Daehanminguk dailies, 8.31

And now begins another series, since the Concentric Garden
is a little more (or less) than half a world away.

Unlike last year's Daehanminguk digicam posts,
these will be more frequent... and the videos will have sound!

If the sky in South Korea had been clear...

...then I might have produced images like these of the eclipse. Just before sunset on Tuesday, dense clouds blew in over Gimhae, and I had to let go of my ideas about a multiframe time-lapse photo of the moonrise. I was barely able to stay awake after 8 p.m., anyway. We arrived here the previous evening after a 14-hour flight, a three-hour layover, and another hour in the air.

Cut and dried, part two

This was part one.

Friday's twilight

1111px version


1111px version

The garden grows as it goes

Updated September 19, 2008,
near the end of the second season

A series of high-intensity thunderstorms (and perhaps a couple of tornadoes) blew through the county on Aug. 23, 2007. Most of the plants were fine, but the bigger ones went down for the count.

I had already cut down several of the plants in order to tidy up before we left for Korea. I salvaged the remaining corn, added some plant debris to the burnpiles, and tossed any mature seedheads into the treeline. Next year, perhaps, they'll create a naturalized backdrop of color and form.

Or perhaps not. Only a few cosmos grew back there this year... and all of the buckwheat that I planted as a cover crop/deterrent against garlic mustard didn't come back, either.













This is how the Concentric Garden began.










My Lady Friend sent the next photo while I was still in Korea. I returned on August 4, and the first I did was walk back and start gathering calendula seeds.

Still life with seeds[Ask and ye shall receive some]

As a couple of frequent visitors already know, I'm sending out seeds that were gathered from the Concentric Garden. If you'd like to receive some -- yes, free -- then please send me your name and address. My email address is in the sidebar to the right. Offer good until August 25.

Cut and dried

This pod popped overnight.


Please see part two.

Late-summer sun

1280px version


1280px version

The long farewell to the flora begins now.

This is the second-to-last weekend before we return to Korea.
Still haven't decided what to do with a number of plants that
just began to bloom or that will need a more time to set seeds
(and who'll collect them?).

The main issue is that My Lady Friend's parents
will go on vacation after we depart.

Ah, well: leave it up to Jah!
Let's look at some flowers...


1280px version




1080px version


1280px version




1280px version

More flowers for ya.

A mobile bouquet

We went to my Lady Friend's grandmother's house this afternoon,
and I was asked to bring flowers. I don't like cut flowers myself
-- especially when I nurtured the plants from which they're cut,
and there aren't any seeds to gather from them -- but this was
something to do for someone else's enjoyment.

And after another 10 days, the bees and goldfinches will be the only
ones to have anything to do with the garden blossoms, so there's
not much point in trying to spare them all.

And now... more flowers

1111px version


1280px version


1280px version





Follow this link in order to see more flora.

Let's take a break from horticultureand check out some engineering.

Wally Wallington's stone-moving technology, which he's using
to create a replica of Stonehenge near his Michigan home.

Down by the riverside

My mother and I went to see what was billed as an "outrageous race" of homemade boats on the Miami River in Dayton, Ohio, last week. People were still unloading -- or even just beginning to build -- their boats when we arrived. So I turned my attention toward the planters and beds near the river. We left after awhile, with the race still not having begun.


1280px version


Anyone have an ID for these?




1280px version




1280px version


972px version





Jump back to the garden blooms.

Meanwhile, in Montgomery County...

These two were taken in Dayton, Ohio, last week.

One-off of a sun pillarfrom five months ago

This image was taken from a friend's attic near Cleveland in March.

Peaking in progress;more flowers to follow

1280px version

1111px version

The rest of the photos can be seen here.

One-off of some rendered clouds

1280px version

The Shift

Zooming in on zinnias

1280px version

Four flowers

1111px version



Link back to some earlier flower photos.

August is the peak season for sunflowers.

I noticed a couple of items in the referrer log that pointed
to an item about the sunflowers I grew in 2001.

When my Lady Friend and I returned from lunch
in DuPage County yesterday, I decided to showcase
the flowers that have shown their faces this summer.




1280px alternate version










In keeping with the theme, here are some Helianthus highlights from last summer.

The proboscis of a bee

Never knew that bees had tongues (of a sort).


"A bee's tongue is covered by rings of cartilage bearing hairs and separated by smooth, membranous intervals. The tip of the tongue is a small spoon-shaped lobe, or flabellum, that is smooth on the underside but covered with branched spines along the edges and top. Muscles associated with the tongue allow the bee to 'lap' at fluids. A sucking pump also assists in feeding. The pump is a large, muscled sac in the head. Dilator muscles suck liquid up the proboscis in a way similar to the way a turkey baster bulb works."

Again with the fen

I drove to Ferson Creek Fen yesterday in order to see what's in bloom.
I planned to take a couple of friends and their kids there today,
but it's so hot right now, and there's little tree cover at the site.





1280px version




1080px version




1280px version


1280px version



Follow this link in order to see
earlier photos from the fen.

Help no longer needed;these plants have been ID'd

Ambrosia trifida a.k.a. Giant Ragweed
Fortunately, I'm not allergic to it.
Common ragweed, which is growing
in a nearby bed, has several ecological benefits.

One kind of Amaranthus a.k.a. Pigweed

Abutilon theophrasti a.k.a. Velvet Leaf or (East) Indian Mallow

One of the many Polygonum
(or sometimes Persicaria) species, a.k.a. Smartweed

And while you're here...
what about these mushrooms?
They're Boletus campestris.