Our Most Curious Ornamental: Castor Bean

Winter Blues Cure: Crates of Vegetables

I always love photos of crates full of veggies. Here a few photos from last summer than I never got the opportunity to share.

Mixed heirloom tomatoes

Banana fingerling potatoes

A week's worth of veggies harvested from the MSU Horticulture Garden's  that were donated to a local food bank.

Winter Blues Cure: Buzzy Bees

Nepeta 'Purple Haze'

Zinnia 'Benary's Giants Mix'

Zinnia 'Benary's Giants Mix'

Salvia 'Evolution'

Here's hoping our bee hive at the MSU Horticulture Gardens makes it through this brutal winter!

Winter Blues Cure: Echinacea

Winter really sucks. Let's look at Echinacea from this past summer!

Secret Glow

Cheyenne Spirit Mix

Winter Blues Cure: Zinnias

Yesterday's temperature (with the wind chill) was about -20F. Yikes! So let's look at some pretty summer photos of zinnias!

Dreamland Coral

Oklahoma Mix with Pennisetum 'Vertigo'

Benary's Giant Mix

Benary's Giant Mix

Benary's Giant Mix

Oklahoma Mix w/ Pennisetum 'Vertigo'

Unknown Zinnia with Gomphrena and Tuscan Kale

Ugly Chicken Photos Soon To Come!

I've been wanting to post some photos of my ugly chicken that's going through a pretty extreme molting session at the moment. She has lost all of the feathers on her head and neck and all the feathers on her rump. In addition to looking really mangy, she's also acting really spastic, which is pretty funny to watch. Unfortunately, my camera cord (or possibly the plug on the camera) no longer works. I ordered a USB memory card reader, so hopefully I'll be able to download all the photos on my camera pretty soon.

I guess I'm not surprised that something on the camera has broken. I've had the thing for almost 7 years (and it has gotten lots of use)

Garden Panoramas

Upon request by my brother, I have put together some semi-aerial panorama shots of my garden taken July 3rd. I've been wanting to put together some photos like these for a long time, but I always forgot. It was actually surprisingly easy too!

Garden facing east. The chicken run is vacant because the ladies are taking their afternoon siesta.

Garden facing north.

Garden facing west. The wild and untamed bed on the far right contains my strawberries, raspberries, and black berries. The three small plants at the bottom left corner are my rhubarb plants I started this year from dormant roots.

Photo Friday: Digital Pencil Drawings

Photo Friday: I love my job!

Here are a few photos from the greenhouses where I work. The greenhouse is currently jam-packed with research plants, many of which are in bloom. It's absolutely lovely that I get to work in such an environment (especially during Michigan winters).

These Juncus spiralis were recently transplanted

Kniphofia

Heuchera

Gorgeous orchids

Photo Friday: Digital Watercolors

Sometimes I like to play around with my digital photos...

Photo Friday: Tomatoes in January

Lots and lots of Matt's Wild Cherry and Goldrush Currant

Goldrush Currant

Unripe tomatoes brought in for the first frost.

Photo Friday

Tulips 2010

On snowy days like today I sometimes think about all the bulbs out in the front yard sleeping under a foot of soil and snow. I put in several hundred bulbs last fall. I'm looking forward to seeing if they have grown and multiplied in the last year.

Photo Friday

Here's a bit of color for this gray wintery Friday.

Eggplant and Goldrush Currant Tomato

Photo Friday

Swiss Chard 'Bright Lights'