Meadow Made

From the cultivated wisteria of yesterday, we move to the cultivation of a wildflower meadow at Benchscape.  What a delightful vista of wild flowers at the lower portion of the property.  The flowers seemed to float above the vertical stems of green - annual bachelor buttons in blues, pinks, and whites, punctuated by the occasional red poppy.   A great success for our friend, the designer, Lex Parker!

Spring Start

Wake Up on the Bright Side   This lane is situated along the lake in Beamsville.  For me it has the distinction of being where Ralph Suttell's dahlia growing garden is situated.   So I've photographed this row of apple trees along the lane quite a few times.  However, I've not known quite what to do with the photographs as there is a house in the background and the lane itself is unattractive.  Yesterday I did a little spruce-up with textures so that the pictures focus on the compressed row of trees arching up the hill.   Now they look like the start of Spring.

Stormy Weather

Wake Up on the Bright Side There was an ice storm in Southern Ontario yesterday that affected the areas west of us and around the lake to Toronto.  One could see how the escarpment plays a major role in our weather.  Towards the top of the escarpment, there was ice on the trees. At the bottom, it was raining.  Anywhere over the escarpment (which is south of us) the roads were icy and the trees encased in ice.  At the bottom of the escarpment there was rain. This was the scene at Benchscape where I garden the raised beds of herbs and flowers. Benchscape sits on the escarpment in Beamsville looking out over Lake Ontario to the north.  In the top picture, you can see the ice on the trees with the view out over Lake Ontario.   Everything was lightly coated in ice.

Solstice Lights

Decorations get prettier every year - this heritage house on Beamville's Main Street is an example of how wonderful the lights are. We can count on Lifehacker for telling us where to find the best Christmas Lights.  The Places to Visit in Each State for Incredible Christmas Lights showcases a picture of a decorated train and then lists the top 5 places to visit in the U.S. The Canadian search takes us to a Government of Canada website that says the Christmas Lights Across Canada program was launched in 1985 to highlight landmarks and sites along Confederation Boulevard and Parliament Hill, and has a guide to all the capitals to visit. The top display in Canada is listed as Niagara Falls, with Christmas Lights Across Canada (above), and then Toronto's downtown core.

The Chrysanthemum and Dahlia Show Today at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Burlington - Sep 21 2014

Hi everyone,
One of my favourite flowers to photograph is the Dahlia.  I seem to also photograph a lot of Chrysanthemums.  So today is a good day for me - the Chrysanthemum and Dahlia Flower Show at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington Ontario.

Here is one from master grower, Ralph Suttell, in his competition growing garden.

I am pleased to say that most of these beauties are from Ralph's garden.  They are in the "Dahlia a Day" portfolio on Redbubble.