Nature’s Dance of Fire

Those who danced were thought to be quite insane
by those who could not hear the music.

- Angela Monet
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Life has a way of throwing curve balls our way when we least expect it.
I choose not to let them hit me, and I choose not to strike out.
I’m going to hit one out of the park and dance my way around the bases
all the way to home plate. I can hear the music. Can you?

For Tabbie:

Tangle

True solitude is a din of birdsong, seething leaves, whirling colors,
or a clamor of tracks in the snow.

- Edward Hoagland

Pensive

Summer ends,
and Autumn comes,
and he who would have it otherwise
would have high tide always
and a full moon every night.

- Hal Borland
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Summer into Autumn
A progression
As seen through the eyes of guest photographer JoAnn Kesteloot
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Tranquility

The fruit of silence is tranquility.
~ Arabian Proverb

Two Neos

This evening I snapped a few photos of two very special Neofinetia falcata orchid plants. These are tiny plants, but they would sell for a relatively large amount of money — that is, if I were selling. These are collector items,
rare special varieties which have been developed by the Japanese
over hundreds of years using selection and breeding.

The first plant featured here is Neofinetia falcata variety ‘Houmeiden’ which sports ultrapink root tips and a creamy white coloration which always appears on the topmost leaf. This plant also gets long-spurred flowers which are extremely fragrant. They are in the standard form for this species, and their color is white, sometimes tinged with pink. The first two photos showing the pink root tip were taken as the sun was setting, and the third photo showing the other side of the plant was snapped after the sun had set.

The second plant featured here is Neofinetia falcata variety ‘Kinginrasha’ which has leaves with a rough surface texture. This plant is a bit more difficult to grow than many other varieties of Neofinetia falcata. The flowers are fragrant and have a rough texture just like the leaves. They are white with a pink tinge. They face upward and are thicker than normal for the species. The root tips are reddish brown. ‘Kinginrasha’ is not an inexpensive plant, but it is not as costly as ‘Houmeiden’. All three photos were taken as the sun was setting.

Mostly Leaves

Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time like dew on the tip of a leaf.
~ Rabindranath Tagore

Moments of Beauty

Beauty is unbearable, drives us to despair,
offering us for a minute the glimpse of an eternity
that we should like to stretch out over the whole of time.
~ Albert Camus
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There is something special about each of these photographs which captures
my imagination. It is as if light conspired with time to create natural beauty
lasting only a moment, yet I was lucky enough to be in the right place
at exactly the right time to record it forever.

Uncommon Beauties

Everything that is new or uncommon raises a pleasure in the imagination,
because it fills the soul with an agreeable surprise, gratifies its curiosity,
and gives it an idea of which it was not before possessed.
~ Joseph Addison
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Here are some flowers which I think are not often seen in most gardens.
~ ~ ~

Daphne ‘Carol Mackie’ — with fragrance to make you swoon!

Fritillaria persica

I spied this in a stranger’s yard and used 15x zoom to capture the image.
Does anyone know what this is?

Bergenia ‘Sunningdale’

This is the beginnings of the lovely False Indigo,
Baptisia australis, seen here and here …stay tuned!

Last but not least is this gorgeous yellow Magnolia