Lotus in the Pond July 15

In a short two weeks, the lotus blossoms have increased from 3 to over 70. What an explosion of beauty and peacefulness!  I never tire of photographing them at all angles, time of day, and light intensity.

This morning, it is cloudy and the opportunity to photography without the harshness of overexposure was a nice opportunity. It is humid out and the thunder is rolling a bit. We desperately need the rain for the pond, gardens, and crops.  There is no significant precipitation in Ithaca predicted, so I water and water the gardens.

These photos are mostly of the lotus, but also day lilies, aromatic lilies, and a cute chipmunk.

Several states of the flower:  bud, early flower in front, later lightening of the flower, and developing pod

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

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

Buddha tiles

Yesterday, I produced some designs for porcelain tiles with a Buddha accent.  One of my customers had asked for such tiles for a kitchen wall, so I designed several to choose from.  Most of the tiles include the lotus flower, which is closely connected to the Buddha.

Many Buddha statues find the Buddha sitting on a lotus flower, since the lotus flower is considered very pure.

I found these Buddhas during travels and at home.  Each was taken with my digital camera and transposed to the montage that is now a tile image.  I have found Buddhas in the San Francisco Japanese Tea Garden, The Selby garden in Sarasota, Florida, in the yard and home of friends, in my own collection from travels to Thailand and Laos, from a store in Sedona, and from a poster.

These tiles can be produced in the dimensions 4x4, 6x6, and 8x8 and can be used for trivets, coasters, wall hangings, and back splashes in the bathroom or kitchen.