How beautiful could a sentence sound?
I got out of the house before it rained this evening and photographed flowers to remind myself the world is still alive.
I always thought these small flowers belonged to deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna), but they turn out to belong to bittersweet nightshade (Solanum dulcamara) instead. It's an invasive species in North America. I grew up seeing it in yards everywhere and had no idea.
I am used to rhododendrons as bushes. I am not used to them as trees. I realize the perspective of the shot somewhat obscures it, but this one topped out at the second-floor deck.
I know zilch about rose cultivars: I am just glad the deep pink color came out in the overcast. It made me think of Marilyn Monroe performing "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953).
I was surprised to see beach roses growing in the formerly vacant lot that is now a staging area for the GLX. They went with the faint sea-smell of the rain-coming air.
We acquired Garak from Forbidden Planet in 2013 and for a couple of years he traveled around with us to various destinations like the Boston Harbor Islands and Orlando.![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
spatch observed earlier this afternoon that he hadn't been out of the house in ages. So we took him to see the Knights of Malta Hall. He seemed to like it.
I was enthralled by the color and the texture of these petunias. They looked like old velvet curtains.
I still know zilch about rose cultivars: I loved the densely packed whorl of the petals. It looked like the sort of flower it is folklorically dangerous to pluck.
Just some very good ivy engulfing the side of the local microbrewery.
We heard sirens after we got home. Pandemic? Police? There are so many things to stay safe from. And too many of them that must be braved.
I always thought these small flowers belonged to deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna), but they turn out to belong to bittersweet nightshade (Solanum dulcamara) instead. It's an invasive species in North America. I grew up seeing it in yards everywhere and had no idea.
I am used to rhododendrons as bushes. I am not used to them as trees. I realize the perspective of the shot somewhat obscures it, but this one topped out at the second-floor deck.
I know zilch about rose cultivars: I am just glad the deep pink color came out in the overcast. It made me think of Marilyn Monroe performing "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953).
I was surprised to see beach roses growing in the formerly vacant lot that is now a staging area for the GLX. They went with the faint sea-smell of the rain-coming air.
We acquired Garak from Forbidden Planet in 2013 and for a couple of years he traveled around with us to various destinations like the Boston Harbor Islands and Orlando.
spatch observed earlier this afternoon that he hadn't been out of the house in ages. So we took him to see the Knights of Malta Hall. He seemed to like it.
I was enthralled by the color and the texture of these petunias. They looked like old velvet curtains.
I still know zilch about rose cultivars: I loved the densely packed whorl of the petals. It looked like the sort of flower it is folklorically dangerous to pluck.
Just some very good ivy engulfing the side of the local microbrewery.
We heard sirens after we got home. Pandemic? Police? There are so many things to stay safe from. And too many of them that must be braved.
no subject
Regarding rhododendrons being tall, if you go to the corner of Meriam Street and Castle Street in Lexington, just where Merriam Street starts heading up to Granny Hill, you can see just masses of towering rhododendrons, and someone told me--I forget who!--that it's because there used to be a castle-like house, and the guy who owned it collected rhododendrons, and he planted them by the gates up his drive (?? I'm maybe garbling this), and they grew to be huge, and people come from all over at this time of year to see and photograph them, masses in pink and dark pink and white.
--Oh hey, in trying to find something more authoritative than my memory, I found this:
"The property boasted a small natural pond near the top of the Hill, and several varieties of rare and imported plants including orchids, camellias, and rhododendrons cultivated by [lawyer, state senator, and U.S. congressman Francis B.] Hayes. As president of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, Hayes won several awards for his rhododendrons. To this day they continue to be maintained on Castle Road." --Richard Kollen, Lexington: From America's Birthplace to Progressive Suburb, 2004.
(I realize you can't get to the corner of Meriam Street and Castle Street at all this June... maybe next year, if we're lucky.)
no subject
Thank you!
(I realize you can't get to the corner of Meriam Street and Castle Street at all this June... maybe next year, if we're lucky.)
I could ask one of my parents to take a picture for me. My mother especially likes rhododendrons. And that sounds wonderful.