Project 365 - Peas in a Pod

Like a crisp, green gift, each pea pod bursts open and reveals it's essence of sweetness and the life cycle of spring.

Project 365 - Busy Bees

I have two hives of Italian honey bees out at the edge of the grove of trees that stands between the road and the meadow.

Bees are creatures of habit and very task oriented.  There is a portion of the meadow that I mow that runs up into the grove near the hives.  As I mow, the bees continue their work of flying in and out of the hives in a bee line; a straight, unwaivering, line from point A to B.  They are not deterred by my presence. They bounce off of my head as I intersect their flight plan.

There are some bees whose job it is to guard the hive.  As I completed this shoot, one of these bees took their job a bit too seriously and chased me all the way across the meadow, over the driveway and into the circle garden before peeling off and heading home.

Project 365 - Up on the Roof

Simple line and shadow balanced on angles of gray.  An unexpected image caught in a skyward glance.

Project 365 - Daisy, Daisy...

My favorite flower. Long and lanky the joyful harbinger of the warm days of summer to come.  They stand in drifts, waving in perfect unison to longer, lazier barefoot days.  Rays of sunshine ring a golden promise of lightening bug evenings and naps on beds of cool, green grass.

Project 365 - Sedum Blooms

There; in tiny bits of green and yellow, weaving low to the ground, in and out of more vertical interests in my garden,  Sedum blooms.  Fairy sunshine brought to light by dryer ground and brilliant springtime days.

Project 365 - A Blur of Blue

As I sit in my rocking chair on the front porch, I am visited by my more colorful neighbors.  This gentleman came for an early lunch and stays for the afternoon.  He danced and dipped across the lawn, lighting on the shagbark hickory.  Every now and then he would fly off, only to return for some hapless insect or a grub that stirred beneath the green carpet of lawn.

And then, as the sun places it's last kiss on the evening sky, a blur of blue says goodnight.

Project 365 - Or Maybe Not

So,  maybe a spot of purple works too.

Project 365 - True Colors

I do not really garden for flowers.  I know it sounds counterintuitive, but, in truth, I find the color of life  in the foliage. The heart and soul of the garden caught in temperate green on green outlined in icy white for good measure.

Project 365 - Peonies

Out in my front yard is a stand of peonies.  There is nothing fancy about them.  No bright colors.  No hybridized versions of an heirloom.  Somethings just can not be improved on.

The first out are the white blooms.  Fluffy and clean with a peek of pink in the center.  They smell divine.  A soft rose-like fragrance that travels on a spring evening breeze.

And as they fade, they are replaced by pops of pink. Mop top fun. Their fragrance is subtle but spicy.  A little wink.

I did not plant these beauties. They are 70 years old or more.
I simply put them to bed every fall and wait on bated breath for their return every spring.

Project 365 - Buddha in My Garden

There was a spot in my garden that bothered me.  It was not a place that you might have noticed if you were just passing through.  It was much more subtle than that.  Tucked away under the Carolina Silverbell, just beyond the dry stream bed.  It needed...something...

I planted some scotch moss and a tiny campanula in an old enamel basin I had found in the woods one day.  I thought it might light this trouble spot with brilliant green and a bit of blue.  It was...nice.  I moved it the next day.

I found a sand colored Buddha at the garden center.  He seemed to want to come home with me and so I, thought, I might have a place for him.

I set him down just next to the planted basin in that spot that, by now, had become a sore spot.

He sat....and we waited.  And the tree dressed him in her snowy petals.  The garden knew all along.