Ithaca Garden in early July

The season seems to be rushing and everything is in bloom early.  It takes daily watering to keep all the plants from parching, both those in the ground and those in planters.  I have varied the heights and textures to keep interest throughout the gardens.

Right now, everything has been mulched, which adds some parameters to the garden and should help with the water retention.

The garden right behind the house used to be a swimming pool but was converted into a garden in 1980, using soil from the pond.  Another berm in the yard was formed from the second pond dig in 1991.  Additional soil was also brought in for supplementation.

The berm behind the pond was from the third excavation only 7 years ago. While digging out the cattails, the contractor found some wonderful large stones that have become sculptures and part of the berm. Each garden has its own character and makes for a very enjoyable space in the summer.

Patio and picnic table in front of greenhouse

Part of "pool" garden

Part of "pool" garden

Walkway in "pool" gaarden and plants on deck

Cluster of plants near patio

Cluster of plants heading to the back garden

Garden on back hill behind "Pool" garden

Berm garden

Berm garden

Berm garden

Petunia pole

Echinacea overlooking lotus pond

Day lilies in herb garden

Lotus pond and back berm

Back berm

Lotus

Looking at house from the herb garden

Herb garden

Path back to the house

Fireworks on Owasco Lake 2012. Auburn

Last night, there was another lovely display of fireworks shot from Emerson Park on Owasco Lake.  The view from the shore of the lake was perfect for the high flying boomers.  Here are some photos I captured.

The first four shots were flares that were ignited on a dock, while the rest were from Emerson Park.

Cornell Martha Young Garden

The Cornell Plantations gardens are full of color.  The annual poppies are in bloom and were full of bees this week.  There are also several varieties of iris as well as many upright lilies.  Here are some samples of flowers that I photographed in the late morning this week. The sun was almost too harsh in some instances.

Iris

Daisies

Allium

iris

Lilies

Lilies

Lilies

Daisies

Cana on the patio

annual poppy

Annual poppy

The Lotus are Blooming!

This season, everything is blooming early. The lotus have popped out 2 weeks early!  I hope they will last for a long time, since I have a Garden Conservancy tour here on August 4th.

The delicate flowers are always soothing to the soul and the leaves undulate gracefully in the breezes.

Other flowers that are blooming now are the Foxgloves and Day lilies.  And of course there are numerous frogs leaping into the pond as I walk by. No scarcity of them here!

Lotus

Frog

Day lily

Frog

Lotus behind a small willow

Day lily

Lotus

Lotus

Fox glove

Foxglove

Flowers on Black on a July evening

I set up black velvet against a trifold support and placed my camera on a tripod in front of this.  Several flowers from the garden were the subjects for the afternoon photo shoot. The sun was low around 6:30 and provided a warm glow to the day lilies, daisies, and petunias.  Here are some macro shots, some without adjustment and others with Photoshop artistic adds.