Month: July 2009

Bloom day scans

Update [7/15/2009]: I always forget to mention that you should try scanning yourself. It’s easy. I have an activity for children and youth with instructions for how to scan flowers over at The Bulb Project website.

A little early this month. Thanks, as usual, to Carol at May Dreams for hosting.

Click on images for larger view. More bloom day scans.

Whitish: Daucus, Filipendula, Stachys, Verbascum, Astilbe, Sorbaria.
july scans

Purply-pink: Rubus, Allium, Filipendula, Stachys, Rose ‘Cuisse de nymphe’, Lilium, Dahlia, Digitalis, Aquilegia, Nicotiana.
july scans

Monarda, Verbascum, Lilium, Digitalis, Begonia, Achillea.
july scans

Rosa ‘Cuisse de nymphe’.
july scans

Sunday music: Maple’s Lament

laurie_lewis_earth_and_skyLoving both plants and traditional music, this Laurie Lewis song on this morning’s Nonesuch radio show struck a chord. Listen here.

Apparently she wrote this when business was slow at her fiddle-making shop and the violins hanging on the wall spoke to her.

The Maple’s Lament

(Laurie Lewis/Spruce and Maple Music)

When I was alive the birds would nest upon my boughs
And all through long winter nights the storms would ’round me howl
And when the day would come, I’d raise my branches to the sun
I was the child of earth and sky, and all the world was one

But now that I am dead the birds no longer sing in me
And I feel no more the wind and rain as when I was a tree
But bound so tight in wire strings, I have no room to grow
And I am but the slave who sings, when master draws the bow

But sometimes from my memory I can sing the birds in flight
And I can sing of sweet dark earth and endless starry nights
But oh, my favorite song of all, I truly do believe
Is the song the sunlight sang for me while dancing on my leaves

GGW Picture This Photo Contest: Flowering Trees

Update [7/27/2009]: Wow. Got a runner-up. “Beautifully lit and tightly cropped, Craig’s shot has it all. The strong curves and intense colors make this image a keeper. Excellent technique!” Thanks for the kind words, Rob.

My entry into Gardening Gone Wild’s July photo contest: Salix sachalinensis ‘Sekka’ (Salix udensis ‘Sekka’)

Fantail willow
Larger image

The contest made me realize that I’m pretty weak on the flowering trees and shrubs in my garden. Or at least the spectacular ones.