Just one night...

A really hideously-lit shot of the plant, just to give you the idea of it. :)

I was on the phone absently studying our night blooming cereus plant. It's a great great great great (give or take a great) granddaughter cutting from Georgia O'Keeffe's plant. No lie. It was gifted to me a couple of years ago and I've not seen anything but sprouting leaves and stems, and done my level best not to kill it. "Give it some sun", says my neighbor, "they love sun". And so I did. The poor thing quickly turned into a crispy wonton so I whipped it back in the house before it was too late. That was almost two years ago now...

It was the eve before the full moon in August, the exact same time my neighbor's bloomed in 2008. As I looked around our plant I noticed something really strange touching the window. Upon closer inspection it appeared to be the curled cluster of a bloom—not unlike a squash blossom—and it was going to explode that night. That night only. I turned the plant around and began to watch the process. And a wee bit at a time this incredible blossom began to do just that. I left her for a couple of hours. I checked in. The moon was coming up. She was opening up, and the whole thing was too tempting not to photograph. So I did. Quite a bit.

I wondered what part of the plant exactly was responsible for its most exquisite fragrance, which later wafted down the hall to my room, intoxicating my senses. The whole thing was truly a heavenly experience. For just one night.

Wild flowers from the pasture

I went outside in the hot sunny afternoon, looking for flowers for a table arrangement yesterday. The monsoons had brought an amazing array of blooms to life, and I found these in our neck of the woods. The white puffy ones smell so sweet. As I clipped them I noticed a small praying mantis nibbling on the unopened buds...

Tulips and Anais Nin

I walk ahead of myself in perpetual expectancy of miracles.

—Anais Nin

Recently I came across some quotes from Anais Nin. I've wanted to edit my tulip images for a long time, and indeed found a note on my computer "Edit Tulips!" from last year. Sometimes it takes a while for things to blossom. I feel her timeless words go well with these images.

I hope you get lost in these "immagini" of the tulips as much as I got lost in photographing them. Literally, I climbed inside of them with my camera. Postscript: They are as I saw them, not manipulated in any way. :)

I looked with chameleon eyes upon the changing face of the world,

looked with anonymous vision upon my uncompleted self.

—Anais Nin

And... these tulip images, and others, will be available as limited edition prints made by me on recycled sugar cane photo paper that is just glorious. If you'd like to be contacted when they are up for sale, please email me at blog@elsakendall.com with "Tulip Prints" in the subject line.

Seeds of Wonder

It's that time of year again...

Time to free the morning glory seeds from their dried and wintered pods.

I think this one is a purple one, second favorite only to the Heavenly Blue variety.

I'm going to plant them e v e r y w h e r e!

80 Years Ago Today

You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming.

~Pablo Neruda

On this day in 1930 the news of the discovery of the planet Pluto was telegraphed to the Harvard College Observatory. He has since been demoted—in 2006—but it does not alter his power one little bit.

The Soul: Everything You Are

"The mind is the last part of yourself to listen to. 

It thinks of everything you can lose. 

The heart thinks of everything you can give, 

and the soul thinks of everything you are."   

—Neale Donald Walsch

Morning Glory Looking Out At The Snow

A while back this morning glory seed made headlines when it sprouted and began climbing up the avocado plant (here). It kept going, and going, and going, and recently started blooming. Here you can see one of the blooms sitting snug inside on the table, wide eyed, looking out at the falling snow.

Gift from a Squirrel

Last winter I was feeding the birds a mix of yummy seeds, mostly sunflower. I didn't see many squirrels because Parlez was on the scene, newly arrived, and keeping guard. Several months later I was out on the rebounder trampoline and I noticed a couple of sunflowers energetically sprouting out of a neglected pot. I wondered how they got there, as I hadn't planted them. And then I realized a squirrel must have stashed them for the winter where they had lain dormant and unclaimed until now.

Later in the summer as they grew and bloomed, one attracting the most amazing fluorescent green fly, I studied it and the pattern of the zillions of yellow petals. Remembering the Italian for sunflower, girasole—literally meaning to circle or follow the sun—I was transported back to dozing on a train through Tuscany and awakening at the precise moment we were running along fields and fields of sunflowers in full bloom. It was so beautiful, all that yellow warming the countryside. Now, out of my reverie, I marveled at how one seed planted by a squirrel could turn into such a beautiful flower. And that one flower could create so many more seeds to make many, many more flowers. I think of this now at harvest time, the gift of seeds.

Summer passed and I saw this one above, spent, getting ready to shed its seeds for another batch of beauties the following year. That same day I went for a walk in the arroyo. It was the chamisa's turn for center stage, the sunflowers had all gone. Or so I thought. Walking in the fall sunshine I was contemplating the quality of grace. Startled I heard what sounded like a pack of barking dogs. I looked in their direction and saw none, but instead one stellar, golden sunflower perched all alone on the edge of the arroyo. Sitting about two feet tall it looked down over to me, smiling and waving. Grace.

A Walk in the Garden, Last Days of Summer

My fellow earth dwellers,

I'm bug eyed from looking at blogs and pages of you know what, and you know who. The natural world is such an antidote to this senseless stress and thank goodness we have it still. These little shots I made one morning last week as I walked around examining the new fuzzy caterpillars that are busy munching for their cocooning, and lots of flowers like Cosmos and Morning Glory and Sunflower that have finished their souljourns and have prepared some amazing seeds for next year. It never ceases to amaze me how one seed makes one plant, which makes many seeds—many, many if you are a sunflower.

Another Terry Tempest Williams treat on the way soon but in the meantime take a little stroll through this garden of earthly delights. Parlez joined in and thought it great fun to try and eat my camera strap while I made a photo of him. He was laying down taking a break after an arduous session waiting for finches to drop into his mouth, as you can see below.

The Amazing Cholla Cactus

Click to enlarge.

This is the result of a lot of wonderful summer rain. We're in the monsoon season here in northern New Mexico and everything is really benefiting from the moisture. Take this little prickly cactus for example. It amazingly survives and blooms in the most arid of conditions, not unlike what a cactus does. But in the 13 years I've lived here I've never seen so many lovely blooms—usually late June or July—and this year has been really exceptional. After I backed into this bush (ouch, lots of tiny little prickles wedged themselves in my trousers) I got closer, this time facing it, and captured these blooms at dusk.

I waited a little longer, and looking out toward Bobcat Spur I saw this. 

Click to enlarge this one also!

Buzzing Explosions

This is not a penguin floating in Peptobismal (sit back a little to see). It is a tulip!

I was just sitting here minding my own business compiling a whole host of goody links at dancingbeeacres bee products when KABOOM POP KABOOM!!! outta nowhere a light bulb exploded just over my head. So without further ado I am passing these on to you, links for the following wonderous products from the heavenly bees of eastern Oregon. The site has lots of great information, also regarding neem. Don't get me started on neem. It is the wonder plant/tree of all time. The bees and the neem make a pretty potent combination. Check these out for yourself. Yummm!

Royal Jelly         Healthy Hive Combo         Neem Honey

02 08 2008 FIRST POST Snow still on the ground in Santa Fe...

I had to have a post on this date, even if it doesn't really say anything because I like the way these date numbers look. This occurrence, where the day and the month digits make up the year, will only happen twice, now and in August. In celebration of spring will soon be here (won't it?) a shot of an iris and a tulip embracing. Truly.

For those of you who would like to see more flower power please visit my online gallery by clicking on the title of this post and you will be transported.