rescue rose...

Many years ago, there was a large chain store that had a garden department. The chain store still exists, the garden department does not. The garden area was manned, as chain store garden departments often are, by people who knew nothing about gardening. If you were there within the first week of a delivery, you were in luck. After that, forget it. Needless to say, it was not my favorite place to shop. The garden department was never my sole destination but if I was there for some other reason, I would take a quick peek. One day, I happened to start talking to one of the employees. She was gathering the spent plants to throw away. I asked if I could take the pathetic looking miniature rose. I wish I had a before photo. She was happy to give it "to a good home". While it is not a rose that I would have chosen to buy, I have been happy to give it a good home.

It has thrived.
Later, she found out that this was not a store policy. She could no longer give me plants that were going to be thrown away.

I would have given them a good home.

a rose is a rose is a rose...

I am a flower lover but roses are not my favorites until they start blooming in my garden. Then I can't imagine loving another flower more. Whenever they are not blooming, I wonder why I don't use the space for something else. The April comes and I remember...
And the names! The names are so much fun. Yes, we enjoy dinner on the patio surrounded by Sexy Rexy, Barbra Streisand, McCartney (if they came out with a Lennon, Starr and Harrison, I would not be able to resist), Queen Elizabeth and Marilyn Monroe.

In case you would like a cup of tea with Marilyn, here you go:


Hope spring is finding you too!

and just one more...

Well, at least for now...

shooting ladybugs...

Endlessly fascinating as they scurry about their work - so quick, so photogenic.

on the tip of a tulip petal
on the tip of a daffodil bud

This one is my favorite, two ladybugs underneath the petals of a white cosmos.

Hoping spring has found you too!

lagging behind but a few pictures to share...

My resolution to keep up better with this blog isn't doing too well. Here are a couple of shots from today.

Gerbera daisies can make me and my camera happy for hours.


The first daffodils are blooming in the garden. The out of focus purple are pansies. Garden update coming soon.


I think this is from a Gila woodpecker but I might be wrong.


This was done for my Beyond Beyond workshop with Kim Klassen. Assignment - to shoot from overhead. I love doing that, especially with food shots. I processed it with "mary" a Kim texture. Kim is such a generous person, filled with knowledge to share.


Have a great weekend!

winter wonderland, Arizona style...

It isn't unheard of to get snow here but usually it is flurries and nothings sticks. This was different. Big, wet glorious flakes that actually stuck to the ground. I didn't need to drive to a higher elevation. The snow was here. At my home. It started around noon and we got a couple of inches.
It started melting and then began to snow again. I was making soup. It took me twice as long because with each ingredient added, I allowed myself to go back outside with the camera. It was 71° degrees yesterday when I photographed my apple blossoms. Sure looked different today.
Night fell and we hunkered down with homemade soup and bread with a cozy fire. For the first time ever, we had to remove snow from our satellite dish to be able to watch our beloved Wildcats. The next morning, it hadn't melted. It wasn't snowing any more so I headed out to explore the Sonoran desert in the snow.
There is something about seeing the desert in the snow that takes my breath away. Definitely a Frederick kind of day.

they are growing...

I mentioned these oak trees when I got them for Christmas of 2010. They have had a rough time and we were afraid they wouldn't make it. WB talked to the geniuses at Mesquite Valley Nursery and we found out what we were doing wrong. The trees are happy with the change. We actually do have autumn in the desert. I realize that January is not the typical month to welcome autumn but I'll take it any time of year. Isn't that color amazing?

Glorious...