Saturday, April 14, 2012

Springtime sights

Yesterday morning around 7:30 I walked to the bus and noticed that not only was the sun out, but a heavy dew was covering all the blossoming rhododendrons. This Washington state flower begins to bloom in early spring, and different varieties will delight me for at least the next month. These are some of the first ones I've seen; the red ones come out next and I've spied a couple of bright red bushes, but so far no pictures.
Just as I reached the bus stop, I saw several beautiful trees that are just coming into flower. I don't know what this one is, but I was really pleased with the resulting picture. If you enlarge, you can see all the dew on the top part of the petals. The color of the sky behind is so delicate, and the early morning light on the petals combined just perfectly. By the time I got out of the gym at 10:00am, it was foggy and the sun had disappeared.
What's that red dot on his bill?
This morning our Saturday walk was to Whatcom Falls Park, and I saw this gull when we went past him the first time, so on the way back I took his picture. He hadn't moved, but when I pointed the camera at him, he started to move away. I was curious about that red dot on his bill (I've seen it before), so I looked it up and linked the information under the picture. After the walk I headed over to the Farmers' Market for our weekly veggies.
Roslyn from Rabbit Fields Farm
There are many different organic farmers to buy from at the market, but I keep coming back to Roslyn because her stuff is just so darn good. I put a link so you can read about Rabbit Fields Farm if you're interested. I bought one other thing while I was there, the Easter basket filled with flowering plants.
That basket on the left is filled with pansies, sweet peas, and many other exciting flowers that will keep on giving out some color for the entire summer. I bought one of these from the vendor a few years ago, and it kept blooming all the way into the next summer but then it finally gave up. Or I forgot to water it in the wintertime. The flower pot on the railing will be giving me summer flowers to attract the hummingbirds. This is the third springtime I'll have planted flowers out there in that hanging basket.

First I line the wire basket with a coconut fiber liner. Last year I didn't do this right, and the plants died pretty quickly, so this year I went so far as to read the directions! First I soaked it in water and once I got it mashed in there, I was able to simply pull the excess parts off the top. The biggest plants are salvia, which are hummingbird magnets, and some fuschia. I forget the name of the pretty pink hanging ones; they were the only ones already in bloom and I wanted some  immediate payoff. I bought these on Wednesday and got them planted yesterday. They are so happy to be up there with their roots unbound. I am looking forward to a nice batch of hummingbirds visiting me. You'll see the results if I am successful.

That's it for today, a beautiful Saturday in the Pacific Northwest. I read that this is the first back-to-back dry weekends we've had since early September, which is why everybody is smiling and happy to have this weather. Tomorrow I'll head down to Snohomish hoping to get a few jumps in with my friends. I hope you have a great weekend, too!
:-)

27 comments:

  1. the flower basket looks lovely! and that is too cool about the red bill spot!

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  2. Rats! I wanted to tell you it was a Herring Gull!
    Awesome looking plants at your farmer's market. Our farmer's maker starts the third weekend in May

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  3. nice...hummingbird magnets...now that is fun...love watching them....nice basket...

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  4. The flowers are all so beautiful and how great to have a farmer's market already.

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  5. What a beautiful (literally and figuratively) post. Love the flowers, love the farmers' markets. Have a great day.

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  6. Interesting to read the information about the red spot on the gull's bill. Thank you for that!
    I love the dew on the blossoms...exquisite shots you took, Jan.
    Love the flowers and especially love thinking about the hummingbirds that will visit. I enjoy feeding and watching our hummingbirds...thirsty and quite feisty li'l creatures they are!!

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  7. Really excellent photos, especially the dew drops on that flowering tree branch! Love it!

    I am going to copy your idea of the hanging planter for the hummingbirds! I have a perfect place for one. I don't see hummingbirds too often anymore, but maybe if I plant some salvia they'll be back! They used to visit the glads, but the glads are gone for some reason. When I remember to make nectar, they visit, but I'm not very dependable! (also, the nectar attracts the bees, which aren't as welcome on the deck!)

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  8. The dew on the blossoms look so sparkling. And your planter really turned out too.

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  9. It's always best to read the directions!! LOLOL

    The flowers you've shared are absolutely gorgeous. The colors, the dew...the multi-petals!! Beautiful.

    I LOVE Spring.

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  10. Just to answer your question about the red dot on the seagulls beak - short answer -
    Adult seagulls have a red dot so that the chicks know where to tap in order to get their parents to regurgitate part digested food.
    The flowers are absolutely stunning - what great beauty you have around you DJan - our market does not open for quite a while yet, as it is way too cold for fresh veggies, etc just yet.
    My neice loved the photo of your landing - I think she is hooked - she is checking into it.
    Have a great day.

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  11. Interesting story about the red dot on the bills. It is something that attracts baby birds to their parents arrival and their mouths gap open. I know with Robins that they wait, doze, or just look around until they hear the wing flap and the noise of touching the nest brings them to open their mouths and raise their heads up as high as possible. Calves butt their mother's breasts to get them to let the milk down. Horses nod up and down while bumping their mother near or on the milk bucket.

    I nursed my mother as they did not have and no mother in her right mind would dream of using a "baby bottle." And I can still smell that smell that identified my mother's breasts from all others.

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  12. I'll be darned! I never even noticed a red spot on a gull's bill. We do have gulls that seem to hang out along the Red River here. I'll have to look closer next time I see them.

    The dew covered flowers are just stunning! And it looks like you will have some pretty flowers at home, too.

    Hope you have a wonderful Sunday, Lady! :)

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  13. As always, beautiful photos. Happy jumping!

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  14. Beautiful photos. I always love flower photos. Look forward to seeing more of the rhodedendrons. The white flowers look like our apple or pear blossom which are covering the trees here in London at the moment. Always hope the wind does not blow the blossom off before the insects can get to the flowers and do their work.

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  15. I love your little balcony garden!
    The gull red spot is very interesting. Nature has produced some very amazing adaptations.

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  16. Good post, very interesting. Gosh, I've been so busy looking at cherry blossoms I forgot all about Rhodies. I better drop my vision focus and see what's going on a little closer to the ground. I sure don't want to miss the Rhodies.

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  17. Wonderful blossom photos, DJan. And I love the planters which will attract visiting birds before too long. I bet you'll be snapping and sharing those soon. Thanks for the info on the red dot. I never knew that.

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  18. Nice basket and all chance of frost must be gone for you! That is encouraging! Interesting about the red spot..survival of the species:)

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  19. Beautiful flowers for the springtime. Isn't it nice to see the colours. Also those of the market. I was on the market yesterday too. Saw some lovely flowering broccoli and couldn't resist. Ate it for dinner today - just delicious. It has such a short season, you have have to buy it when you see it.

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  20. Loved the dew on the flowers and your baskets look very nice, DJan. I haven't potted anything myself yet.

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  21. Gorgeous Spring blooms, and love the dew-covered one, so refreshingly beautiful.
    Isn't that interesting about the red dot on the gull's bill, I would have never guessed.
    Our local farmer's market has cranked up once again, not a very big one, but lots of variety, and wholesome produce.
    Have a wonderful week, dear friend.
    ~Jo

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  22. My husband spent the afternoon planting petunias and impatiens in pots – we still have more to plant. Your plants look attractive. I also like your photos of spring blooms.

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  23. The flowers are springing up here as well. What a beautiful time of year! Our Farmer's Markets won't start till May though. It is right around the corner...

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  24. BEautiful Saturday indeed! Fascinating about that red dot on the seagulls, I didn't know that! I wonder if all seagull species have it... I'll keep a look out for it when next I see one! ;o)

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  25. Those Rhododendrons are gorgeous. I can't wait for ours to start blooming.

    The California gull has a red/black spot on its bill. One we see a lot over this way is the Ring-billed gull, it has a black ring near the tip. Both of these gulls are in your area.

    The hummingbirds are going to love your flowers DJan.

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  26. I steered another of my blog friends to your site, DJan. He has been commenting on your comments, so I told him to visit your 2 blogs. He seems to like DJanity a lot. His name is Henry Hank Chapin, a professor emiritus of English in Hawaii.

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  27. I so wish I had access to farmer's markets on a regular basis. I miss really fresh greens and veggies.

    The flowers are gorgeous. Are the white blossoms a type of apple tree? Really beautiful. And that pail of flowers is a nice floral arrangement, loose and a bit wild. :)

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