Post Two 2018: My Flowers

Note:
Copyright © 2018 Lonnie D.Watkins

Why I Garden:

These are flowers that I have grown, and the images are of my own plants. Have been trying to cultivate flowers for many years in this harsh environment. Am going to attempt to use as few words as possible to describe them; may use other's words more qualified.

Flowers, Their Poetic Beauty

• White-Star Jasmine:

Fragrance. Totally pleasant.

Trachelospermum jasminoides



27 May 2013

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• Bougainvillea:

Enduring beauty

Bougainvillea spp.



30 May 2013

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• "Showy" Baby's Breath

"Little flower—but if I could understand" [Tennyson]

Gypsophila elegans



27 May 2013

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• Blue-Eyed African Daisy

"Stars wheel in purple, yours is not so rare"[H. Doolittle]

Osteospermum x hybrida



30 March 2013

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• Pink Evening Primrose

Pajamas, Pink

Oenothera rosea



9 June 2013

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• Spanish Flag Lantana

Ode To Guernica Reds

Lantana camara (Spanish Flag)



23 May 2013

Thought this image below might accent my "Ode To Guernica Reds"

Another Lantana Camara (Spanish Flag)



11 July 2014

During the flowering season of 2014, Spring-Summer, I moved from one apartment to another and did not have established flowering plants. Am very happy to be at this new apartment because of its available square area to work gardening instead of just a front planter, yet there are not many images to include for the years 2014 nor 2015. At this new apartment I have concentrated on cactus because of my efforts to conserve water. Much of what I have been doing at this new apartment is discussed, , in Post One. Post one is about my new gardening issues.Compacted dead dirt, rocks and stones, and intense deadly heat are the major concerns. Am constructing compost heaps and raised planters in my efforts during 2018 to restore my garden.Creating real soil is an important part of this new garden.

Started with a bunch of potted plants over at the new place. Lost most of them to heat and sunlight.

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• Parry's Penstemon

Penstemon parryi



23 March 2015

I brought the Parry's Penstemon over to this apartment in a pot.

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• Shamrocks

Oxalis ssp. And Trefoil ssp.



16 March 2015

Brought this flower over in a pot. Mom gave them to me. She named them Shmrocks as will I. Researched them: Binomial name is Oxalis crassipes ‘Rosea’ and they originate in Japan. The correct common name being Pink Wood Sorrel.

Copyright © 2018 Lonnie D.Watkins

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Photowalk: 31 October 2016

To open my blog post is a great image of red yucca.

Red Yucca

Was standing around for my meeting and noticed this empty lot. Yet is full. These images are not much yet I think the subjects captured are quite beautiful. Just little things I see when having the blessing of getting out of the house. The world around me.

Urban Architecture

Had a meeting the morning of the 31st. It offered me the opportunity to grab some images while in a strange neighborhood. Thought I would share some of the best. For the first set, some landscaping stones that I thought were very beautiful. I love the textures.

Cracked Stone

Cracked Stone with Copper Ore?

Would have been nice if I had used my water misting bottle to enhance the color of these stones. Maybe bring out the golden color of the iron pyrite crystal facets?

Iron Pyrite In Stone

Just so you can see, I imaged many beautiful plants as well. Captured images of some magnificent plants on this walk, too. Must have caught the landscaping right before it was to be pruned. The gardens were lush, well-kept, and at peak beauty. Below is a red yucca stalk of inflorescence. Absolutely magnificent.

More Red Yucca

No photowalk is complete without an image or two of the oleander. Deadly poison this is... "Dog's Bane."

Dog's Bane and Ant

Going through these many images, I realized how many images were captured. Have more oleander to share. As well as others.The oleander shrubs had seed pods because the Landscaping crews had not been butchering the gardens to ease the workload.

Am working on these photos... have discovered DUST. Found a nice flare in this Ponderosa Pine image. Western Yellow Pine. Is a six-sided hex... a true flare.

Lots of these pine trees lined Flamingo on my walk. They are thirsting, yet we are self-compliant in most cases with water restrictions. The foliage could be much thicker on these trees. The Ponderosa Pines at the park directly across from my apartment are thick because plenty of water is used to water the lawn for the kids to run and play. Do kid's stuff and exercise... and this benefits the trees.

But I got up close and found an insect that is known to be hard on trees. Halyomorpha halys. This is obviously a contributor to the sparseness of the tree's foliage. The pine "cone" is actually quite edible.

Alongside the lush landscapes accompanying this photowalk were the un-butchered Chinese Fan Palm Trees. One on our many indoor gun ranges has been moved to a more profitable location, and the business front has not been maintained for lack of a new proprietor. I was astonished to see how the seed branches actually "are" if allowed to mature... (and on a side note) I honestly believe landscape companies butcher their locations to make professional upkeep more of a mass production assembly line process. Less work and care for the same basic rate. This is understandable. Making a profit at the expense of actually utilizing a skill at a master's level is the way Americans have been doing things quite a number of years. Doing things the way it is done inside other countries at the loss of our craftsmanship. Enough of that! The images of these palm trees that have had zero maintenance speak for themselves.

Beautiful Fan Palm Trees

It would be nice if there were enough time in each day for me to be able to harvest these edible fruits. Yummo!

Examples Of Palm Fruit

Time is becoming a factor because of positive choices. Am committed to constructing this blog today, and I have plants to take pictures of tomorrow and gardening tomorrow that will use that day, and so on. Great!! Am starting to wonder if palm fruit pie would taste good, yet there are more important tasks at hand. Yikes. Responsibility.

It seems to me that there is quite a bit of ripe fruit. There were two trees. Here are some Mexican Bird Of Paradise. They are shrubs with unique and beautiful flowers which are often included in Vegas landscapes.

There were quite a few different shrubs that were allowed to grow to monumental proportions. These Barbados Fence Plants/Bird of Paradise were one of them. The image below, my perspective is straight up. This shrub must have been twenty feet high.

Grabbed some of those seed pods while I was at it. There is a big area along the side yard fence that needs thorny shrubs to keep out kids. This area will be my project this spring and summer. Will plant some of the seeds I gathered while out on this photo walk. Have some seed from this type of plant also.

"Yellow" Mexican Bird Of Paradise

And a nice detail of the above image.

Going Native-Simply Roses II

Simply Roses

Decided to expand upon the earlier roses post and include some different images. Am trying to use every rose to the fullest advantage. Am using a few props, a bit of inspiration from others, and just trying to make these simple flowers appear as nicely as possible. Have a "bakers dozen." 13 images to view. A bit much in length yet the images are very nice. Quite a few monochrome examples also.

Simply Roses I

Thought this made a nice monochrome. Used a small discarded perfume bottle with water to moisten the petals. I really like the look.

Simply Roses II

Captured this in a darker light. Was only able to gather six roses so had to try every bit of processing each specimen.

Simply Roses III

So very beautiful. I love photography.

Simply Roses IV

Another monochrome. Am getting very interested in monochrome as time passes. There are so many facets to the images that aren't available using color.

Simply Roses V

Am going to post a baker's dozen of these images. Worked very hard to get them to look nice. The bouquet was expensive also.

Simply Roses VI

Simply Roses VII

Back to monochrome. There are more images to make thirteen, yet it is time for me to sleep. And I also have another Lon's Chili blog to ready. Yaaay! I am using a post-processing program named G.I.M.P. to put these images together. To heal all of the flaws that might mar the appearance of the flowers.

Simply Roses VIII

Simply Roses IX

Simply Roses X

These certainly are pretty rose images. Today, 27 January 2017, I decided to go through some of my earlier post, and am reminded of these beautiful roses

Simply Roses XI

Pink roses traditionally are given to express gratitude and appreciation. A way to say thanks. A lady receives them as a token of her grace and elegance. I think this is why pink is mostly referred as a feminine color. Is because gals are graceful and elegant, each in her own ways

Simply Roses XII

This particular image is probably the more favorite of my own of the images displayed in color included in this post. Sure is a striking color of pink to me.

Simply Roses XIV

Of the monochrome images I have included in this post, Simply Roses 14, my baker's dozen spare, is certainly my more favorite of the monochromes.