Crop & Stop

Ok, this is going to be fun!

Now some people might think I'm a total nerd but I had such a blast sitting here playing with photos I took this past Thursday at Bridge Gardens. I usually just clean my photos up a bit, rarely do I play with any special effects. My favorite tool is crop, it's just too cool to be able to take a photo and make it something totally different by eliminating something and highlighting something else.

For instance, this first shot is a mass of Echinacea (one of my favorite flowers for photography). The color variations in this planting takes my breath away.



My first crop attempt was a simple horizontal one, it brings more cones into view and some nice bees too.


A vertical crop can be extremely exciting. I've made a number of bookmarks out of vertical shots like these. I know I had a post about it somewhere but just can't seem to find it...duh, I just remembered I have a search box.

If you want to see how I make bookmarks out of garden photos just go to my other blog Old Country Gardens and type in bookmark in the search box.


Echinops ritro is another great flower for photographs. I shot a few of them while standing in front of this clump.


Here's a crop from one of those photos...I'm so in love with this that I made it my screen saver! I think that's the rear view of that bee but doesn't it look like it's smiling?


Other plants are harder to photograph. This teasel was a toughie and cropping it made all the difference in the world.


Sometimes while cropping you find something totally unexpected. Years ago I took a photo in the Carolinas of a really cool looking insect. Although I didn't notice the insects while I was taking this photo, I found them while playing with my crop feature. Anybody know what these are?


Ornamental pepper blooms are lovely, I had to get down on my hands and knees and shoot upwards here.


Finally, I just had to add another Echinacea (cone flower). They are just so magical much fun to photograph! If you want to see more photos that I took at Bridge Gardens you'll find them at Old Country Gardens.

Today is sunny and HOT so no photos today...think I'll go jump in the pool instead.

SPLASH*************

My Garden

Each year I visit a good number of gardens. They are always inspiring to me, filled with ideas, new plant material, a wonderful expression of passion.

The feeling though of being in my own garden, is almost impossible to describe. There's passion for the plant material that is growing there. Joy for the successes I've had. Dreams are made each and every day and hope always abounds.

Maybe that's why the depths of winter are so hard on gardeners. Looking out at the bleak, dreary landscape, it's hard to imagine that it will one day be lush and green.

I didn't have the heart to photograph the dingy piles of old snow, covered with thrown bits of gravel. The mushy muddy ruts in the driveway are even less attractive, not much interest in the plant material that's out there either.

I'm so grateful for my photos, they are my window to what was and what will be once again. Yesterday I finally fulfilled one of my major "to-do's" and downloaded all my photo files onto a new external hard drive. I think that if I lost all my windows, my life would truly be dark.

So a reminder to all of you, I'm always encouraging you to take photos in your garden. Well, don't forget to back them up too!

Off to gaze out some more windows,
Melanie

Jigsaw pieces

Sometimes when I have a few spare minutes (not this time of year) I visit a Jigzone and do a jigsaw puzzle online. They let you upload a photo and make a puzzle out of it but I've never done so yet. So here's my version of cutting up a photo. The idea came to me when I was cropping and zooming some photos for my other blog, Old Country Gardens.

Growing along the top of the rock wall here is a little piece of Sedum acre. People are always groaning when they see this plant and tell me that's it's invasive. Well, it's not invasive in the shade but here it is, creeping along the wall in a dry shade location. Can't ask for more lovin' than that!

The Hakonachloa (Japanese forest grass) has a few solid green reversions that I need to get in and pull out. They'll get moved to another place, even as solid green pieces they're well worth growing. The dark purple Heuchera 'Palace Purple' has been there for years and is just fine in this hard to grow location.

At the base of the rocks is a lovely little stand of Asarum europeam (European ginger). It looks better than it's parent which is at the top of the wall and squeezed in on both sides. I've been sneaking out pieces every few days.

Here's the whole photo put together. Isn't it cool! I just love playing with my garden photos.

Off to try to ease my aching back. A hot soak and some muscle cream is in store for me.

Melanie

The Good, The Ok and the Downright Ugly

Today was a perfect day for some garden photography. There was a light, misty rain, enough that I used an umbrella to protect my camera. Overcast days give you the perfect light to take photos in the garden. Bright sunlight washes out the colors and will give you terrible shadows.

While taking photos I always think I'm taking way to many but now as I sit at the computer I wish I had taken more. This first photo shows the spot I was working on yesterday. The Hosta 'Liberty' is just to-die-for. There was a sickly looking daisy in front of it, the spot only gets morning sun and the daisy wasn't happy. To the right was a daylily that was there for 12 years and it never really thrived.

I decided to stop trying to fight the shady afternoons and go with shade plants. Isn't this a great combination now?

The shade beds in the back are really starting to put on a show. I just love all the different textures and foliage colors. Photos like this remind me to keep looking for great foliage, perennials just don't flower long enough to rely upon their blooms.

Ah ha, here's a spot that needs a bit of oomph. I've cleared out a large Astilbe and decided to add another spectacular Hosta 'Liberty' in this location. The other Hosta here look amazing but are getting too crowded. Just last week I was thinking that there was too much space between them.

Uh oh, a hole! This spot out front is where I stuck my pitchfork through the sprinkler line last year. Time to think of something to fill that area but it's going to take some real thought. I need to chose a low growing plant that has a shallow, easy to remove root system since I never want to stick my pitchfork there again.

One more uh oh spot. The cinder block in the bottom right corner is to hold my shade trough up and out of the plant material. If you want to see more about the troughs, click here on Old Country Garden and you'll see the post about them.

Two more problems are visible here, there's a ton of weeds just popping up and the Hydrangea in the top left corner had quite a bit of winter kill and needs to be cut back while I can still get in there.

That's it for today's post. See how helpful those garden photos were!

Melanie

Time Line

People often ask me for gardening tips. My number one tip in the garden is one that I've shared over and over again. If you've heard it before, you're going to hear it again.

When buying perennials, don't buy all your plants in the beginning of May. Nurseries can only sell plants that look good at the time of sale. Many perennials just don't look good in May, some haven't even broken the ground yet. If you purchase the bulk of your plant material in May, your garden will only shine in May. Keep some open spots in your garden and continue to visit the nurseries through the growing season. This will help you add plants that will extend your gardening season.
These three photos were taken on August 4, 2008. I hate to garden in August, I'm just not genetically designed for the heat (that's my story and I'm sticking to it). While the Hosta you see in these photos might already entice you to buy them in May, the other flowering material might not.

This second photo shows Astilbe in bloom (Kim, if you are reading this can you tell me once again the name of this darling Astilbe you shared with me?). There are many different kinds of Astilbe, I've begun to add quite a few to the garden. They flower at different times, this one is a late bloomer. If you were shopping for plants earlier in the season, you just might choose a pot that already has an early bloom showing instead of this lovely variety.

By the way, I don't know why but I have yet to take one decent photo of an Astilbe. I'd better keep trying.

Looking at the photos from last summer amaze me. This garden is so lush and chock full of plants that I tell myself it desperately needs dividing and yet, right now it looks so bare and empty. Oh, my eye just caught the fact that on the left side of this photo is an Astilbe with spent blooms (that means they are finished for the season). It was a white blooming Astilbe and if I remember correctly, it tends to bloom at the end of June and into early July.

I was going to add another tip when I noticed the holes in the Hosta but I'm going to post that one to my other blog, Melanie's Old Country Garden so come visit me there too!

Today looks like a good day to get out and play in the dirt.

See ya!