On This Day

Hailstones

(image from Internet, not my yard, thank goodness)

August 2, 1954

 

"Severe thunderstorms produced golf ball size hail for thirty minutes in north central Kansas. One drift measured 200 feet long, seventy feet wide and three feet deep. (The Weather Channel )"

I guess a Heat Index of 113 degrees, which is what it is at this writing, is not as bad a three feet of hailstones.  Mother Nature loves variety, doesn't she? 

The photo above, which I found on the Internet, and which is not of the above referenced hail storm, seemed to have had a somewhat cooling effect upon me, but I suspect that could have been due to my crunching on ice chips and sitting close to the air conditioning vent while I composed this post.

* * *

I sometimes am concerned about the cost of the water I keep putting on my flower beds, but an early morning glimpse of large butterflies feasting on my Lantana blooms made the drain on my wallet worth while. I couldn't get outside with the camera fast enough to catch them drinking the nectar, but it must have been tasty; one large one just about buried his/her head in one bloom. Maybe they'll visit again in the morning.

Tomorrow is also a day.

Today's Flowers - February 20, 2011

Lantana (variety)

The collage above is of photos I took in the summer of 2010. The various Lantana blooms were on plants  in my own garden or in that of my daughter. I'm looking forward to having more of  them this summer. I think they are lovely flowers, and they grow well in our climate. More information on Lantana may be found by clicking on the link below the collage.

Today's Flowers is a weekly Meme created by Luiz Santilli, Jr. and currently hosted by Luiz Santilli, Jr., Denise in Virginia, Laerte Pupo and Sandy Carlson, and the home site may be found here.  I invite you to visit Today's Flowers to see lovely flower photos from all around the world. If you have a flower photo of your own to share, information about joining the group may be found on the 'Procedure' page.

A Touch of Color

"Lantana" - Watercolor by M. Koziar

Snow showers with intermittent rain seem to be the weather for today.  An Autumn Clematis, still clinging to one of my front porch supports, has icicles hanging from the vines.   Brr!

Rather than dwell on the weather, I went searching through my photo files for something more cheerful, and found the image shown above. The photo is a detail from a watercolor painting of Lantana by my talented younger sister.

"M" and her husband moved to Arkansas 18 years ago, after living in Portland, Maine for over 20 years.  (Talk about BRR!) They live about 70 miles southwest of my home, and I am able to drive to see them several times a year.  I visited with her by telephone earlier today to be sure she had no objections to my posting her art work.  She told me that they are snowed in.  Keep in mind that "snowed in" in Arkansas doesn't mean 10 foot drifts; two or three inches of snow accumulation on the street is enough.

I'm working on the story of how I came to be at a dinosaur museum in Alberta, Canada (the subject of yesterday's post.)  I'd like to get the whole thing written (in installments) and photos assembled before I start to publish it.  It may be a while before it's ready.

It started snowing again in early afternoon. Great huge flakes. I ventured out to the library to pick up a book I ordered before any of the downy white stuff stuck to the streets, only to find the lights out and the doors locked.  So much for that!

Tomorrow is also a day.

Today's Flowers - August 2

I'm honored to have been asked to be the Guest Friend on Today's Flowers today. For the past several weeks, I have used flowers from my own garden as the subjects for my Today's Flowers posts. Most of my established flowers are day lilies which have finished their blooming season, so I looked elsewhere for photos for today. I'm in the process of adding a front garden, and I have been visiting greenhouses and nurseries in search of plants that are not day lilies. As my contribution today, I bring you photos of plants I have either purchased, or seriously considered, for my own new garden. Unfortunately, I can't have them all! Yet!

Zinnia - variegated yellow/red

White Cone Flower - purchased for the front garden


White Bougainvilla - unfortunately, this is not a hardy plant for our growing zone, and I had to leave this one at the greenhouse, but I think it is beautiful.

Zinnia - Rose

Peegee Hydrangea
This one is definitely finding a place in my yard, but not in the front garden.

Marigold
Not for this year's garden, but next year.. yes! Such a cheery color.

African Iris -
I have to research the hardiness of this one, but I do like it.

Zinnia - variegated white/deep pink, purchased for my front garden

Portulaca (Moss Rose) -purchased for the new front garden

Lantana - pink and yellow.
This one currently is in Gardening Daughter's garden,
but she is bringing me one of her extra plants for my front garden.

Gazania - purchased for my front garden.
This really is a small flower on a very short plant. It's wonderful what one can do with a macro lens. I love the colors in this specimen.

I hope you've enjoyed your tour. Thanks for looking.

Today's Flowers is a weekly Meme created by Luiz Santilli, Jr. and currently hosted by Luiz Santilli, Jr., Denise Gullickson, Laerte Pupo and Valkyrien, and may be found here. Please visit to see others' lovely flower photos. If you have a flower photo of your own to share, please join us.