Drought or not, our flowers continue to bloom and thrive

Sharing the beauty of our garden / a Queen Elizabeth rose.

Springtime means new growth for our rose bushes -- drought or no drought. Our Queen Elizabeth rose bush has been an early bloomer this year. Ditto for our First Prize roses. It's also the season for our irises and rhododendrons to bloom and thrive.

Calla lily / few as lovely.

As a caretaker and devoted photographer of nine rose bushes that shine brilliantly throughout much of the year in our backyard garden, relying on rain and a few hours of weekly watering via a water drip system, my appreciation for roses has grown exponentially over the 15-plus years I have resided in the foothills above Oakland in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Irises / the time for them to
bloom is spring.

Plus, there are few flowers as lovely as the calla lily, and we're blessed to welcome dozens of them every year to our quiet, east side garden from winter to early summer.

Roses have become an everyday part of my life, and as an amateur gardener -- especially because of the ongoing drought taking place throughout California -- celebrating Earth Day has taken on a greater meaning for me.

First Prize / shining brightly.

Yet, in photographing our roses and other flowers in our gardens -- and sharing them with my friends via my Facebook page -- I have gained a new appreciation for their colorful beauty and their fragrance, too.

If our gardens are a form of autobiography, as the author and gardener Sydney Eddison once suggested, I am happy to say that our flowers keep getting more photogenic. They ask for so little and, yet, give us so much in return.

Indeed, as it has been said, a healthy garden is a reflection of a healthy soul.

All photographs by Michael Dickens © 2015.

In our garden: Reflections on Earth Day 2013

Earth Day, a celebration of what the earth gives us, was celebrated across the world on Monday.

It is often said that love begins in the home. And, so does our love for our planet earth. Yesterday, amid clear skies and a wealth of lovely sunshine that greeted the San Francisco Bay Area, I seized an opportunity to get outside for a little while and spent some time in our garden.

As I looked around, I thought to myself: "If I love the earth, all will bloom naturally."

We are blessed to have nine different rose bushes as well as irises, calla lilies, fuchsias, rhododendrons and camellias surrounding our house. Indeed, we have an abundance of beautiful blooms throughout the entire year, especially during the month of April.

And, so, in celebration of Earth Day yesterday, I grabbed my camera and started taking photographs, recording these precious moments in our garden for others to cherish. Consider it  as my random act of kindness. 

May every day be like Earth Day to us.

Iris

Mr. Lincoln rose

Pristine rose

Calla lily

Rhododendron

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

The pleasure of our gardens, part 11

This week's Bay Area heat wave brought a couple of nice surprises to our front yard garden: unexpected blooms. Thanks to three straight days of mercury-rising, 90-degree temperatures, the first blooms for our camellias and the unexpected blooming of our rhododendrons have added a pretty dash of autumn color.

Second-wave rhododendron:
Fall blooms are adding a
pretty dash of autumn color.

We trimmed both our camellia and rhododendron bushes during summer to enable their respective branches more room for new growth. So, imagine my double-take when I stepped outside a couple of days ago to turn on the water sprinkler and discovered new blooms opening up for both of our front-yard bushes.

Unexpected bloom:
Our camellias usually don't
bloom until Halloween.

As I write, two camellia blooms and nine rhododendrons blooms have debuted, and I expect more blooms will open soon. Usually, our camellias open later in the fall season ~ by Halloween ~ then continue through autumn and into winter. While it's not uncommon to have a second wave of rhododendron blooms in the same calendar year (regular blooming occurs in spring), it's not an annual event. Still, it's a welcome sight on a hot day.

Casual but welcome:
An All That Jazz rose opens
its petals and reveals
a vivid salmon orange inside.

Meanwhile, credit the heat wave for bringing a welcome bloom from our All That Jazz rose bush.  Its demeanor may be more casual and the quantity of its blooms less than some of our more productive rose bushes like the Queen Elizabeth and Mr. Lincoln. However, when temperatures rise like they did earlier this week, our All That Jazz choreographs a great entrance in our garden that would make Bob Fosse proud.

Bursting out in blossom ~ painting the dance floor in a vivid salmon orange ~ and singing a Broadway tune.  That's All That Jazz.

The pleasure of our gardens, part 7

The beginning of June marks a transitional time for our gardens.  As spring winds down and summer nears, there's a noticeable shift in the composition and colors of the flowers that dot our landscape.

Earlier this month, we bid farewell to the last of our irises and, as of this writing, there are just a few rhododendron still blooming.  It's too bad they can't extend their stay just a little longer ~ both add vibrancy with their respective purple hues ~ but their blooming cycle is limited and, thus, not to be taken for granted.  So, you can imagine my interest in documenting, through pictures, the beauty of both our irises and rhododendrons with their new arrival each spring.

Surprisingly, last weekend, while gardening on the shady, east side of our house, I discovered two late-blooming calla lilies.  I guess they are late bloomers since their prime blooming season starts in late winter and concludes in early spring. Nearby, our fuchsia bush continues an active growth cycle with dozens of colorful blooms, nicely aided by a north-facing, mid-afternoon sunshine that arrives daily almost without fail.

As Bay Area temperatures rise, our rose bushes will produce more blooms.  It also means we'll need to run our water drip system more regularly to keep our rose bushes properly hydrated.  Our rose bushes enjoy a good drink of water ~ and, fortunately, it needn't have to be Perrier or San Pellegrino to keep them happy and healthy.

With summer's arrival on June 21, soon we'll be able to enjoy more of the many beautiful colors produced by our Queen Elizabeth, Mr. Lincoln, Pristine, First Prize, All That Jazz and Angel Face rose bushes.

I've got my digital camera ready to document the welcoming of our perennial friends.  Stay tuned.

Top photo: Fuchsia.  Bottom photo: Queen Elizabeth rose.
Photos by Michael Dickens, 2010.

The pleasure of our gardens, part 5

May brings many beautiful colors to our gardens ~ and this year is no exception. While I have focused much attention in recent posts to the blossoming of our back yard rose bushes, including our First Prize, Mr. Lincoln and Queen Elizabeth roses, up in the front yard of our house ~ very quietly but efficiently ~ our rhododendrons have burst out with a beaucoup of bright, bell-shaped purple blooms.

According to Wikipedia, rhododendron comes from the Greek ~ rodo meaning "rose" and dendro meaning "tree" ~ and is a genus of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. The rhododendron is the national flower of Nepal as well as the state flower of Washington and West Virginia.

One of the joys of having a perennial like a rhododendron is you can count on it blooming about the same time every year ~ come rain or shine ~ and the first week of May is when we mark in our gardening calendar for the rhododendron's yearly return. With two unusually late April rain showers, plus one earlier this week, our rhododendron bush has received plenty of moisture during the past month. Coupled with nice afternoon sunshine it receives from its northern exposure, it's become both a purple splendor in the front yard and visibly noticeable by our neighbors.

While the buds nurture for several months before opening up, and the green leaves can be appreciated throughout the year, the rhododendron blossoms for only about a month or so before wilting as Bay Area temperatures and humidity rise.

It's too bad that rhododendron blooms have such a short shelf life. Yet, it makes you appreciate the time they're smiling at us ~ and with their arms open wide.