...raindrops on roses

by the time I was ready to put out the trash, it was raining...



as I looked out, I noticed that despite the rain...
the light was causing the roses to glow...
the lack of glare allows the inner depth of color to be revealed...



and the gentle, though steady rain...
seems to make the roses even more perky...
[I know, the term is turgid...]



and the shutterbug in me likes the prospect of...
"raindrops on roses..."



this is a great example of one of my favorite things...
[as well as, more dumb luck...]

the rest speak for themselves...
[& yes, I got really wet taking these...]

... in the details

this is the "historic" Guild Hall at our church...
a brick, "Nordic" style building that served as the church proper...
from c. 1889-92, while the present brick church was being built...
[the previous wooden one having been demolished to make way for the new...]

for some reason, this brick buttress, which faces west...
[and is only about 5 feet from the back of the church]
has attracted a bumper crop of moss this winter...
due, I'm sure, in no small part to all the rain we've had...

from a distance it doesn't look like much...



but upon closer inspection...



the combination of the green patchwork of the moss...
scattered across the landscape of the brick...
is not only beautiful as a verdant, lacy design...



the details at "macro" distances are stunning in their detail...



revealing a "fairy-scaled" garden...



rugged grotti, bedecked with foliage...





though in some cases, a true macro lens & tripod are required...



if one is to get in close enough to see all details clearly...



the patterns seen from outside the macro range have their moments too...








God is truly in the details...

...no shadow on Groundhog Day means...

that spring is right around the corner...

of course, you wouldn't expect to see these as harbingers of spring...



there are a total of 4 which were diseased & replaced...
by the church around Christmas...
I "rescued" these which are flourishing here...



in the house, the money tree's new growth continues to bode well for 2010...



last summer's grapefruit seedlings on a sunny kitchen window ledge...
have been joined by...



the seedlings that came from the seeds in the oranges...
that MrGT gave me in December...
and yes, 2 appear to be albinos...
they are bigger today and still white...



on the porch, my large, old jade plant [it was Mom's]
has been blooming since December...



and is covered with buds about to burst forth...



this is my trumpet jade, which got singed by the frost...
but is working on a comeback...



this volunteer lobelia, Crystal Palace, has also been around a while...



but the area that should be a sea of daffodils, rannucculas & iris...
has only one lone bloom...

most of my trees are ready to bloom any day now...
all the early Bradford pears & red leaf plums are out...
but I'm in no hurry...
I've seen too many trees bloom early...
only to have late frosts or hail, decimate them...

now I just have to find the energy to do all this work...

...what is it ?

outside getting the trash ready on Wednesday & found this...



lots of rain, oak leaf litter...
but I've never seen these before...

at least not here...



where the edge of my driveway meets the leaves/dirt...

a clump of fungii...
[quite beautiful, actually...]



this is more like what I usually see...
more the flat topped type rather than the "oyster" type...
and no... I'm NOT going to see if they're edible...
I'll leave that to UnklePhil...[hee, hee]

...spring garden quiz

OK, fellow bloggers, we all love to take those quizzes...
you know, the ones with a number of words poorly spelled...
several tragic grammatical train-wrecks...
& we won't even get into syntax...

where we end up being identified about as accurately...
as I was when a career test I took in high school...
said my best career choice was "freelance shepherd"...
[OK...so I rigged the test...but you get the idea...]


so here's a different kind of quiz...

are you a garden wizard with a emerald thumb ?
[who composts their clippings...]
or do you just buy what's "purty"...
and hope it won't up & die on you ?

I took a camera excursion through my gardens...

the quiz...? can you identify what I picture here...
yes, they are just blooming, budding or leafing out...
but if you know your mulch from your compost...
you should be able to identify many, if not most of them...

just leave your guesses in the comments...
[collaboration is allowed...]

this, however...will be the hardest one...



bonus picture...

clue : they are NOT dried blossoms & this plant is pictured, "leafing-out"...
elsewhere in the quiz...
[& yes, the picture is "catty-corner", for better resolution...]

if you can guess what this is, you know your "dirt"...
and what grows in it...

here are the rest...ENJOY !



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hope that you enjoyed a stroll through my awakening garden...

just put your guesses in the comments...