Dog Number Two

I should mention that when I bring my camera downstairs in the morning one of my dogs goes absolutely nuts, dancing and whining as if I have a steak in my hands. There may be hot dogs or other dog treats used in these photos, and they may spend a lot of time staring up at me trying to convince me they're cute enough for a treat. My sister's dog Deuce.Dog Deuce Snowy

Snowy Dog

Finally some snow that stuck around. Christmas is over, so my rush of working is waning. My family that was visiting has all gone home, and I just got my house back to clean. Time for a new year to begin and for me to get out and photograph something other then the dogs.

Linear Frosted Leaf

Last one for a bit. More frost, though of a different type. This stuff occurs near the driveway, and just dusts items, rather than covering it in fuzz.

Untouched Leaf

In one are of the yard the frost tends to crawl under items. I flipped this leaf after and the entire undersize was covered in frost, but the top was clear.

Frosty Grass

A note on scale. The longest frost is maybe 1/2" long, so this isn't a very large area at all. The whole photo is in the space of a few square inches. I'm using ambient light, a tripod, and a remote to keep the camera from shaking. the settings were a 1/2 sec shutter speed with an f stop of 13. ISO was set to 200. I tend to set the f stop and let the camera decide about the shutter speed, unless they're coming out too dark.

More Frost

Different parts of my yard grow different frost. The back near the rock wall cultivates longer frost chains and hangs around the longest since a fence shelters it from the sun.

Frosty Weekend

Saturday arrived and I didn't need to work when the frost was available. The last few weeks I'd notice we had a frost as I was rushing around trying to get to work. I have a few furtive shots I took with my point and shoot in thee five minutes lee way I have between getting up, feeding the dogs, feeding myself, getting the dogs out and back in, dressing for work and making my lunch. None of them were very good and since I didn't have time to do better I was getting frustrated. Here's the week of photos to make up for it.

I won NanoWriMo, meaning I finished my 50,000 words.

I won NanoWriMo, meaning I finished my 50,000 words. However, work isn't letting up and for whatever reason I decided to make everyone's Christmas gifts this year and that seems to be eating my extra time. I'll see what I can do about posting pictures, but since my free time has disappeared after Christmas is the best bet for daily photo resumption.

Grey Tree Frog

Gray tree frog, from the tail end of the Museum of Science in Boston's Butterfly Room.

Not Dead, not even close

I spent November finishing NaNoWriMo, and kind of put off everything else. I'm also in the holiday schedule at work, and it being retail suddenly have more shifts then normal, most of them being nights ending around midnight. I'll be freer in January, so may be missing for a bit of December as well.

Tiny Plant, Big Flower

This grew from a pair of pads that my cat was nice enough to knock of one of my christmas cacti. The flower is larger then the plant's pot. I think this one is less than a year old, but I do not keep excellent notes like I should. There are at least two other buds, but this is my first christmas cactus flower of the season. I do have paperwhites blooming as well. My giant older cactus needs to be re-potted desperately, and I may suck it up and do it now though it may not bloom this year. It's so unhappy it may not bloom anyway.

I'm doing NaNoWriMo again so I expect updates will be just as infrequent as they have been.

Ferns from Spores

I've been collecting spores from ferns for years, and trying to grow new ones. I've had mixed success. I can get to the green carpet look, but rarely did I get ferns out of that. I was suddenly interested in the little trays of green carpet again when the leather wood one started growing ferns all over the place.

I had been concentrating on cinnamon fern spores, and only recently did I check the book I was basing this idea on (Native Ferns, Mosses & Grasses by William Cullina) and note that if they aren't sprouting ferns you should refrigerate them for a few weeks and see if that jump starts them. I stuck the ones I've been growing for over a year in the fridge. A few weeks later out they came and I now have three or four ferns sprouting.

Now it's time to pull out the leather wood ferns and re pot them. I haven't figured out exactly what I'm going to re pot them in yet, but I'm just happy they sprouted.

Heavily simplified directions for sprouting fern spores:

1. Collect spores: Dependent on species spores can be collected across the growing season. Starting with cinnamon ferns and the like in the Spring
2. Sterilize soil: I microwave mine in take out containers. Add enough water to get the soil moist, heat the soil to 160 ° - 200 °. If it isn't sterile the ferns will be out competed by algae and fungus, which can be found in most soils.
3. Plant Spores very thinly on Soil Surface: You want to very lightly dust the surface. If you sow too heavily they smother each other.
4. Keep Sealed in medium light: I grow mine under lights, 6 - 12 in away.
5. Wait: first you get a green scum that looks like algae, then you get little single leaves, If you get stuck on leaves for a while you can try spritzing them with water to encourage fertilization. Eventually you get little ferns.

Easter Cactus Fruit

One of the other fruits on my easter cactus is just about ready with seeds. the other ones I planted a few months ago looks almost exactly the same as when they were planted. These guys are not fast from seed, but it is kind of neat growing them that way.

Tiny Spider

It's getting nippy out there, but the ridiculous numbers of spiders in the yard are hanging on. This tiny one was hanging out in the long yellowed lily stalks.

End of Rain

The colchicium bulbs from last year came up again, of course it rained on them for 4 or 5 days, so they're a little flat, but the sun was out today, and they survived the summer so I'm happy. They're going to be in the pot for at least another winter just so I can keep track. Since we're probably getting the big trees on the south side of the yard removed this fall, so I'll probably be moving plenty of plants again.

Phlox subulata Propagation

The hard part about this post is I'm not exactly sure why this time I succeeded while my other attempts with this plant have always failed. I didn't even keep notes of how I did it. I know I took the cuttings after flowering, dipped them in rooting hormone and potted them all together in a deep pot full of very sandy soil. I put it in a bag, stuck it on my plant table under lights and ignored it for a while. Months later the cuttings are sprouting and quite happy.

The cuttings are from the candy stripe variety, as that's my favorite type, though I very rarely like striped flowers.

Link to previous attempts at propagation

Back from Break

I took a little break for my birthday and to tidy up the house and yard. All the tomato plants in the yard are out as blight finally took hold. The soaker hoses have been pulled, and I emptied all the water barrels yesterday. I re potted all my African violets and ended up with 10 extra plants. I have to try a third time for cuttings of most of the coleus, but a few have prospered. I re potted plenty of outside plants as well, and figured out what would spend the winter where. I've shuffled a few reptiles around, and started buying more fish for my one fish tank. I'm building up the groups again of the single fish I have left, some are 5 or 6 years old now.

Forsythia Cutting Propagation

Several Months ago my aunt wanted more forsythia bushes. I cut three 14" or so new wood stems and chopped them into pieces. Each piece had two leaves left, though half the leaf was clipped off to conserve moisture. Each was dipped in rooting hormone, and put in it's own pot. I put them all in a tray and kept them in the shade for about a month and they rooted. I potted 12, and 12 grew roots, forsythia is known for being ridiculously easy to root. So far none of them have grown any new leaves, but they did develop new buds along the current leaf bases. I expect next year they will have several new shoots.

Easter Cactus Propagation

Assuming you start with a plant, there are two easy ways to get more plants. These instructions should work for any of the easter, christmas or thanksgiving cactus types.

Cuttings: Twist off a single pad or multiple pads and leave them out for a day or two to dry a little. I put mine in clean plastic containers with about 1/2" of damp potting soil. Push the base of the cuttings into the soil, cover the container to keep in moisture and put under lights, or anywhere with good light that isn't going to cook the containers. I generally do multiple containers so if one goes bad I don't lose all my efforts.

They should start putting out roots quite quickly, after roots they will begin growing out new pads. Once it starts growing new pads it can be removed from the container and put in a pot of its own.

Seeds: Takes a lot longer, but the seedlings are cute... Start with the plant flowering, preferably with several blooms of different ages open. With a paintbrush transfer pollen from different flowers, do this for several days. When the flowers die it will be obvious which ones are now growing seeds, the base will not drop off, and in the case of easter cactus the flower will also stay attached. Months later the fruits will be ready to harvest (mine got lighter in color and sort of squishy to the touch.) I germinated mine with instructions from this link: http://www.therainforestgarden.com/2011/09/germinating-easter-cactus-seeds.html. The seeds will germinate very quickly when fresh, as in less than a week. However they take a while to get larger.

Red Dragonfly

Another dragonfly from Sunday. other then it being a type of meadowhawk I've largely given up on ids for the red autumn dragonflies. It could be one of 3 or 4 species, especially if it's female.

Late Blue Dasher

Over the weekend I went apple picking with family, and for the first time in years it was warm and sunny, not cold and drizzling. There were tons of dragonflies flitting about, most of them being the standard red autumn ones, but there were a few blue dashers mixed in.

Rose of Sharon

Also from last week my much abused Rose of Sharon decided to bloom. Half this plant died two winters ago and since then it has sort of tottered along. I can't believe it, but there are even a few more buds so I might get more then just one flower. Now I kind of wish I hadn't planted the aggressive tomatoes next to it.

Water Lily

A surprise water lily that bloomed last week. Obviously I should have posted it last week. I've been busy, working, not doing anything fun...

Vermont Morning

The view in the early morning from my aunt's house in Vermont. Back in MA we don't get fog very often. The fog stuck around for maybe 15 minutes after I went out to take photos.

Another Unknown Purple Flower

I expect this one is likely a common Enough greenhouse plant, but I didn't see ID. It looks almost like an orchid up close.

Froggie

Tower Hill has frogs that might as well be plastic for how much they move. Judging by the double line of flower petals in the nearby grass they saw a wedding yesterday, so I probably wasn't that interesting.

Purple and White Flower

I found no label for this though there were a few bunches. I liked the color change it appeared to be doing.

Monarch Butterfly

Accommodating Monarch Butterfly from Tower Hill. It would keep returning to the same flower and didn't mind an audience.

Yellow Zinnia

This week will be highlights of my recent trip to Tower Hill. This was a much later visit for me, normally I go in May.

Fence Fixing

So one of my mother's dogs made a break for it again. This time by breaking open a weakish section of wire fencing. Since it was wrapped over a very large rock I'm not moving I had to improvise a solution. I couldn't replace the wire without it being less secure then it was. It's right next to the shed so I attached rails from the next fencepost that was solidly in the ground and the shed wall. Then I cut pickets out of 1" x 3" strapping. I kept them level to each other, and contoured their height to keep them from resting on the ground. I'm quite happy with the result, and the dog will have to find a new place to plan her escape. Of course there are 4 dogs using the yard and only one is planning escapes. At least her boomerang tag gets usage.

Winged Mantis

About a half hour after yesterday's picture.

Molting Mantis

The mantis hanging out in the grass moves around every day, but Sunday it was time to molt. So I found it hanging from the grass trying to get out of its skin and let its new wings dry.

August Mantis

They're always an inch long when they disappear, then I finally see one and it's almost the size of my hand. This one is hanging out in the zebra grass.

Water Lily

Working days means i've barely gotten top see the two water lily blooms this year. They open around 8 am and close around 4 pm. I leave at 7 and get home at 5:30, so not much chance to view them. This is as open as they get at 7 o'clock in the morning.

Black Shouldered Spinyleg

Black Shouldered Spinyleg Dragonfly - Male

Nothing like spotting a new dragonfly. A little worse for wear, but this male sat still enough for me to get a few shots. none of the stellar, but with new stuff sometimes it's all about what is it...

Air Traffic Control

I wish this one was in better focus, but I just had to share it. It was just a little too breezy for this female Amberwing.

Slaty Skimmer

Slaty Skimmer Dragonfly - Male

The other easy dragonfly species. They'll willingly keep coming back to the same spot and are willing to sit for quite some time.

Pink Phlox

So, a number of years ago I bought one dark pink and one white garden phlox plant. The dark pink one eventually died, but the white one kept spawning seeds. Turns out the purple one cross bred at least a little. I have 4 different varieties of pink, including one with white flowers and pink centers. Above is my favorite one, but most people would pretend they were all the same.

Tis the Season for Amberwings

So On Sunday when I took photos of the fallen tree I upped the ISO on my camera. I didn't care if the photos were grainy, it was dark and I was in a hurry. Move to Monday when I wandered around Hemlock Gorge with the ISO still at 1600. Grr. I don't generally put it past 200, I abhor noise in my photos. I noticed when I got home and started looking at the photos. I was sort of wondering how I was getting the shutter speed the camera kept giving me.

Leafhopper

Just a leaf hopping garden pest from last week.

Female Amberwing

I have found a few new hiking locales on the way home from work. One Hemlock Gorge had little flocks of amberwing dragonflies. I saw my first female as well. The males have completely gold wings, the female has pretty bars.

Crunch

It wasn't even particularly windy, just very rainy. It also wasn't a tree I ever suspected of dropping. Of course it went right into the pond. It took out a length of fence, but the shed seems to have survived fine.

Blue Dasher

Blue Dasher Dragonfly

I find these to be the ubiquitous dragonfly. They're everywhere, in the woods, in the pond, in your yard. They're also calm about being approached if they're perched.

Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

Sometimes having ridiculous quantities of bee balm comes in handy. This swallowtail just fluttered back and forth for quite some time.

Amberwing

Amberwing Dragonfly

I just visited Cutler Park for the first time last weekend. Not much too interesting, though I went late in the day. There was a trio of amber wings flying just next to the trail. I got close, but this was the best image I got.

Painted Skimmer Dragonfly

Painted Skimmer Dragonfly

A few weeks ago I wandered around Borderland on a Sunday morning. This would be what I found the most interesting. There were plenty of other dragonflies, but nothing else I hadn't seen before.

Turk's Cap Lily

The upside of having a temp job is having a job, the down side is not being in the yard during the day. The Turk's Cap Lilies have been blooming for over a week now and this was my first chance to photograph one.

Flying Hawk

Excellent winds let the hawk float about 6 feet away from me for a short time. Quite convenient for photography.

More Red-Tail

There were people on this beach maybe 15 feet away when the hawk landed. They got closer and it just sat, spending lots of time watching the grass, likely trying to figure out how to catch the voles that lived in there.