Gardens at Waters East

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Want a "Quickie" ? Today 9.17.14

“Quickies”

(All “Quickies” are photos taken and posted the same day)

These are only a few of the many photos taken this afternoon on a slow walk around the many garden rooms in the Gardens at Waters East. - 9.17.14 Lots of activities with bugs, butterflies and more – plus many flowers yet in bloom.

It is a nice September stroll.

Enjoy

Monarch Butterfly on Coneflower

Lake Path

Lake Michigan in the background

Phlox

Bumble Bee

Formal Garden

in Autumn colors

Ghost Spider

on Coneflower

Hosta in bloom

Many "bugs" on the Queen Anne's Lace

Stone Head

at Middle Walk

So many Monarchs this year.

That is a good thing!

NOTE: Since this Blog is meant to be an accurate journal of the gardens;

no photos are “staged”, “arranged”, or ”photo-shopped” in anyway.

What is posted – is what it here. It is what it is.

If you wish to email a message or share photos of your garden

please do that through this Blog site or with an email to:

www.gardensatwaterseast@yahoo.com

Reference Note: For a complete list of the ten (10) Principles of Design plus the special “Golden Principle of Design” used throughout Gardens at Waters East, check out the archive postings for November 14 – 24, 2010 and May 2, 2011.

Friday, September 12, 2014

Once Around the Sun #4

This series is a photo essay of one year in the life of the Gardens at Waters East. Each and every photo was taken at the property of the gardens over the course of one year giving an “overview” of the many faces and expressions found in the Gardens at Waters East. Photos are labeled the month they were taken. Hope your “year” visiting here today brings you joy from flowers, sun, water, and more.

Enjoy your time – Once Around the Sun.

January

Sunrise in Rain Garden

February

Blue Spruce

March

Ship Ribs from the 1850s

April

Tardia & Grape Hyacinth

May

Goldfinch

June

Oriental Poppy

July

False Sunflower & Pink Mallow

August

Monarch Butterfly on Milkweed

September

Lichen on bench

October

Native Sunflower - Maximillian

Bumble Bee

November

Sunrise Over Lake Michigan

December

Milkweed on StoneWater Beach

private beach of Gardens at Waters East

Special Notice:

Postings of note since the last published posting titled

Once Around the Sun - dated April 1, 2013

check out the Archives

1. The Tree - series starting with the first publication – March 7, 2014

2. Quotes 4 U the Gardener – May 5, October 20, December 23, of 2013

and - March 12 & June 12 of 2014

3. Original Sculpture by Rivera – July 16, 2014

4. Seasonal Contrast – November 14, 2013

and February 7, March 15, May 2, & September 3 of 2014

5. And everyone likes the - Want a “Quickie” ? Today

published throughout the year

If you wish to email a message or share photos of your garden

please do that through this Blog site or with an email to:

www.gardensatwaterseast@Yahoo.com

Sunday, September 7, 2014

THE TREE #7

This is the seventh posting in the series “THE TREE” which follows the life of a special Honey Locust tree in the Gardens at Waters East. If you have not read the first posting, it might be most helpful for you to do that. Go to the archives in this Blog and check out the posting – Beginnings - found on March 7, 2014. Reading this short introduction will put this tree, this posting, and future postings in proper perspective. It will be helpful.

Enjoy your visit to - THE TREE

The Tree

looking up - leaf design

morning fog

here on the shores of Lake Michigan USA

looking directly at the sun

on the foggy morning

view near & around the tree

looking up - once again

spider web

(you can see the damage done to the tree

from a wind storm three years ago)

seed pods

As you can see from these photos, the seed pods have now formed. It is a very distinctive pod, 6 to 8 inches long, flattened, red-brown, leathery pod that becomes dry and twisted late in the year. The pod contains many oval, dark brown, shiny seeds, 1/3 inch long, maturing in late summer and early fall.

measured this pod this morning

11 & 7/8 inches

Seed production begins on honey-locust trees at about 10 years and continues until about age 100, with optimum production at about 25-75 years of age. This tree is now twelve years old. Some seed usually is produced every year but large crops usually occur every other year. This year there are only a few seeds, but last year there were lots. The seeds are viable for long periods because of a thick, impermeable seed coat. Under natural conditions, individual seeds become permeable at different periods following maturation so that germination is spread over several years. The seeds are dispersed by birds and mammals, including cattle, which eat the fruits. In the past buffalo may have been historically important dispersal agents of the seeds. Germinability apparently is enhanced by passage through the digestive tract of animals. Honey-locust also reproduces from stump and root sprouts.

coneflower & more at the base

in the midst of a foggy day

and one final photo

a 360 panorama with THE TREE at the center

interesting

If you wish to look at other blogs from around the world which are doing similar monthly tree postings. click on: http://looseandleafy.blogspot.co.uk/p/what-is-tree-following-and-list-of-tree.html

NOTE: Since this Blog is meant to be an accurate journal of the gardens;

no photos are “staged”, “arranged”, or ”photo-shopped” in anyway.

What is posted – is what it here. It is what it is.

gardensatwaterseast.blogspot.com

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Seasonal Contrast in the Garden #13

Seasonal Contrast in the - Gardens at Waters East

Postings in this ongoing series will show the same garden “area” and “objects” at two or more different times / seasons of the year. The contrast will offer the viewer an appreciation of the beauty found in the same spot but in different months. Some of the photos have never been seen before, others were collected from earlier postings in order to provide the needed contrast. Each season has its own “feeling”, has its own beauty. These photos are of the bench along the Lily Path.

Enjoy

Reference Note: If you check out the archives for this Blog, you will find a number of “contrast” postings in this series. All help in understanding the gardens throughout the year.

NOTE: All photos use in this posting were taken on the property of Gardens at Waters East.

If you wish to email a message or share photos of your garden please do that through this Blog site or with an email to:

www.gardensatwaterseast@Yahoo.com

Friday, August 29, 2014

Retrospective of August 2014 - in 24 pics

As is always the case at Gardens at Waters East, more photos were taken this month than could possibly be posted in one shot. Today the posting will limit itself to twenty-four photos that illustrate the wide verity of plants blooming at this time of year. There are so many more that could be posted but enough is enough!

Enjoy your stroll along the paths.