Love, Joy and Peas

Friday, October 3, 2014

Neat Flowers, Bees and Sun Effects

Happy floral Friday and welcome to "this week in my Maryland garden!" While not technically the best photos I've ever taken, I thought each of this week's flower photos was neat for one reason or another. The yellow and white bicolor dahlia above has fun coloring from the afternoon sun (I took these just before sunset yesterday evening). Without the sun it almost looks like an all white dahlia.

In this photo my happy making effect was being able to see the bee's eyes so clearly. We only have a few marigolds still blooming and two are the bicolor French marigolds that I started from seed. The bee is enjoying one of those.

My wonderful husband bought me this new red echinacea (also known as coneflower). I love how bright the flowers are and while there aren't any bees on it in the photo they have been all over it since planting.

I love how the sunbeam lights up the bee's wings and furry parts in this photo of it on a burgundy dahlia flower.

And, just because I tend to put five photos in each blog post, here's a pretty petunia. It's been blooming steadily since I bought it this spring. I love the particular shade of pink on this flower as well as the white middle and chartreuse/yellow center with veining.

How are your flowers holding up now that we're officially in autumn? Are the leaves changing where you are? They've started here but just a little bit. Thank you for visiting! I hope you have a fantastic autumn! May God bless you!

Related posts:
Sparking chrysanthemums: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/09/sparkling-chrysanthemums-dahlias-zinnia.html
Autumn blessing and flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/09/happy-autumn-blessing.html
National Arboretum fall foliage: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/11/fall-foliage-at-us-national-arboretum.html
Fall foliage and capitol columns: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/11/fall-foliage-and-capitol-columns-photos.html

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Baby Bull and Goofy Goats for Wild Wednesday

Happy wild Wednesday! I was delighted to see a five day old baby bull at the Southern Maryland / Calvert County Fair. He was so adorable! He almost looks like a baby deer in his close up (above).

Even with just a portion of his mother in the photo you can get an idea of his small size. I just love baby animals.

The two goats snuggling had been rubbing heads for a while but just when I snapped the photo one of their goofy friends stuck his head in the photo. I think this is my first goat photobomb. I had some funnier goat photos to share from the National Zoo but they seem to have disappeared from my computer. Should they turn up again I'll upload them right away for a future wild Wednesday post.

This goat was a ham and I loved his beard. It seems like he's grinning in this picture.

Hearty thanks to my friend Pam for taking me to the fair, the exhibitors for sharing their animals and all the fair volunteers who make the experience possible! May God bless them all and may He bless you too!

Related posts:
2013 County Fair animals: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/08/animal-photos-from-montgomery-county.html
Goose family photos: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/05/goose-family-photographs.html
Bison sisters: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/09/american-bison-sisters-zora-and-wilma.html

Friday, September 26, 2014

Sparkling Chrysanthemums, Dahlias, Zinnia, Pansies and a Busy Bee

Happy floral Friday! I took these photos yesterday after a heavy rain. I love how the flowers sparkle and glisten in the sun when covered in raindrops. The yellow chrysanthemum above is starting to turn bronze on the edges and makes it feel more like autumn here in my Maryland garden.

But the buzzing bees make it feel like summer is still hanging in there. I love the curly petals at the center of this bicolor dahlia.

The bright yellow zinnias are a ray of sunshine, no matter what the sky is doing.

These funky petaled pink, yellow and white dahlias make me smile every time I see them. I love how the pinks go from pale to hot pink with other shades in between and all on one flower. This year I'm going to try digging up tubers again. Last year I didn't succeed so any tips from you would be greatly appreciated! Particularly on how to dig them up without piercing the tubers (which I found out the hard way aren't necessarily directly below the stalks), how long to let them air dry before storing them away for the winter and how to store them away.

My husband planted the wheelbarrow full of pansies and bought some more to fill out the triangular area they're now enjoying (previously occupied by a load of marigolds and a few pink zinnias). They were beaten down by the heavy rain and are showing the stress of being transplanted but should perk up in a few days if the weather cooperates. As I mentioned last week, when God smiles on our garden the pansies can bloom right through winter, into spring and sometimes even early summer.

You can see (from left to right) some of our coreopsis, zinnias, roses, perilla and lantana in the closer background and our and neighbors' trees and big shrubs in the far background.

Thank you for visiting! Every week brings new joy in my Maryland flower garden. I aim to post every Friday from spring through first frost so be sure to visit again soon for more flower photos. May God bless you!

Related posts:
Wheelbarrow pansies: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/09/a-wheelbarrow-full-of-pansies-for.html
Freeloaders and flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/search?q=funky
Autumn Maryland flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/10/autumn-maryland-garden-flower-photos.html

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Funny Orangutan is Ready for Halloween

Last week I promised you orangutan photos and here they are. I hope you enjoy them!

At first it seemed like all the orangutans were sleeping under their sheets (how cute is that?!) but when I looked closer one was awake and looking right at me.

The orangutan that was awake quickly came up to the window to say hello. I thought he looked like an orangutan in a ghost costume. While this cute and funny orangutan looked ready for Halloween he really just wanted to say hello.

He waved me closer to the window and we both held our palms to the glass, which was really an amazing moment to treasure. I communed with him for a while but eventually had to leave.

He walked all the way to the edge of his habitat to say goodbye. I hope his friends woke up quickly so he could have some orangutan fun. I wonder how long he held onto his sheet? In all of our visits to the Zational Zoo we hadn't been in the Great Ape House so early before and the orangutans in sheets were a new experience.

I hope you enjoyed this week's wild Wednesday post! Would you rather see cute lion cubs or funny goats next week? Please let me know!

May God bless the orangutans, their keepers and may He bless you too!

Related posts:
Bison sisters: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/09/american-bison-sisters-zora-and-wilma.html
Funny alpacas: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/01/laughing-llamas-or-funny-alpacas.html
Cute cheetah cubs: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/07/cute-cheetah-cubs-and-wild-wednesdays.html
Funny lemurs and more: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/07/lion-cubs-lion-dad-clouded-leopard-and.html

Friday, September 19, 2014

A Wheelbarrow Full of Pansies for Floral Friday

As summer transitions to fall my glorious marigolds have been flagging. So my sweet husband bought me this wheelbarrow full of brightly colored pansies to replace them. It might still be too hot for pansies but he scored a good deal on them so it's worth the risk of early planting. God willing, if they survive the hotter fall days they should make it through the winter and bloom until late spring/early summer next year.

One of the blessings of Maryland flower gardening is a longer growing season than what I grew up with in New England. It still seems miraculous to me that anything will bloom through the winter snow. Miraculous and wonderful.

Each pansy is pretty in its own right but I love the little bit of white at the edges of this red and yellow pansy's petals.

And the greenish yellow center of this white and violet pansy is like an exclamation point.

I'm not sure when we'll get around to planting these wheelbarrow pansies but they look nice where they are and seem to be doing fine (he bought them last weekend) so there's no hurry. Although they'll certainly be happier in the ground.

Thank you for visiting! May God bless and prosper you!

What garden tasks do you procrastinate on? What are your favorite fall and winter flowers? Do you have any pansy growing tips to share? I'd love to hear from you!

Related posts:
Glorious flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/07/morning-glory-marigolds-zinnia-and.html
Daffodils, pansies and cyclamen: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/03/daffodil-pansy-and-cyclamen-flower.html
Pansies and crocuses: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/03/happy-spring-poem-crocus-and-pansy.html

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

American Bison Sisters Zora and Wilma for Wild Wednesday

Happy wild Wednesday! I was blessed with the opportunity to see Wilma and Zora, two American bison sisters, on the second day they were on public exhibit at the National Zoo. I read somewhere that they are rare "pure" bison whose ancestors haven't been bred with cattle and are important to the survival of their species.

These majestic creatures didn't seem fazed by the crowd of people watching them. They just enjoyed grazing on the fresh grass in their habitat.

Their habitat is on what I think of as the main trail of the zoo; straight down the road and to the right from the main entrance for pedestrians (after the restrooms but before the turn off to Asia trail).

They were very calm and alternated hanging out with a bit of distance between them...

And being close enough to snuggle together. I hope you enjoyed my bison photos! Next week, God willing, I plan to post some photos of a funny orangutan who's ready for Halloween.

May God bless the bisons, their keepers and may He bless you too!

Related posts:
National zoo fishing cat kittens: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/09/fishing-cat-kitten-photos.html
Sea lion feeding: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/09/sea-lion-feeding-photos-wild-wednesday.html
Cute cheetah cubs: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/07/cute-cheetah-cubs-and-wild-wednesdays.html

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Sunny's Super Fair Crafts

My friend Sunny, owner of Chesapeake Bay Creations by Sunny, kindly gave me permission to share some of her county fair ribbon winning craft entries with you. As you can see in the photo above, she earned a blue ribbon for her Christmas Corner dried winter holiday wreath.

She also earned a blue ribbon for this darling painted Santa pin.

This wreath with bright orange Chinese lanterns was hung improperly so I think judged incorrectly as it didn't receive a ribbon. But It's adorable and I love that she grew all the flowers herself.

Here is Sunny's cute angel shell craft. She had many other crafts, including an amazing hand knit and beaded shawl that I would also have loved to share but it was displayed behind a semi opaque thick plastic and didn't photograph well. Even though I knit, that shawl is far above my skill level and I thought it was divine.

If you're interested in patronizing her Chesapeake Bay Creations by Sunny business, she's old school, running it by phone and not on the web. You can call her at (410) 761-1824 to order custom scarves, hats, shawls, headbands and crab shell crafts. You can also find her at craft fairs throughout Maryland from October to mid-December. Just give her a call to find out where she'll be. She's very friendly.

Thank you to Sunny for sharing her crafts! May God bless Sunny and may He bless you too!

Related posts:
Blue ribbon flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/09/blue-ribbon-winning-flowers-this-week.html
2013 blue ribbons: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/09/county-fair-photos-haikus-and-results.html
2012 blue ribbons: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/09/fair-flower-photos-for-floral-friday.html

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own and I wrote this post of my own volition. I was not asked or paid to write it.