Wednesday Vignette: This week's bright spots

At present, the only way to maintain my sanity is to shut out some of the daily news barrage and concentrate on what's right in front of me.  Here are the bright spots that boosted my spirits over the past week:

This is Iris germanica 'Autumn Circus'.  A friend gave it to me in late May and it produced its first bloom in the middle of our heatwave.  It's a reblooming variety.

I rarely see dragonflies in my garden, probably as it's a relatively dry place but I caught sight of this one over the weekend and it was kind enough to pose atop Cordyline 'Renegade'.  My best guess is this is a female or immature male variegated meadowlark (Sympetrum corruptum).  I read that the Native Americans believe that a red dragonfly foretells a period of rejuvenation following a period of trials and hardship.  I'm hoping that's true!

The third bright spot was another neighbor giveaway, not of plants or citrus this time but rather cut flowers.  My cutting garden reached its zenith during our heatwave.  While I cut a lot of the blooms to decorate our house and passed others along to friends, I thought it'd also be a good time to leave some for neighbors to find.  I cut them yesterday morning and left them on the curb late yesterday afternoon.

I put the flowers, mostly dahlias and zinnias, in glass ice tea bottles and packed them in a beverage carryall supplied by the market on a recent visit 

They were a little too tightly packed so I dug out another carryall to give each a chance to shine

Here they are on the curb.  All but one were gone this morning.

The fourth pick-me-up was giving to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, my fifth donation this year, this one prompted by yet another story on the food insecurity plaguing this, the richest nation in the world.  The situation was already bad before the pandemic but it's worse now and the man who calls himself President and the Senate he controls haven't been willing to come up with the additional coronavirus relief assistance so many people badly need.  Instead he's promising to provide this after the election.  House Speaker Pelosi's assessment of the situation seems right on point to me.  If you're in a position to give, consider a donation to your local food bank.  It may do your heart good too.

For more Wednesday Vignettes, visit Anna at Flutter & Hum.

All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Wednesday Vignette: Capturing a Dragon

I attended a meeting at South Coast Botanic Garden earlier this week and afterwards walked around the garden awhile, snapping random photos, as I looked for the art pieces on loan from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art as part of the new "Hide and Seek" exhibit.  My search was impeded by my failure to consult the map, as well as the fact that part of the main road was temporarily closed due to an ongoing pipe installation project directed by the local water service company.

Cloudless sulphur butterflies (Phoebis sennae) were flitting throughout the garden and I spent several frustrating minutes trying to capture a decent photo of one.

This was the best shot I managed.  Even for butterflies, this species seems especially manic to me.

Host plants, like these Senna bicapsularis, are plentiful in the garden at the moment

I found one of the 6 newly installed sculptures tucked in an area many of the garden's volunteers refer to as the "back forty" (acres).

This is Teha, constructed of painted and unpainted steel in 1971 by Mark di Suvero.  I understand that the area surrounding this and other sculptures may change at intervals during the term of the installation at SCBG.

It was getting warmer by this point and growing closer to lunchtime so I abandoned the effort to locate the rest of the sculptures and meandered back in the general direction of garden's entrance.  On my way I snapped a few more photos of plants that grabbed my attention.

I couldn't find a tag for this plant but both the foliage and flower forms reminded me of my Bauhinia x blakeana and I was gratified when a subsequent on-line search suggested that it's Bauhinia galpinii (aka red orchid bush)

This tree literally stopped me in my tracks.  Even from a distance, I could see it was blanketed in large, dark blue berries.  It was labeled and I was surprised to discover that it's the Chinese Fringe tree (Chionanthus retusus), which I'd admired in bloom back in April (photo at lower right).

I stopped at the Mediterranean Garden to appreciate a group of Salvias in full bloom.

This is Salvia mexicana 'Limelight', which I previously had difficultly growing in my own garden due to its water requirements

As I bent closer to get a better photo of the Salvia's flowers, this fellow showed up.  I believe he's a flame skimmer dragonfly (Libellula saturata).

I was able to get 4 shots of him, growing closer and closer with each

Capturing the dragonfly with my camera was an achievement in my view.  I seldom see dragonflies in my area to begin with and my ability to catch photos of insects and birds when they appear is poor to say the least.  To be honest, this was one exceptionally cooperative dragonfly.  He didn't move no matter how close I got to him, while most butterflies speed away when I even think of shifting my stance to improve my shot.

As I again turned toward the garden's exit, I saw a squirrel alternately burying nuts and conducting a Don Quixotesque battle with a stick.  Encouraged by my luck in getting photos of the dragonfly, I aimed my camera at him, only to have my battery die.  I followed the scampering squirrel while fumbling to change the battery, ending up in the Garden of the Senses where I ran into my docent friend Kay.  We chatted about her most recent changes to the area and I snapped more photos before we both headed out and home.

Thanks largely to Kay's efforts, the Garden of the Senses is looking better and better with each visit.  Signs have been moved to match up with the plants they describe; new plants have been added, along with appropriate labels; weeds have been yanked; and the beds have been mulched.

New Salvias (S. leucantha and S. elegans) have been added next to the existing lemon verbena (Aloysia citrodora), prompting nearly continuous visits by hummingbirds (which of course I was unable to photograph).  Kay's also added more chocolate daisies (Berlandiera lyrata) and new chocolate cosmos (Cosmos atrosanguineus, which I neglected to photograph) to entice visitors to sniff.

Bed featuring black-eyed susans (Rudbackia hirta) and an assortment of herbs

All in all, a pleasant way to spend a morning following a business meeting.  For more Wednesday Vignettes, visit Anna at Flutter & Hum.


All material © 2012-2019 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party