botanical garden – Page 4 – Ink, Yarn & Beer

Beginnings for the New Year

I always love a walk in the local botanical garden, but I haven’t been for awhile with one of our dogs. I fell down a hillside because one of them pulled me off balance – squirrel! – and am rather uneasy, but today I went. Luckily, nothing happened except beautiful weather, spring scents, new leaves, narcissus, and bulbs. I didn’t plan on taking pictures, but my trusty phone came in hand. Smudge brought her nose and one helluva good time.

The people who care for the garden do a wonderful job, and spring cleaning, or new year cleaning, came as the underbrush and detritus of last year has largely been cleared away. Only fallen leaves and new plantings – even my favorite old oak tree that usually has a pile of leaves in its center where branches grow was clean. Maybe the wind, maybe the fairies in the wood.

Because of my fall down the hill with Smudge, I decided to take the easiest paths I could find in the climb to the top of the hill. Switchbacks with low degrees of ascent and descent worked, and we had a wonderful walk.

We spent a few hours wandering around, sitting on benches, observing people and plants, listening to squirrels and crows, seeing lizards climb trees and play hide and seek in the ground cover. Smudge sniffed and climbed up on the benches to keep me company.

This is a beautiful pine, and though I have no idea what it is (and no label to be found), it is at a corner of the garden, like an old and dear friend welcoming you back.

These bulbs are always so cheerful. They bloom for months and are a bright splash along the trail.

These caught my eye – last year’s foliage, or this years tinged by frost? (We have had some below 32F nights!)

This is my beloved oak tree. It must be 500 or more years old – young when the Spanish first came to the area? Who knows . . . .

I love looking for the narcissus planted throughout the gardens, and the daffodils, and the iris. They all bloom at different times.

The pine tree from a distance. The rocks lining the pathway are new this year!

This is a native plant, and it’s rather a fun one. When the bladder pod to spread its seeds, the bladders explode and send the seeds flying in all directions.

Initially, I didn’t plan on ending up at the botanical garden; rather, the goal was the dog park. However, it turns out that on the third Thursday of the month, the dog park is closed for cleaning and maintenance. So, how lucky were we to be able to enjoy this wonderful day?

Sage in Bloom

I took this photo a few years ago with my pre-WW2 Voigtlander Brillant. It is a simple camera that gives lovely results, as only a vinage camera can. I wonder if it is from their uncoated lenses.

I haven’t been to the local botanical gardens since last year, where this picture wast taken, when I fell down a hill and came home looking like something out of a horror film. A bit trepidatious to return, I admit. However, after the rains of last months, I know I have to go. The hills are greening, and the air of spring is in the air.

Definitely time to get out. I think more Ektar is definitely indicated, too.

The Hill

More browsing through history! Today, a trip back to the spring of 2017, a hike on a pathway behind the local botanical garden. Obviously there was some rain that year as there are green plants!

One thing I really enjoy doing is making panoramas out of a whole series of images. Sometimes I fail to get enough to create a good study, and that is where Photoshop comes in. I did a lot of filling in of empty spaces, and if you look closely you will see repetition of the cloud in the upper right corner, and plants in the lower left corner. That is what happens when I hand hold my Nikon Df camera and a long lens – this was the Tokina 100 macro lens. I think I took about 50+ photos here. I like to use a macro lens for panos because of the sharpness that is inherent in such lenses.

Altogether, I like what I did in post here. The coloration and composition are pleasant and summery. I also think it is a photo worth using as the basis for a landscape.

Along the Way

It’s always fun to go through your library of photos. Nearly every time I find something I hadn’t considered before. Here, a few bright flowers from the local botanical garden – perfect for brightening the gloom of winter rains.

Dry Wash

One of the nicest things about spending 2-3 nights at a place is that you get to explore. Independence, CA, is along Hwy 395 and is a town you would zip right by if your weren’t staying there. However, you really can miss a few things!

We stayed at the Winnedumah Hotel, in a room at the back. Out the door and down the road a few blocks is the local museum, and although it was closed the days we were there, we plan to go back. Outside the museum is a rather wonderful native plant garden. It faces west, so it is in the shadow of the Eastern Sierras. There is a creek running through it, complete with trickling water. Winter rains swell it and it obviously flows over its banks.

The sandy shore and rocky bottom depicted here create a dry wash. In canyon country these smooth areas are tempting for campers because the smooth soil makes pitching a tent and sleeping bag comfortable and easy, but if a rain happens upstream, a flash flood creates a swirling death trap. Even locally – where I live – people are drawn to these washes in the rainy season (if there still is one . . . ) and get washed away in the event. I had a wonderful friend who died in such a flash flood because the ground he was standing on probably got abruptly eroded from underneath. Even peaceful streams need to be treated with respect.