Nature notes: Oasis

Gardens in the vicinity of offices can provide an oasis for humans and animals.

That's how the WRAL TV Azalea garden in Raleigh, NC strikes me.

I'm not focusing on the azaleas in this post because I've been posting so many azalea shots from my yard.

Obviously since the name of this garden includes Azalea it has a lot of azaleas but it also have a variety of other plants.

We visited the garden on Sunday and in spite of being a cloudy grey day, it was pleasant wandering amongst the plants.

In some way, on the weekend when it's going to rain later in the day, it's a good time to visit gardens and parks since they aren't as crowded.

Sunny weekend days tend to bring out crowds.

I prefer walking places when there are only a few other people around.

We lucked out in terms of few people and it didn't rain until after we were already in the car.

I don't remember this garden at all although I know I've been to the offices at the TV station in the past.

I'm lucky to have many different gardens to visit where I live.

There are 4 large university gardens in the triangle area which comprises Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and RTP, NC.

There are also many smaller gardens like this one attached to office complexes, hospitals, and parks.

I'll have to go to one of the larger botanical gardens near me before it starts getting hot. I like how fresh everything looks in the spring before summer heat sets in.

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Today's Flowers: Home and Work

The first four shots are from my house.

The kolkwitzia amabilis vine above grows over my deck wall.

I have large overgrown azaleas all around my house.

I have two large camellia bushes in front of my house (shot below of one).

The rest of the shots were taken when I was at work.

When I have to commute to work I always try to take some photos.

 I like these large containers of flowers (below) at the entrance to a parking lot.

Click here for Today's Flowers and here for Weekend Flowers.

Photohunters: Zoom Coffee or Tea

When I first figured out how to combine the two photohunters themes, I thought I was dealing with Zoom (Sandy's phohunt) and a picture of chaos (Gattina's photohunt).

Therefore, I got juiced up on coffee and zoomed in on my chaotic azaleas that make it hard to get through the gate into my backyard.

However, I found out that Gattina's theme had changed from when I printed out her theme list and this week the theme is Coffee or Tea? instead of a picture of chaos. Since I like coffee for caffeine and tea for relaxation, I zoomed in on my tea sitting on top of the coffee tupperware to update my post.

Click here for the Zoom Photohunt and click here for the coffee or tea photohunt. 

Nature Notes: Two days of nature shots

Most weeks my nature notes shots cover the past 6 or 7 days.

This week I'm only using shots from Sunday and Monday.

My computer blew up on Friday and I bought a new one over the weekend.

I lost the photographs I took after March 12, 2013 because that was my latest photo backup but it could have been worse.

The first two shots are of Grace Garden in Durham NC. The other shots are around my house.

We are well into spring.

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Photohunters: Wither in a Park

In order to combine the two themes (Wither and In a Park) I had to look through my end of summer photo archives.

Both shots were taken in a Durham, NC garden in a downtown park when the flowers and plants were starting to wither at summer's end.

Click here for the photohunters in a park and click here for the withering photohunters.

Nature Notes: Second week of April

The azaleas in my front yard have quickly produced their full colorful array of flowers.

The dogwood trees are also rapidly peaking.

My side and backyard azaleas are slower so I'll be posting shots of them later on.

The male cardinal above was singing in the dogwood treetop and the mockingbird below was warning people and animals away from her nest which is hidden in an overgrown azalea.

 

A new culvert was installed at one of my walking places and with spring newly seeded grass and trees around it are coming to life.

Many of the trees on the path leading to Shelley Lake are already leafing out.

The Canadian Geese explored a large puddle in the grassy field across the path from the lake.

The lake looks clear on this side but it's very different on the other side of the bridge.

Although it looks like mud, it's actually pollen.

It's wild to me how the pollen all accumulated along the bank on that side of the bridge.

The gulls always leave this lake in the spring to nest somewhere else but there was one solitary gull that stayed behind and was hanging out with one of the Canadian Geese.

On my deck the bluejay was enjoying a bath.

The male cardinal had the other bath and the American Robin was watching them.

A cedar waxwing joined the male cardinal.

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