By Day and By Night

After many days and nights of intense stifling heat, a thunderstorm on Monday afternoon brought cooler temperatures.

It has been so lovely to be outside, that I've found it difficult to concentrate on cleaning floors, unpacking yet more household items, tidying the kitchen.

The towering sunflower was facing east when I went out in the dewy morning.  By the time I returned with the camera its head was moving to the south.

I'm reminded of words to an old ballad:

"As the sunflower turns to her god when he sets,

the same look that she turned as he rose."

I was given this sunflower at church as a seedling in a paper cup.  I stuck it rather injudiciously in the back of the border which was taking shape. I now have to hold the camera on high and crane my neck to take a photo.

We couldn't identify a clump of bare woody canes straggling at a corner of the garage, and J. cut them back with the weed whacker.

I had noticed they were bursting forth after recent rains and this morning discovered these buds.

I wasn't sure of the plant's identity until seeing an opened blossom near the front porch, an area where I've not done much work.

I recognized that these are hibiscus.

The clump of holly hock which I transplanted in April has white blooms.

Japanese beetles are doing considerable damage to vegetable and flower leaves.

It has been of interest that the magnolia blooms have continued over several weeks of varying weather.

Last evening I worked in the deliciously cool air until I literally couldn't see the plants in front of me.

Rocking back on my heels I contemplated  this clump of white delphinium.  The delphinium have been disappointing, the leaves mottled and ill looking, yet in the darkness the flaws nearly disappeared and the white flower stalk glowed.

It doesn't take a lot to amuse me--if a white flower made an interesting night time photo, what about others?

This foxglove is nearly past its bloom time, but the pink shows up well against the night background.

The hibiscus of the morning is crumpled and tattered.

The green of the hollyhock leaves is intensified by the flash, making a dramatic surround for the white blossom.

I lurched about under the magnolia tree, trying in vain to get a good shot of the opening buds which were just above my head.  By morning this fully opened bloom will look like a brown paper shell.

Back in the car port the flowers in the planter are brilliant in the light from the fixture over the door.

Both my skill as a photographer and the capabilities of my camera are limited, but what fun to experiment.