Here in Highland Park » Andromeda

Andromeda Shrub Flowers – Macro

Leora — Mon, 09 May 2011 01:24:48 +0000

These tiny white flowers are on my andromeda shrub.

Same andromeda shrub: these flowers have turned a pinkish red color. What else do you see? Looks almost like blood to me. Click Andromeda and scroll down to see the bush in context – you will see how tiny the flowers are.

For more macros:

Weekly Review with Snow on Andromeda Shrub

Leora — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 11:47:12 +0000

Snow Covered Andromeda Shrub After Sunday Storm

Here’s how this andromeda shrub looked last spring.

On My Blog

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

Ilana-Davita: My Friends (and Nieces) Love Books
Pesky Settler: Her “after Chanukah scene” has a familiar look
Imabima talks Yiddish.
Tutorial on the Photoshop eye-dropper tool

To the many people celebrating holidays, enjoy. Shabbat Shalom to quite a few. Then there’s always Happy Festivus for whomever.

Nature Notes: Bee, Squirrel, Basil

Leora — Sun, 17 May 2009 02:24:21 +0000

Bee on Andromeda Shrub, May 2009

Bees were happily flying all about the andromeda shrub in front of my house. My daughter was afraid of the bees, but I told her they were much more interested in the flowers than in her.

Basil and Oregano have Germinated, May 2009

I look forward to making pesto with all the basil I have in my tray. I put in some oregano seeds, too; I do not know what I am going to do with this much oregano. I am working on converting all of my front yard into perennials (with some annuals each year, some shrubs already there) and doing away with trying to establish grass without weeds. Maybe I’ll plant some of the oregano there. Some of my neighbors have no grass at all in their front yards (and instead have ground cover and perennials); others dutifully maintain the green, bright strips of lawn.

A squirrel hopping along the wires in my backyard

Thursday Challenge: Andromeda

Leora — Wed, 06 May 2009 20:42:39 +0000

flower of an andromeda shrub, photo taken March 2009

This week’s Thursday Challenge theme is SPRING (Birds, Flowers, Puddles, Trees Budding, Spring Cleaning, Young Animals,…). Click to enlarge.

When You Hate School-Supply Shopping

Leora — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 08:41:03 +0000

I hate shopping for school supplies. I hate picking out all the notebooks. I hate it, I do, I do.

For the past few years, I’ve taken my sons. They hate it, too. This year, I left my eldest home, and my middle son was traveling on a bus home from camp (he’s now back), so I took my daughter. She didn’t seem to mind it that much, though when I asked if she wanted to look at skirts, she clearly just wanted to get out of the store.

Since we were close to my favorite plant nursery, Livingston Park Nursery on How Lane near Livingston Avenue in North Brunswick, we rewarded ourselves by going plant shopping. And taking photographs.

One of the reasons my daughter is happy is I bought her that purple costume she is wearing, a belated birthday present. Among my plant purchases were two of those little evergreen bushes behind her. Hopefully, we’ll have something green in our backyard in the dead of winter.

This is how the nursery looks:

I could have held unto this one until next Tuesday, so I could post it for Ruby Tuesday, a fun photography meme in which you post a photo that has red, but I like it too much to wait:

Finally, one good purpose for going to nurseries is that you find out the names of the plants that you already own. I don’t think I will forget Andromeda now:

On the other hand, I’ve already forgotten the name of the tall purple perennial I planted in my backyard. Is it loosestrife? lobelia? salvia? penstemmon? If it lives through September, I’ll take a photo of it and post it with a “please identify”.

How do you deal with school-supply season?