Garden 2010 Part III

I spent a little while out in the backyard this past weekend getting to know this year’s tulips (I realize they are the same tulips bulbs as last year and are therefore the same colours in the same spots, but the quality of each is a little different). This is the latest photo of my backyard tulips. Other than the fact that there is little grass in the backyard, and there are giant thistle-y weeds present (I have to get some gloves before I can remove them), the backyard is once again a pleasant place.

Garden 2010 Part I & II

PART I

I wasn’t sure if they would make it through the winter, as they weren’t very deep in the ground when the snow finally came, but the tulips lived. I first noticed they were sprouting in early March.

As you can see from the photo above, the snow was still around when they started coming up. What you likely can’t see is the the flowers in the middle elliptical bed are not nearly as tall as the ones on the outer bed – likely because the snow took longer to leave that area.
I was really worried when they came up so early as a couple more nights of frost came after they had sprouted. But they made it through that too.
PART II
I unfortunately I didn’t get out in the garden until this past weekend to take some shots of the tulips. This photo was taken the second day of April – don’t they look much livelier?! I do love my tulips.

Botanical Gardens

So I have been saving one of the best locations for last. I partially saved it for last because it is the place where I took the most photographs and therefore had the greatest amount of editing to be done.The Botanical Gardens was absolutely gorgeous. It was a slightly rainy day, but that didn't hinder the photography or the experience at all. The foliage within the greenhouses were vibrant and beautiful and despite the fact that you are not allowed tripods within the greenhouses (for space reasons) I was still able to get some nice shots. Dave and I were also able to set the camera up on rocks and take some semi-long exposure shots. There weren't very many people there, so that helped with the longer shots as well.I think one of the more interesting greenhouses was the ones with the bonsai and the Chinese equivalent, penjing. There was a little robin in the one area that I thought was fake. I stared at the little guy and moved my camera near him and he did not move. We walked on and when we did walk back, he had moved to a new location and was wandering around the little trees. It was very spooky, but he was adorable so I forgave him for it.We eventually found our way out of the greenhouses and walked around the exterior gardens. They were just as nice and they were in extreme humidity so both Dave and I were able to stop sweating so much and my camera was able to stop fogging up every ten minutes or so. We walked around the 'normal' gardens and found our way over to the Chinese exterior gardens. They were simply breathtaking in their beauty. Dave asked me to take as many shots as possible of the architecture around the gardens and I did not object. I'm not entirely sure what my favourite shot is from that garden, but I am putting these ones on this blog and I am sure the rest will eventually make their way on to my photography blog in the near future.We then walked over to the Insectarium which is located on the garden grounds. It is a small little pavilion similar to those at the Toronto Zoo, and is absolutely stuffed with one man's collection which he donated to the gardens. They have since added to it and are displaying live insects as well, but the majority of it apparently all belonged to one man whose name I forget right now. There were some really neat looking bugs on display, both alive and dead, and some absolutely massive ones! It was pretty neat, though I hope I never run into the vast majority of that collection in the wild.

May Posts

For whatever reason I was able to post a great deal in the month of May. Some of this could be attributed to the Tulip Festival and the growing flowers in the backyard while others are probably due to my new found liking of the site One Minute Writer. But in looking back in the posts there were a lot that were unrelated to any of the aforementioned topics. I enjoy posting on a regular basis and hope that my readers enjoy it too. I don't get a great deal of feedback from people, in fact I get almost none, but I still enjoy this blog and I can tell that people do visit from the counter. So here's to another great month of regular posting - hopefully.

Backyard Garden Update Part 3

So the previous posts have been showing the progress of my backyard garden and the tulips there in (#1, #2 and #3). This update really shows the variety of tulips that we planted. When they arrived at the house they were in three different bags marked yellow, red and pink/purple. I thought that each colour was going to be one variety of tulip - but to my surprise we seem to have at least 7 different types so far and there are still ones that have yet to bloom. Once again I must state my joy and excitement about the tulips. The yellow one that were the first to bloom are starting to fade and aren't as fabulous as they once were but that's OK - more are coming!!

Backyard Garden Update Part 2

So the tulips started sprouting at the beginning of April. The first one bloomed just a week or so ago and now they are really taking off. The yellow tulips are pretty much all blooming now and the red, purple and pink ones seem to be well on their way. They will likely all be blooming by the end of next week. I spent a little while out there this afternoon taking pictures of them while the power was down - it definitely took my mind of my troubles.

Tulip Festival 2009

The Ottawa Tulip Festival starts this weekend and runs until the 18th of May. It is quite possibly my favourite festival that Ottawa runs throughout the year. It is mostly free, has beautiful flowers and art displays and allows me to really focus on my photography.
This year I want to try and take in other aspects of the festival (other than just photographing the flowers that is). There is a presentation about Karsh on May 7 that I am hoping to go to but my attendance depends on a few things.
I can't wait to get out there and really start moving forward with my Tulip photo collection - and this year I can even take photos in my own backyard when I am too lazy or tired to go to one of the festival sites. I am obviously very excited.

Mish Mash Update

I have been back at work now for almost two weeks and am alraedy incerdibly bored with it. I want paycheques but don't want to do any work for them - but doesn't everyone. For now I will just have to force myself to keep doing my work and attempting to stay at the head of the pack which for some reason I quite enjoy. I am already ahead of where I was last year at this time, which makes me feel good about my work and I haven't really been slacking off that much excluding right now of course. Unfortunately my first decent sized paycheque doesn't come until the end of the month and I have pertty much already spent it which isn't like me at all.

I got an international call this morning from Chris, which was a really fantastic way to start the day. I ended up forgetting my umbrella because I was talking to her and not really paying attention to what I was doing, but I more than likely would have forgotten it if I wasn't on the phone so it doesn't really matter. She seems to be having a really great time in Paris, which makes me happy, though also a little jealous in a healthy 'wish I could have gone too' sort of way.

My flowers are growing well. Soon I will plant everything outside and get started on my carrots (which I couldn't start inside due to the depth of soil they require). Dave said it is possible to get some tulip bulbs for next year (free) which would be nice, I like tulips, though I know others do not. I like growing things, it is nice to see something succeed like that. Though my first batch of green onions are not doing so well since I attempted to transplant them and I have not yet mastered that art - the second batch is coming up nicely though.