Post a peek of yourself here...

Good Lord, those are gorgeous birds, Katalina!

: O

 

Sherry,

Don't you think that the toucan might have a velvet coat?

The Hoatzin looks rather majestic way he looks at us lolol

They are all nice and Lorax is indeed very lucky.

 

I just love all birds - they are so beautiful. The shots you guys included were stunning!

Yes, Beth, you are very lucky.

: )

 

OK back to flowers and beauty.
Here is a directory I made the last 3 evening. To me very visually rewarding. I dedicate it to HL as she loves pink but I am sure some of you may enjoy a peek.
50+ pics still uploading so if you care to wait 30min to get the entire gallery.
Here is a PRE taste to the what there to be found
http://visualsenses.smugmug.com/gallery/9110437_28dXH#607174166_UR47E
Enjoy Thanks for visiting

 

And beautiful birds - thanks!

Nice flowers

 

I was gonna say - birds are beautiful too, Vicarious!

: O

Your flowers are gorgeous, and thanks for sharing. Also cute that you dedicated them to me. Yes, I do love pink, but many other colors as well. Something about pink though I find very peaceful and soft. Such a pleasing color.

: )

 

Nice fotos of the parrots and Toucans, I love them in Isla Mujeres en Cancun, they have some domesticated Toucans that sit on your hand let you feed them and are very friendly.

I've had lots of Budgies, cocatoos and various other parrots in my time but my favourite was a grey budgie with a yellow head call Charlie, even though we had around 30 budgies and other parrots, Charlie was special, she could talk all day, she used to fly out into the garden and then come back to my shoulder, she would sit on my shoulder all the time and walk around the house with me. She would come into the bedroom and sit on mypillow and try an copy me sleeping by putting her head on the pillow, she was a real clown. We had a little tabby cat called tabitha and she was best friends with Charlie, she used to carry her on her back and they always got on very well together, charlie would nuzzle her ears and tickle her neck and Tabitha loved it. It was a really sad day when she died because I'll never train another Budgie like that again, she was really special.

Vic on another note those are fantastic fotos! How do you get the backgrounds do you use a software package to do that?

Nath

 

Hello thanks HL with pleasure. Thanks Nat for your compliment. NO nothing Photoshopped here beside a few tiny light spots reflections. I use a table (office type of lamp) with a fluorescent bulb the new GREEN one even I don't really believe they are so good. than put the flowers next to it VERY close sometimes only inches away. Just enough to get the lamp OFF the screen ( in some I left it in as you can see as it looks cool reflecting in the glass table although lighting from the top. Then you focus "MACRO" on the brightest part of the flower you want in 100% focus and leave the rest of the room dark. Although there is a cream sofa set in the back and and Off white and black striped cabinet on the right all these dissapear with the contrast.. I have a "faible" for night shots. Try it with your digital camera nothing an go wrong your Lilies would look cool just beware with the long pistils to chose WHAT you want to be 100% focus as in macro the rest of the petals may be out of focus if you target the pistils. I love doing that with Amarillos as per my galleries at
http://visualsenses.smugmug.com/gallery/7327328_XoVpw#473614105_ZYJEi

 

Thank you Kath. Any of you there on the GB Island going to the Chelsea flower show and upload a many pictures ? Please ! Just don't know when it is happening maybe to later already ?

 

Oh Nath, that's the way I feel about my little Henry - like you did about Charlie. Henry is very special too.

When I pretend to sleep or nap he flies over and lands on my forehead and peeks upside down at me while leaning over, to see if I really am going to sleep. Then he flies down on my chest and closes his eyes while peeking every now and then! It is so hilarious and I usually end up bursting into laughter because it is just too cute.

Charlie sounds like she was very cool. Some people don't realize how amazing birds can be. Henry is extremely astute and you can't get anything past him, that's for sure. Thanks for the endearing stories about Charlie, Nath.

How long did she live for?

 

I had Charlie for 10 years and Tabitha for 20. Some budgies live longer than others, I don't like to see them caged up all the time and so we used to let all 30 fly round the basement every now and again they used to fly to the curtain pole and all sit in a line chattering to each other. Once they were back in the Aviery I used to have to spend half an hour cleaning up after them, but it was only Charlie who was trusted to fly free in the Garden and we knew she would always come back.

Vic, I'll have to try that method when I have some time. I'm not sure when the next Chelsea Flower show is, I think its at the start of June normally. I remeber watching the program this year for it all week as it was as a result of watching the show that I wanted to buy some Agapanthus seeds until they mentioned that they don't bloom for nearly 5 years when grown from seed. So I'm now on the look out for some adult plants.

 

Chelsea was earlier this year because they show it on our garden show. We did not have an entrant as far as I know because of the economic down turn. Previous few yrs Australia has won gold and silver for garden exhibits.

Liz

 

I had about 200 of them in Blue in South Africa grown in the SHADE on purpose to they flower around Xmas time ( the RSA summer) under other trees. I bought 4 plants in Vancouver and they all died :-( even packed up in the garage under jute cloth etc.. SAD I was ...I don't think they can take ANY frost at all even in the earth. in RSA they bloom like mad must upload some pics
in Boschendal Winery they have a drive way borderd with 200 year + old Agapanthis a MARVEL some are like 4-5 feet tall..
http://visualsenses.smugmug.com/gallery/7532489_wfZxa#485782018_QXnpd must find those as not uploaded yet sorry 4 that .
I will make a pic of my photo setup to show the simplicity of it !

 

vicarious I didnt go to chealea unfortunatly it was during my final exams at the end of may, I did get to hamptoncourt at the beggining of july which having been to both i think is much better, it's larger has more gardens and is a little less crowded than chealea as it has so much more space. I took afew photos there which i put on flickr if you want to see them? and more from others on the group page.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14182644@N04/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/hampton_court_show_2009/

Nath most of my agapanthus are from seed they are well worth the wait and easy to grow, mine took 3 years to flower, i dont know how hardy they are in nottingham but they do well in pots.

 

That does not surprise me Liz.

Two days now I have been watching a programe called 'Eden'. First night it was Koala Bears, Them birds Kookabaru, some all white birds, Parrots and Budgies.and this afternoon your beautiful trees....awesome!

Nice pics greerish at Flickr.

 

A couple of days ago, my mom and I went to visit my brother's grave, and much to my surprise we saw a white tailed deer right in the cemetery!!!

: O

Always a shock to see deer in the city, and my mom and I stood in absolute awe! At first, my mom even thought it was fake! It came out of the woods to get an apple, fallen from a nearby tree.

By chance, I had my camera - here are the shots I was able to get...

: )

 

Greerish, I saw the show at hampden court, did you see the Garden they recreated of Hebry the VIII. They did the whole think from looking at oil paintings of his gardens painted at the time. if I can't get some late blooming Agapanthus this year I will definatley get some flowering plants next spring, I'm already planning the garden for next year as it looks like we are stuck in the UK for another 18 months, i don't know if I can take anymore dark damp winters. Still if I grow lots of seedlings it should help me get through it and we will spend at least a month of the winter in Mexico so that will shorten it, i'm going to bring back lots of packets of seeds and fill the Garden with Mexican flowers for next year. We have a type of Marigold that grows to between 4 and 5 feet and just keeps on flowering especially if you pinch out the heads of dead blooms. I finally managed to get a cutting to take off my Mexican Bouganvillea so I am very happy for that, and the parent plant that I regrew from the root i brought back is just coming into bloom for the second time this year. I'll post some fotos when its fully out.

HBL that is incredible to find a deer in the cemetary wow. There is a herd of deer in Wollaton Park here in Nottingham which we go to have a look at now and again. Very nice they are too.

Nath

 

Can't wait to see your photos, Nath.

: )

Yes, seeing the deer was just so amazing. I will never forget that. Thanks for the comments.

 

Hey...




too man chickens still refraining from posting their mugshots, huh?!!!



Well my little Henry isn't afraid. Here he is today...



: )

 

Talk about a 'colorful" chicken
I guess he lays easter eggs :-)
Yea well not much activity here that's why I not hop by as usual.

 

Look at that grin on his face!!!

 

You can see a deer who knows his quality :-) and all in PEACE and QUITE what better for his safety.
So that Henry VIII garden can see some photos ? or are there some online somwhere to look at?
4-5 feet Marygold..waaaaou sounds divine... are Marygold perenials
I am growing my vanilla (2 of them) colores ones from HL in Vancouver and they are doing well with red and purple Chrysantemum backdrops to set off the Vanilla...
My pond there mosnquito larva so I put 5 mini 3cm gold fish in there and a Racoon ravaged the whole thing :-)...I actually wish I could have seen it. He must have sat there for an hour like in a bathtub and fished ...Well HL send me another Nelumbo am I lucky will grow it next year.
QUESTION: is it worthwhile collecting seeds of the PETUNIAS? Will they grow same color again...? The baskests start telling me its September already. Although beside ONE week of drizzel and few days strong rain this is the 16th week of REAL sunshine in Vancouver with temperature hitting the 30s in the sun again..blue skies etc
WE can't complain if the Indian Summer still comes we will have had a near California weather..
Our Kale is like 3-4 feet tall.. The curly one
We have over 200plants .too much so I want to harvest for winter
what YOUR best experience anyone with cutting , boiling short time, and than put in plastic bags and freeze ? or any other way.
Some friends says DEHIDRATE but I have't got a machine for that.
Does the curly Kale also continue to grow in winter.. Isn't there a hight where is simply stops gorwing ?
It would make the most gorgeous trees . Sometimes I sit UNDER on the ground and just look down our KALE avenues :-)...
Am trying to make a Kale leaf in 3DMAX not an easy thing to put a wave into a curve on and on again ...

Became a PERMANENT RESIDENT in Canada on 9/11 and here is the pic to proove it ;-) then went for a walk around downtown (am just uploading the pics) and here is the newest release of our WATERDROP next to the convention center . It's cool BLUE
I would have loved to see something more like clear plexi with a blue gel inside or partially transparent or something that catches the rain and releases it again MORE natural approach. This one is NOT ugly but a bit too artificial for my water taste:-)
And Hey here is one of my many cool building reflections that are very nice in Vancovuer due to the old and new mix of buildings
So much for some news from YVR
The Bamboo is cool on top of the convention center although I managed to safe my replanted black oneone that is now thriving up to 12 feet
Hey anyone know what the last flower growing in a yard down on a street I passed very pretty like a CROCUS but it's September.. but then these little blue bells that bloom in spring are shooting 8" high again and my Delphinium is blooming in SEPTEMBER is that normal?
and and my Teddy bead Sunnflowers are blooming like mad ..photos following soon.

 

He really is comical - and he was so curious when I pulled out the camera. Yes, he does look like he's grinning, inquisitively.


Nice to see you logged on, Vic - wow! Welcome back!


: O


No one posted here for awhile, so I though Henry could break the ice.


My Julie Mango seed popped today! Yippeeeeeeeee! Check it out in the first shot. Second shot shows some Burro's tail "Burrito" succulent cuttings rooting, and the last shot is my new 'Explosive Amber' hot pepper plant ripening up for me...


: )



: )

 

Great shots, Vic.


Congrats on becoming a resident!


: )


Yes, it is worthwhile to collect petunia seeds - they will be true to the parent plant! I always save seeds from them. The seed pods will burst and throw the seeds all over the sticky leaves. You see little black specks all over the leaves and think they're bugs - but they are the seeds!


Yes, Kale is actually a little sweeter and tastier after frost. I am going to grow some in our cool but bright foyer over the winter. I have 'dwarf scotch curl' Kale and I am sprouting seeds as we speak! Good luck with yours. If you drop much below zero I am not sure if the kale will die. It can survive pretty cold temps though, so maybe experiement. The seeds are easy to germinate so if it dies, just grow some more. Grows fast too.


Good luck...


: )



P.S. I know those pink flowers in the last shot but I just can't recall the name of them. Great pictures, Vic!



: O

 

By the way, Vic...




I'll send ya seeds for this new hot pepper variety in the Spring. It's called 'Masquerade'...



: O