A Cornucopia of Flowers

Rhododendron Occidental




Center of Rhododendron Occidental

Of The Yellow & Green Variety

Busy Bees

I am becoming much more comfortable around the bee population. I think they're beginning to pose the way the squirrels do :)

Zoom In

It was such a clear day at the gardens and I wanted to test my zoom lens. I got lucky with this airplane. I never would have been able to catch these shots with my old camera, especially the last one. It was pretty cool.

Clean, White, Purity in Flowers

Happy 90th Birthday - Vocalist Sony Holland Tribute To Peggy Lee

Photo courtesy of www.tcswing.com

Peggy Lee, was born in Jamestown, North Dakota on May 26th 1920. She is best known for her seductive rendition of "Fever" and lesser known songs such as "Come Rain or Come Shine."

When Lee was not performing she was reading the essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson who gave her the inspiration to carry on with her music. She had a fanciful, flavorful and fulfilling life doing what she loved. She lived her passion and loved her life.

I wanted to share with you a tribute original song written by Jerry Holland and performed by Sony Holland to honor one of the greatest female jazz vocalists around. Peggy Lee was an inspiration to Sony and as Sony puts it "I'm a huge fan and always will be." Peggy Lee was a gift to all of us. Below is a video of Sony performing "Blame It On Peggy Lee." Enjoy! Happy 90th Birthday, Peggy Lee.

Exotic Plant Life

Gunnera in the Ancient Plant Garden

Blooms Opened and Unopened

Home Improvement - Guest Post by Taylor Graham

Poetry by Taylor Graham and Photo by Joanne Olivieri (Poetic Shutterbug)
I really did not have a photo that fit the poem but for some reason I liked the above pic with the verse. Enjoy!

HOME IMPROVEMENT

We’re blackbirds in search of a nest here, among
the aisles that taste of new-milled lumber and
sawdust in fluorescent sparkles, leading to the Paint
Center with its color-chips that ring like china
in a farmhouse cupboard. I run my finger over cool
adobe tile and carpet samples that smell of tabby fur,
a hearth cat who lives at peace with blackbirds.
No, a blackbird barely survives here, out of the rain
that artilleries the roof; he lives on bolts and wing-
nuts, disappears into high-gloss Ebony. You’ve got
your cart loaded with rolls of stockwire fence and
studded T-posts we’ll haul home to drive into bed-
rock-mortar, throwing a line around old Miwok
kitchens that were open-air to ridge and canyon
before this range was subdivided. Miwoks gone
out of mind like birds in the rafters. We’ve paid our
plastic for metal, now the sliding doors swish
us fare-thee-well and whisper shut behind us.
A warehouse blackbird is a homeless lot.

The Brenda Photo Challenge 5/22/10

I just now stumbled across this challenge, The Brenda Photo Challenge and decided to share some of my shots from the gardens. Enjoy!