I love my garden--picture heavy

[jessica]

This is how it looks now:
http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/2070/dsc04247q.jpg

This is how it looked like in May:
http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/2033/dsc00852q.jpg

In April:
http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/4528/dsc03424j.jpg

I love capturing the butterflies that come:
http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/4610/dsc03977i.jpg

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/1357/dsc04096sic.jpg

Most of all I love capturing the flowers on film digitally:
http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/6507/dsc03999.jpg

Strawflower:
http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/5761/copyofdsc03976.jpg

California poppy:
http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/6682/dsc03453h.jpg

Aster:
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/9459/dsc03544y.jpg

Delosperma:
http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/8364/dsc03583s.jpg

[Mikey]

Wonderful pictures !!!

Love those Irises

[vulcan2074]

Jessica
You have a Beautiful Garden. Your pics are Amazing. :beaming1:
Sammy

[SlipperyLilSuckers]

Wow Jess, those are so gorgeous...you should be a photographer.

[Johnny]

Lovely Garden.

[Mikey]

That top picture ... It makes me want to know what's up those steps - more garden ? :)

[toys2cool]

beautiful!!

[HardyGirl]

Wow, Jess, is there anything you're not good at? Sculpting, sewing, photography...you do it all, don't you?

Great pics!

[boss]

very nice. thanks for sharing.

[gummi]

Great pictures! It looks like a good place to relax; all you need is a hammock in there.

[Meule]

Beautiful garden, and so colorful. I wish we had a Californian climat, I could do so much more with my garden.

[lepage]

great photos. I just so happen to have a small garden that I am quite proud of myself. I have a wooden gate that goes out to the backyard and have managed to train a bogenvelia that I planted 10 years ago. It is now a giant, well trimmed, Archway over the wooden gate.
It's obvious that you work very hard on your garden. You should be proud!

Dave

[UnderdogDJLSW]

Gorgeous! It's been 9 years since my wife and I have been out to visit family in California and those photos make me want to start planning a trip back to the west coast.

[AJ Collector]

Great pictures....... You my dear have a little slice of paradise! :sunny05:

[jessica]

Darn gopher ate my straw flower! I hate that little guy! Darn you, gopher!

[jessica]

I present Mr. Frankentomato!!

http://a.imageshack.us/img835/6012/dsc04539u.jpg

[HardyGirl]

I present Mr. Frankentomato!!

http://a.imageshack.us/img835/6012/dsc04539u.jpg

WHOA! I does look Frankenstein like w/ the "stitches" in it. That's crazy. How big is it?

[jessica]

He's about the size of a small apple...probably around three inches across.

[saildog]

I present Mr. Frankentomato!!

http://a.imageshack.us/img835/6012/dsc04539u.jpg

Holy Cow!!!

I've seen a toooooonnnnn of garden grown tomatoes along the way and nothing like that. Is that fer real?? If so, that is amazing!!!!!:cool_y: (I mean it...I have seen more than any 100 people's fair share of tomatoes times 10...nothing EVER like that!)

Oh, I am so glad you got a picture of that!

[Hector]

I'm not really a flower person...I prefer having my backyard full of shade and fruit trees...but I do appreciate your garden Jess...beautiful indeed...

:smiley13:

[MegoScott]

I'm jealous, my backyard is a sun baked wasteland right now.

[jessica]

Look at the monsters in my backyard! First, there's the spider I found today...almost as big as a nickel.
http://a.imageshack.us/img823/7247/dsc04556x.jpg http://a.imageshack.us/img85/8503/dsc04559lt.jpg

This squash is threatening to overtake the back yard. I think it's Jack's bean stalk!
http://a.imageshack.us/img819/235/dsc04548i.jpg

Look at the size of the thorns to this calamansi. I am not sure if it's the calamansi itself or if it's the root stock...but it's freaking dangerous!
http://a.imageshack.us/img718/2351/dsc04547u.jpg

[Mikey]

We used to see those spiders in the fields all the time.
They must be countrywide.
I've seen some 3" long (with legs)

Sometimes we'd throw grasshoppers in the web and the spiders would eat them.

[Meule]

This squash is threatening to overtake the back yard. I think it's Jack's bean stalk!
http://a.imageshack.us/img819/235/dsc04548i.jpg



Pumpkins, right? I have a couple in my garden as well right now. Last year those vines grew up my neighbour's 40' high tree. Try getting that stuff out of there :wall:

[Meule]

I present Mr. Frankentomato!!

http://a.imageshack.us/img835/6012/dsc04539u.jpg

Couple of days ago we had a pic in the newspaper of a tomato shaped like those ducks you can fish after at the carnival, pretty crazy

[Bizarro Amy]

We used to see those spiders in the fields all the time.
They must be countrywide.
I've seen some 3" long (with legs)

Sometimes we'd throw grasshoppers in the web and the spiders would eat them.

I've seen them around here, but never as big as 3". Haven't seen one for a while though. Around here, it seems to be mostly wolf spiders.

Mike, it's funny you mentioned throwing grasshoppers into spider webs. The first time I saw a spider like the one in Jessica's pics, it was in our back yard, and my dad said the same exact thing.

[Werewolf]

Beautiful pictures. Thank you for sharing them. I love the butterfly ones.

[jessica]

Two new butterflies that I was able to capture on film:
http://a.imageshack.us/img824/9325/dsc04418j.jpg

http://a.imageshack.us/img155/2003/dsc04351f.jpg

[jessica]

This is the seed pod
http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/2138/dsc04768e.jpg

of this flower (calendula):
http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/8789/dsc00909ov.jpg

[jessica]

There's just something so magical about butterflies.

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/369/dsc04814p.jpg http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/3303/dsc04820.jpg

And the same for the other critters that come to visit:
http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/3070/dsc04806sz.jpg

[Meule]

Amazing pics Jess

[jessica]

Today I saw my first monarch butterfly. Unfortunately, one of the more aggressive tiny butterflies chased it away. Hopefully it will return so I can photograph it.

This butterfly is actually a deep dark brown with orange spots. It likes to sit on the flowers and just rub its wings, rarely opening them.
http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/8595/dsc04858jf.jpg

The blue of this dragonfly is so unbelievable. It was really cool to see it hovering over the plants:
http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/1164/dsc04847f.jpg

[Fire Marshal Bill]

Great pictures! I love looking at our butterfly garden this time of year :yes:. Just the other day we had a hummingbird. BTW, the pics up at the top of this page are "Skippers" and the last pic you put up is of a Hairstreak Butterfly. You ought to invest in a good Butterfly field guide, i think you would really enjoy ID'ing them. One year we "raised" many Monarch caterpillars on Tropical Milkweed. When they emerged from their chrysalis, we tagged them before releasing them on their journey to Mexico for the winter.

It looks a lot different now, but here is a shot of a small portion of our butterfly garden from a couple years ago.
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb295/wildbirdman/Pets/P7170032.jpg

[jessica]

I need to start a butterfly garden. I have been hesitant to purchase a butterfly bush just because they tend to grow very tall...although I have seen one that only grows four feet.

Spring is here, and so are my allergies.
http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/1631/dsc06169q.jpg http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/3369/dsc06164v.jpg http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/7388/dsc06163e.jpg

[Hector]

Beautiful...and wow...you are a great photographer too boot...

:smiley13: :yes: :cool_y:

[Mr.Krusher]

WOW indeed! :grin: Very good eye, and very sharp camera!

"It will be just like starting over again...like in the garden of Eden..."

"Yeah! ..Except THIS time we dont trust no friggin SNAKES!"

:smiley1:


The no-prize goes to the first person that can ID where that quote came from!

[vintage spideyfan]

I just re-read most of this thread. Jessica, your photography is amazing.

It was a much needed kick to the winter blahs.

[TEXASFETT]

Those are some great pictures....gardens looks like a peaceful place to hang out and read a book.:wink_y:

[jessica]

More photos!

The garden at this time of year is still asleep:
http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/8471/dsc06202n.jpg http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/9308/dsc06206qh.jpg (http://img94.imageshack.us/i/dsc06206qh.jpg/)

But there are some flowers showing some action, like the first alstromaeria of 2011 and the blue anemone:
http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/8904/dsc06209m.jpg http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/2258/dsc06194jc.jpg

We also have an almond tree that's good for nothing but the squirrel. We've been thinking of cutting it down:
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/2176/dsc06225i.jpg http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/5176/dsc06217fi.jpg
http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/2887/dsc06219c.jpg

Some kind of shrub daisy and a geranium
http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/4296/dsc06243t.jpg
http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/2373/dsc06255m.jpg

[jessica]

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn102/apecityoutfitters/2011/DSC06956.jpg http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn102/apecityoutfitters/2011/DSC06970.jpg

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn102/apecityoutfitters/2011/DSC06964.jpg http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn102/apecityoutfitters/2011/DSC06973.jpg

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn102/apecityoutfitters/2011/DSC06968.jpg

When you stand at the edge of the patch of bearded iris, their beautiful perfume permeates your senses.
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn102/apecityoutfitters/2011/DSC06982.jpg http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn102/apecityoutfitters/2011/DSC06951.jpg

[BOTZWANA]

I can´t wait to start my garden one day. Grow my own vegetables etc.

[jessica]

I need to plant some beans to replace the nitrogen depleted by the tomatoes, so that next year I can plant tomatoes again.

This is the flower of a root stock rose.
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn102/apecityoutfitters/2011/DSC07013.jpg

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn102/apecityoutfitters/2011/DSC07011.jpg

[jessica]

YAY!! I was able to finally purchase a protea cynaroides. In addition, I purchased two other protea: susannae and eximia. Triple yay!!

[vulcan2074]

Jessica
Congrats on your new purchases. Your pics are Amazing! :beaming1:
Sammy

[emeraldknight47]

Your garden pics are amazing, Jessica! They added a nice splash of color to my day, do I can just imagine what they do for you. What kind of camera do you use that you are able to capture the butterflies (which are pretty fast) so well and with such detail...?

[jessica]

I use a Sony Cybershot than is 12.1 megapixels. Waiting for it to die so I can upgrade. Butterfly shots are difficult and more luck than anything, and since my optical zoom is only 5x, I have to get to at least five inches away before I can take a decent shot.

[raider5gt]

Wow Jessica,you have a beautiful garden,i bet it took alot of hard work to get it to that standard,love your butterfly pics,simply stunning,we have a buddliea in are garden which the butterflies love.