Welcoming the return of the winter season to our garden

Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful;

they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul.

~ Luther Burbank

Calla lily / A welcome sight to our garden each winter.

It's only the second full week of the New Year, but there's a characteristic pattern that's become noticeable each winter day here. Our Bay Area mornings are chilly, and the afternoons are crisp but sunny. The days are mostly dry. It's a welcoming time.

The past couple of Saturday mornings following breakfast have been reserved for spending time in our garden, battling the sprouting oxalis that have been overtaking our iris beds inch by inch as well as the grassy area that surrounds our house and our rose beds, too. Fighting the colorful oxalis happens every year after it's been raining -- and the month between our recent Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays here in Oakland was a very wet one, indeed.

While most of our rose bushes have been dormant -- we usually trim back the branches near the end of the year -- a few have already become active, such as our All That Jazz and our Pristine rose bushes. 

One thing I've enjoyed about winter gardening is welcoming the return of our calla lilies. Right now, there are about six of them in various stages of blooming. By spring, that number should multiply to about two dozen, bringing much joy to the usually quiet east side of our house.

As the beauty of the sun glistens over our backyard garden, it's a delight -- more than ever -- to photograph our winter flowers.

Photograph by Michael Dickens © 2014.

The pleasure of our gardens: Welcoming the spring equinox to our backyard garden

Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose. ~ Gertrude Stein

How lovely a rose smells when left on its stem.

Spring's recent arrival in the Northern Hemisphere offers all of us a chance for reflection as we begin our break away from winter and welcome the new season.

Maybe it's just me, but it seems as if the sun's just a bit warmer and the flowers are a little brighter than they were just a week or two ago.

Speaking of flowers ...

Springtime means new growth for our rose bushes. Our First Prize rose bush has been an early bloomer this year and, at the time of this writing, we have five First Prize roses blooming.

As a caretaker and devoted photographer of nine rose bushes that shine brilliantly throughout much of the year in our backyard garden, my appreciation for roses has grown exponentially over the 14-plus years I have resided in the foothills above Oakland in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Roses have become an everyday part of my life, and in photographing and sharing them with my friends via my Facebook page, I have gained a new appreciation for their colorful beauty and their fragrance, too.

Remember, it's always about how lovely a rose smells when left on its stem.

Photograph of First Prize rose by Michael Dickens © 2014.

2013 ~ My Year in Pictures

Most of you who follow A Tuesday Night Memo or are friends of mine on Facebook know this about me: I'm an avid photographer. 

I make it a habit to bring my camera (a Canon PowerShot A570 IS) with me wherever I go or travel. And, thanks to getting an iPhone three years ago, I now have two sources for shooting photographs.

As taking pictures has matured from film to digital, photography has become an easier and more affordable hobby. No longer do I have to buy and store film or worry about whether the roll of film I just shot of the Eiffel Tower or the Tower of London Bridge is in focus or not.

After becoming a digital photographer about 10 years ago, it allowed me to become my own editor.  So, if I'm not happy with a picture, I can delete it and re-shoot it, then edit it for clarity. Thanks to social media sites like Facebook, uploading and sharing photos with a large group of friends has become fast and simple -- and, for me personally, it's become a daily exercise in sharing my photography with others through my timeline: "It's what's on my mind."

Each year, I take more than a thousand photographs of people, places and things. In revisiting the photo albums I've shot over the past 12 months, I've pulled together a group of photos that I'm pretty excited about. They cover a variety of things important and interesting to me: Flowers and nature, sports, music and the urban landscapes of cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle. 

You may recognize some of these photos from appearing on my Facebook page or in my blog. Click on each photograph to see them enlarged.

I hope you enjoy the exhibit and I welcome your thoughts.

Cheers and Happy 2014!

I took this photograph inside of Haas Pavilion during a University of
California, Berkeley women's basketball against Oregon last February.
That's Eliza Pierre (No. 4 in gold) guarding an Oregon opponent.

The magnificent beauty of a California redwood tree,
which I photographed on the grounds of St. Clement's
Episcopal Church in Berkeley last May.

A giant diaper pin sculpture by Claes Oldenburg sits inside the garden
of the de Young Fine Arts Museum. I took this photograph last January.

The central fountain in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park located
near the de Young Fine Arts Museum and the California Academy of
Sciences. Much to my surprise, there was a a gull sitting atop the
fountain when I took this photograph last January.

Sharing the beauty of one of our calla lilies, taken last April.

We have a raised iris bed in our backyard garden
and each April our irises come to life, standing tall.

Sharing the beauty of a rainbow colored rose from our
backyard garden, taken during the beginning of November.

A plate of poutine -- French fries topped with mushroom gravy and
 cheese curds, enjoyed at Beauty's Bagel Shop in Oakland.

A bowl of Three Twins vanilla and dulce de leche
ice cream and shortbread cookie from Comal,
in downtown Berkeley.

A window display of Chuck Taylor All-Stars on the Third Street
Promenade in Santa Monica, Calif., taken last July.

The Central Garden at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, taken in July.
It's a wonderful experience of sights, sounds and scents.

Sharing the beauty of a Mr. Lincoln red rose,
taken in our backyard garden last May.

I met John Lewis, American civil rights leader and
U.S. congressman, at a book signing event last June
at the American Library Association conference
 in Chicago.

The Cloud Gate, a 110-ton elliptical sculpture forged of a seamless
series of stainless steel plates, created by British artist Anish Kapoor.
It reflects the Chicago skyline and the clouds above as seen from
Millennium Park. I took this photograph on the Fourth of July.

The Stars and Stripes is draped over the side of the
Wrigley Building facing the Chicago River. I took
this photograph while walking across the Wabash
Avenue Bridge heading towards the Loop in Chicago.

A view of San Francisco's Alcatraz Island as seen through a
"closed window" inside the Fort Mason Festival Pavilion.

The beauty of a tall tree on the grounds of
San Francisco's Golden Gate Park last summer.

Inside Shakespeare Garden in San Francisco's
Golden Gate Park, taken in August.

Sharing the beauty of one of our Queen Elizabeth roses
from our backyard garden, taken last September.

Our alliums bloom during the summer months in
our front yard and share a garden bed with
our Japanese maple tree.

Seattle's iconic Space Needle was built for the
1962 World's Fair. I took this photograph last
September while attending Bumbershoot, Seattle's
annual music and arts festival. 

Enjoying the eclectic blues music of Duke Robillard last September
at the Bumbershoot music and arts festival in Seattle.

My season ticket to the University of California,
Berkeley's womens' volleyball matches always
provides a great view of photographing
the action on the court.

The Rotante Dal Foro Centrale, a bronze sphere by Italian sculptor
Arnaldo Pomodoro. It sits near the western entrance of the University
of California, Berkeley campus.

Enjoying Los Lobos with guest Boz Scaggs at last October's
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival at San Francisco's
Golden Gate Park.

A view of the central spire atop San Francisco's
Grace Cathedral, taken last August. It looks like
the spire is touching the clouds above.

The beauty of an August full moon -- a "blue moon."
I took this photograph standing on on our deck.

Guardian dog sculpture inside SFO's Terminal 3,
 inspired by Japanese folk toys.

A chilly but sunny Thanksgiving Day afternoon at Lakeview Park,
Albert Lea, Minnesota.

On a November Sunday morning, I came upon three
turkeys just minding their business up the hill from
my residence.

Colorful Christmas tree inside the Fairmont Hotel,
atop San Francisco's Nob Hill.

Graced With Light, a ribbon installation project by
artist-in-residence Anne Patterson, inside
San Francisco's Grace Cathedral. I took this
photograph during Advent season.

The lovely beauty of a February sunset over San Francisco
as photographed from Memorial Stadium on the UC Berkeley campus.

All photographs by Michael Dickens, copyright 2013. All rights reserved.

Love thou the rose, yet leave it on its stem

"Love thou the rose, yet leave it on its stem."
~ Edward Robert Bulwer Lytton, 19th century English poet and statesman, from A Night in Italy.

A rose is a rose is a rose ...

Being a caretaker and photographer of nine rose bushes that shine brilliantly in our backyard garden, my appreciation for roses has grown exponentially over the past 13 years we have resided in the foothills above Oakland in the San Francisco Bay Area. Roses have become an everyday part of my life.

In photographing our roses and sharing them with my friends via my Facebook page, I have gained a new appreciation for their colorful beauty and their fragrance, too. It's always about how lovely a rose smells when left on its stem.

As it happened, earlier this month while on holiday in Portland, Oregon, we spent one morning visiting the International Rose Test Garden in the City of Roses. Founded in 1917, it is the oldest official, continuously operated public rose test garden in the United States.

While the primary purpose of the International Rose Test Garden is to serve as a testing ground for new rose varieties, in the beginning, hybridists sent roses from around the world to the Portland garden for testing and to keep them safe from the destruction of the bombing that was taking place in Europe during World War I.

On the day of our visit, the sun shone brightly in the Portland sky overhead. The vista looking out from the hills where the International Rose Test Garden and its companion gardens reside was very inviting to us. Walking through the various gardens gave us an up-close view of many different hybrids of roses and a chance to study their color, form, foliage and fragrance. And, simply to admire all of the beautiful nature surrounding us.

A beautiful summer day at the Portland Rose Gardens.

Operated by the Parks and Recreation Department, Portland's Rose Gardens are open in the spring, summer and fall seasons and closed in winter from December 23 to March 12. Admission is free and photographing of the hundreds of beautiful roses is highly encouraged.

Photographs by Michael Dickens, copyright 2012. All rights reserved.

It's what's on my mind on the first day of spring

"Daffodils that come before the swallow dares,
and takes the winds of March with beauty."
~ William Shakespeare

Today is the first day of spring.

"Spring has returned," the early 20th century Bohemian-Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke once wrote. "The Earth is like a child who knows poems."

And, spring conjures up pleasant memories of walking through St. James's Park in London this time of year in 2005 and 2007 enjoying the pleasant sight of daffodils.

Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, spring arrived on March 20 with neither a bang nor a whimper. As I look up from my MacBook Pro and glance out the dining room window of our house, I can see the sun is desperately trying to peek through the cloudy skies. Yet, there is the possibility of a sprinkle or two in today's forecast, too. Unsettled like everything else in the world these days, right?

We're expecting a daytime high of about 60 degrees (16C), which easily bests Seattle's 46 degrees (8C), and it's warmer than what we've experienced the past few days. However, our temperature and forecast pales in comparison to what my friends in Belgrade (67F, 19C) and Tunis (70F, 21C) experienced today in their first day of spring.

Spring is full of optimism ~ think baseball ~ and its annual arrival at this time of the year leaves chilly winter memories behind. Thankfully, spring has been widely rhapsodized in poetry for many centuries by Shakespeare and Wordsworth, among many poets.

Ultimately, whether sun or rain greets the arrival of spring, poetry does seem right for the occasion of celebrating the first day of the new season.

A Prayer in Spring

By Robert Frost (1915)

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;

And give us not to think so far away

As the uncertain harvest; keep us here

All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,

Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;

And make us happy in the happy bees,

The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird

That suddenly above the bees is heard,

The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,

And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,

The which it is reserved for God above

To sanctify to what far ends He will,

But which it only needs that we fulfil.

Photograph of daffodils in a vase by Michael Dickens, copyright 2012.

The pleasure of our gardens, part 17

I am always amazed at how the color and shape of a single rose can change in just a matter of days.

The spring weather has been kind to the rose bushes in our backyard garden and has made photographing our roses and other flowers a real pleasure ~ and, a daily habit.

Last week, I followed the progress of a single rainbow-colored rose over the course of four days and recorded three photographs that illustrate how its color and shape changed day by day.

May 11, 7:58 p.m.

May 13, 7:13 a.m.

May 14, 3:25 p.m.

Sometimes, all it takes is a bit of sunshine, coupled with a little overnight rain, to make things nice and colorful in our garden.

All photographs by Michael Dickens, copyright 2011.

An appreciation of daffodils

Daffodils / Fond memories of spring time in London

I have fond memories of visiting London in spring time.

Let's see, where to start: There's world-class museums like the Tate Modern and the British Museum to lose yourself in; there's the sight of Big Ben and Buckingham Palace to admire; there's walking across the Millennium Bridge with St. Paul's Cathedral looming bigger than ever as it draws nearer to you; and, there's a plethora of wonderful theatre awaiting on both sides of the Thames that's guaranteed to leave you feeling gobsmacked.

Yes, March is a great time to drop in for a bit of fresh air and fresh culture ~ I've done it twice, in 2005 and 2007 ~ and I can't wait to do it again.  If you go in March, you'll get to enjoy the daffodils that seem to be everywhere you walk throughout all of London's beautiful parks.

It's spring time and the daffodils are in bloom.

Daffodils in bloom /
 St. James's Park (2005)

There's an intellectual quality about daffodils worth admiring. They are hardy flowers.

Their perianth and corona are very detailed and they exude a beautiful yellow hue, although sometimes daffodils contain more than one shade or color.

Daffodils in bloom /
Regent's Park (2007)

And, personally, I like that daffodils mature very quickly. They don't waste time blooming.

My photo of our daffodils (top), in a vase, was shot just three days after we bought them last Saturday at our favorite local grocery store.


Here are a few things worth noting about daffodils:

* Daffodils are the national flower of Wales.
* Daffodils were a central part of e.e. cummings' poem, in time of daffodils.
* The Irish band The Cranberries once sang about daffodils in their song, "Daffodil Lament."
* In Nantucket, Mass., there's even a Daffodil Festival held annually during the last weekend of April that celebrates the flower.

So, you see, there is a bit of shared history ~ and meaning ~ for the daffodil.

Finally, I think daffodils are indeed a sweet image amidst all of the upheaval, disaster and tragedy that is happening throughout our world these days.

It's spring time and the daffodils are in bloom.

The pleasure of our gardens, part 9

Over the past several months, I've blogged regularly about our many colorful rose bushes in our backyard garden.  However, I haven't waxed much about what's happening in our front yard garden. With summer nearing its midpoint, I thought it's time to introduce you to one of our front-of-the-house perennials that's not only added a welcome splash to a small garden bed, but also has become a nice companion to our Japanese maple tree.

Starting as delicate, airy globes ...

Say hello to our allium flowers.  Perhaps, you've seen an allium before.  After all, they're native to most countries in the northern hemisphere and can also be found in Brazil and Africa.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines the allium as "any of numerous, usually bulbous plants of the genus Allium in the lily family, having long stalks bearing clusters of various colored flowers."  And, according to the website livetogarden.com, allium flowers typically grow to a height of about 48 inches tall and spread to about a foot.  So, they're quite easy to pick out of a crowd of garden flowers.

A few years ago, our next-door neighbor gave us a couple of their "extra" alliums in exchange for a couple of our "extra" iris bulbs, which we happened to be splitting and replanting at the time.  After planting our alliums in a small, mixed-use garden spot near our front door, we didn't really know what to expect ~ and I seem to recall nothing really happened for a long time. Just a lot of green leaves at the base of the stem taking up space and harboring a few pesky snails.

A couple of summers ago, several of our alliums opened up quite nicely ~ without any prompting ~ and became welcome acquaintances in our front yard garden.  They share space with a Japanese maple tree and a few calla lilies.  One thing I enjoy about our alliums is they are very low maintenance and thrive on the afternoon sunshine facing north.

... blooming into star-like flowers.

The allium's maturing process is as intriguing as it is interesting to observe.  First, the main bulb sprouts up at the end of a long, light green stem;  then, it splits open like a pea pod, producing a cluster of small pods.  Finally, these pods open up into individual flowers.

While all of our allium blooms are blueish purple, alliums also bloom in white ~ even red.  During evening walks through our neighborhood, I've begun noticing many gardens sprouting alliums.  I've also observed alliums growing in median strip gardens while driving around Oakland.  A popular flower or a just a populist?

Alliums are everywhere you want them to be ~ and some places you don't expect them to be.

The pleasure of our gardens, part 6

One of the joys of having a garden filled with perennials is they provide endless photographic opportunities ~ year after year.

The moderate Bay Area climate is great not only for year-round gardening, but also for taking pictures of flowers year-round. Digital photography makes it simple and fun, and enhances their natural beauty.

While photographing our gardens over the past decade has evolved from using color film to today's instant-gratification of digital, it remains a learning process for me.

For the past two and one-half years, I have photographed our gardens using an inexpensive, lightweight Canon PowerShot A570 IS (4X Optical Zoom, 7.1 Mega Pixels) camera. Most of my flower pictures are shot using either the auto focus or landscape setting and, since I shoot mostly during daylight hours, the auto-flash remains turned off.

I try to keep a few, simple things in mind when photographing our flowers:

* Composition and light are vital to a picture's success.

* Frame the shot with the aid of the zoom lens. Some subjects lend themselves to being photographed horizontally while others are better shot vertical.

* Get in close to the subject, even if it means getting down on your hands and knees.

* Experiment with angle, shooting down on the subject or up at it.

* Don't be afraid to move the subject off-center.

* Shoot at sunrise or sunset for scenic value.

Whether it's documenting our new calla lilies blooming in late winter, the arrival of irises in early April, the purple blooms of rhododendrons in May, or the multi-colored varieties of roses throughout summer and autumn, our gardens perennially reward us with colorful scenery.

No matter the time of year, there's always a flower worthy of a good picture.

The pleasure of our gardens

"Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers today;

And give us not to think so far away

As the uncertain harvest; keep us here

All simply in the springing of the year."

~ Robert Frost

One of the pleasures gained from owning a home the past decade has been nurturing our perennials. Our front-yard garden includes a rhododendron, a camellia, a fuchsia and lots of calla lilies. Ten rose bushes and a bed of irises line our back yard. There is an azalea bush and lavender bushes, too. Previous owners planted most of it; we're merely the caretakers of their legacy. It has been educational to keep them healthy, and fun to photograph them.

Each of the plants has its own growth cycle during the year. Luckily, there is always something in bloom. Now that the warmer spring weather has arrived, our iris bed has been bursting with activity. By the end of the week, there should be numerous purple and white blooms.

The first rose of the year, a First Prize, bloomed last week. Soon, our other rose bushes will create a palette of pretty colors that will last until November. The camellia tree has been in bloom since Halloween, and our calla lilies have dotted the landscape very nicely since Christmas. Finally, a couple of newly-opened azaleas last week coincided with the playing of the Masters Championship in Augusta, Ga., where azaleas reign supreme.

Our moderate Bay Area weather contributes to year-round gardening and enjoyment. It is true, April showers do bring May flowers ~ and, in another month, it's going to be quite lovely and colorful.