same time one of my sunflower stalks popped a set of conjoined twins! Seriously, what are the odds of two sets of twins blooming at the same time? I’ve decided this occurrence is a sign of good luck, for both my garden and life in general!

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Growing together
Single stem, double the joy
Sharing sunny days

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Twin Gerbera Daisies
Photo by: c.b.w. 2013

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Gerbera Daisies joined at the hip!
Photo by: c.b.w. 2013

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Sunbeam symmetry
Wild petals reach for joy
Yellow reflection

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Double-sided sunflower!
Photo by: c.b.w. 2013

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c.b.w. 2013

Critters in the Garden

Throughout April, my garden steadily grew, bringing flowers of all sizes, bright colors, and a few new critters into my back yard.

Most of the vegetable plants have started to bloom and that means it won’t be long before the first crop of zucchini, cucumber, black-eyed peas, and beans is ready. However, a couple of weeks ago, the first harvest was pulled from the vegetable plot. A few pea pods and a clump of radishes made my garden rabbit very happy!

The rabbit is stashing pea pods!
Photo by: c.b.w. 2013

It looks like my rabbit has a made a little friend. Lizards are common in Arizona and there are always a few that camp out in the yard during the summer. However, it is a rare occasion that I catch one for such a cute shot.

Rabbit and friend are checking out the radishes.
Photo by: c.b.w. 2013

Near the front gate, a patch of wildflowers is in full bloom thanks to some seeds I planted last year. Some of those seeds were perennials, so with almost no effort we’ve got black-eyed susans, poppies, zinnias, daisies, and snapdragons. They attract both moths and butterflies, which gives us quite a show every evening.

This little fella came for a visit and stayed for a few days. He preferred to land on all the yellow flowers in the patch. His presence inspired a haiku to go with a photograph I snapped before he flew away.

Fluttering angel,
white wings on yellow petals
spotted, velvet touch

A little garden visitor.
Photo by: c.b.w. 2013

In a forthcoming post, I’ll exploring the wildflower patch with more detail. Every time I go out there it seems as though there’s a new flower blooming. Recently, we realized three enormous plants in the center of the patch are evening primroses. These marvels of nature are a real bright spot in the garden!

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c.b.w. 2013

As temperatures continue to climb into the 80s, my garden is growing so fast I can barely keep up. Most of my seedlings have graduated from seed tray to ground, while my garden has expanded to include blueberry and raspberry bushes along with plum and orange trees. With all this yummy food around, I have one very happy and mischievous garden bunny!

Within a week, my seedlings went from babies . . .

No peas, yet, little bunny!

. . . to overgrown youngsters. My seed starter tray could barely contain them, so “graduation day” came sooner than I expected.

Whoa! Those peas sure grew fast!

So far, we’ve got a great start for cucumbers, peas, zucchini, cantaloupe, tomatoes, sunflowers, and green peppers. Here’s hoping for another fantastic crop of tasty vegetables!

Vegetable forest!

Meanwhile, the front yard has exploded with color from an unexpected source. The wildflower seeds I planted summer included perennials and they actually came up this year! I have everything from snapdragons, various species of daisies, ferns, and other yet to be identified flowers sprouting in my yard.

Purple snapdragons

Yellow daisy

Pictures of the berry bushes and plum tree are on the way, but I do have a great peek at the orange blossoms currently blooming on my new orange tree.

Orange blossom

Just when I thought my garden bunny couldn’t get into any more trouble, he finds the strawberry plant hiding behind the hibiscus.

Hmmm . . . I’ve got a strawberry thief!

A new batch of seeds now occupies the empty spaces in my seed starter tray. Hopefully, black-eyed peas, pinto beans, corn, and sunflowers will be sprouting very soon!

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c.b.w. 2013

Photography Challenge: Red!

If my blog has seemed a bit scant on writing lately, please know it’s because I am totally immersed in Novel #2. I hope my photographs and poetry are enough to make all my wonderful readers happy!

Even as I delve into the final two chapters (yes, I’m really that close to finishing revisions!), my muse still likes to dabble in The Photography Challenge I took on last summer.  In between pondering word choice and story flow, I comb through folders of photographs on my hard drive for inspiration. Therefore, completion of the Challenge  continues with this shot. I actually took it months ago, but I forgot about it until now! Enjoy!

Prompt: Photograph Something Out of Place

In one of our garden plots, a bright red poppy showed up one day. Surrounded by whites, purples, and yellows, this little flower stood out as one-of-a-kind.

Red Poppy

A little “pop” of red!
Photo by: c.b.w. 2012

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c.b.w. 2013

Welcome, Little Seedlings!

What a difference a week makes in the garden! It didn’t take long to go from one tiny sprout, (See With Love, From the Garden), to almost an entire tray of rapidly growing newborns. As usual, my happy little garden is a source of inspiration for my muse when it comes to photography and haiku poetry.

My little heart-shaped early bird has already tripled in size (the little guy on the right), while zucchini leaves are pushing their way to the surface. When I went to bed the night before, the zucchini baby in the front hadn’t even broken through the dirt, but when I came home from work the next day he was busy trying to break free of the seed casing. To catch this moment is my small miracle for the week!

The cocoon shatters
Leaves unfurl, ready to sing
Sun-kissed miracle

Seedlings, March 2013

Zucchini and Radish Seedlings
Photo by: c.b.w. 2013

The beans are growing fast and reaching for the sun, while the sunflowers race to catch up!

Sunbeam catchers reach
Golden veins and thirsty stems
Life newly rooted

Garden Beans and Sunflowers, March 2013

Garden Beans and Sunflowers
Photo by: c.b.w. 2013

The garden rabbit came out of hiding to see what all the ruckus is about! Hey, there little bunny, leave those peas alone!

Garden Rabbit and Peas, March 2013

The garden rabbit checks out his future snack!

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c.b.w. 2013

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