rudbeckia

Today’s Flowers: Rudbeckia and Rose

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I love rudbeckia; I have many rudbeckia posted on this blog. Tattered and worn but still beautiful, a few yellow black-eyed susans still grace my front yard.

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This pale pink rose was the last one to be seen on my rose bush in the backyard in October.

For more flowers, visit Today’s Flowers:
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Today’s Flowers: Pink Chrysanthemum

Pink and Rose Volunteer Chrysanthemum near White Alyssum
Pink and Rose Volunteer Chrysanthemum near White Alyssum

This “volunteer” chrysanthemum (I didn’t plant it; it’s right next to a large, red chrysanthemum bush that I did plant) showed up this autumn in shades of pink and rose. The yellow petaled flower is one of my rudbeckia (black-eyed susan).

For more of Today’s Flowers, visit:
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Farm Flowers in Sepia

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I took this photo of flowers at Howell Living History Farm in western New Jersey in the middle of the summer. This shot was taken with the sepia setting on my camera.

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This photo was taken a few minutes later, in full color.

Mary is celebrating the 50th round of Sepia Scenes. Glad I was able to share in this one. And WordPress tells me this is my 900th post.

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Today’s Flowers: Fall Rudbeckia

Rudbeckia or black-eyed susans in September 2009
Rudbeckia or black-eyed susans in September 2009

By the end of September my rudbeckia develop a worn look but also a reddish glow inside the yellow petals. Marigolds pop up between the rudbeckia and are looking well, with their ruffles of orange and yellow.

For more flowers, visit Today’s Flowers:
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Nature Notes: Sparrow, Groundhog, and Tall Flowers

Sparrow resting on a neighbor's bush
Sparrow resting on a neighbor's bush

The sparrows on my block are quite a joy, both in sight and in sound.

Groundhog spotted at Middlesex County College in Edison
Groundhog spotted at Middlesex County College in Edison

A critter I do not love: my daughter and her friend said this was a beaver, but I believe it is a groundhog. We still have one living in our backyard. I installed a “solar pest repeller” (I’ll have to take a picture of the this gadget), but yesterday I discovered my marigolds had been newly chomped despite the new repeller. Next step is a havahart trap, in which we trap it, and my husband promises to drop it off at Johnson Park on his way to work. New meaning to carpooling?

Echinacea, rudbeckia, hydrangea all in a row on one block
Echinacea, rudbeckia, hydrangea all in a row on one block

Echnicacea, rudbeckia (those are in front of my home), and white hydrangea are in bloom on my block, all in front of different homes.

For more nature notes:
nature-note

Skywatch: Rudbeckia in the Sky

swftomSky Watch Friday is a photo meme with photos of sunrises, sunsets, blue skies, gray skies, pink skies, dark skies and any other kind of sky posted by bloggers all over the planet.

Rudbeckia or Black-Eyed Susans against the crisp blue New Jersey sky
Rudbeckia or Black-Eyed Susans against the crisp blue New Jersey sky

One has to bend down to get a snapshot of rudbeckia against the sky. They are tall for flowers, but not quite as tall as a tree. I have many growing in front of my home.

A rose-like climbing flower against a cloudy fluffy sky
A rose-like climbing flower against a cloudy fluffy sky

I took this shot in late June; I don’t know if it’s a rose or some other rose look alike flower that climbs on a fence at my daughter’s friend’s home.

Summer Stock: Echinacea

Echinacea (cone flowers) with Rudbeckia (yellow spots) behind
Echinacea (cone flowers) with Rudbeckia (yellow spots) behind

My block is full of beautiful summer flowers: these echinacea are in the front of my neighbor’s house (two doors down), and the yellow “splotches” you see in the photo are the many rudbeckia (black-eyed susans) blooming in front of my home. I had echinacea growing in my backyard, but they were chewed up, either by deer or by our resident ground hog. Yesterday morning I yelled “get out of here” at the ground hog. I just bought a solar mole chaser. We might buy a love trap. My neighbor down the block caught 11 last year. What can I say, the ground hogs love living in Highland Park.

For more Summer Stock Sunday posts, visit Robin at Around the Island.

Today’s Flowers: Gaillardia, Rudbeckia, Lambs Ears & more

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Love this new blanket flower, Gaillardia, that I planted in my garden this spring. Such brilliant red and yellow colors in one flower.

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Soon I will have many, many of these black-eyed susans or rudbeckia growing all over my garden. Luckily, the animals (ground hog? deer?) don’t seem to eat them. They have already eaten my cone flowers, dill and marigolds. Discouraging.

lambsear
Lambs ears produce these ultra-pink flowers; you either love ’em or you pick them away because they are a bit too brilliant. My snapdragons are beginning to show their colors, white alyssum are happily blooming in the front, and a few petunias reseeded themselves from last summer.

For more flowers, visit:
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Weekly Review with Rudbeckia

First Rudbeckia (black-eyed susan) of the summer in bloom, June 2009
First Rudbeckia (black-eyed susan) of the summer in bloom, June 2009

On my blog

Summer Stock: July Birthday
Today’s Flowers: Red Lily
Ruby Tuesday Strawberries
Watery Wednesday Wet
Thursday Challenge: Sweet Orange

SourDough and Hummus
Daughter Age One, Mixed Media

Upcoming in Central New Jersey

Come pick weeds in the Meadows in Highland Park.

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

  • Techeles in our times: “From the halachic standpoint the mitzva of Techeles is the dominant topic of the parasha.”

    For more on Tekhelet, see http://www.tekhelet.com/
    (the director is a friend of my husband)

  • Larry: Tales of HP (funny)
  • Ilana-Davita: Recipes: Summer Favorites
  • Jew Wishes mentioned Journey from the Land of No by Roya Hakakian (review now offline, sadly), a book I highly recommend, especially if you want to learn about Iran. Roya is a good storyteller.

Today’s Flowers: Fall Garden

rudbeckia with alyssum
Here are a few photos I took of my garden last week. Above is a rudbeckia, a black-eyed susan, peeking out from behind white alyssum.

azalea and andromeda shrubs
Pretty much all my annuals have now faded or died. In the spring I’ll photograph the azaleas, here shown with red leaves, that are under the andromeda shrub.

rose in November
A lonely pink rose in my backyard: sometimes we get roses on a warm winter day. But this past week brought frost each night; yesterday felt like January. Still no signficant snow, however.

Today’s Flowers is hosted by Luiz Santilli Jr. Thank you, Luiz, for this lovely and lively meme.

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