What would the world be,
without our gardeners,
who tend the flowers,
where flutters fly by,
and make friends with humans?
Gardeners,
are like the flowers,
they tend,
they make the world beautiful.
Cheers to you, and all the world’s gardeners, from The Flower Fields in Carlsbad California~
Squirrely is waiting for the blooms to turn to berries.
The cherry blossoms,
and shallon blooms will soon make him fat & happy.
The rhododendrons,
are a blooming,
glory.
While the iris,
are dramatic divas.
Piers Japonica looks like sci-fi critters ready to up-root and walk away!
Cheers to you from blooming Washington & Oregon~
The Astoria-Megler Bridge is the longest continuous truss bridge in North America, connecting Oregon and Washington State and spanning The Columbia River.
On the Oregon side is Fort Clatsop,
and the temperate rain forests of The Pacific Northwest.
It is the home of the rebuilt Fort Clatsop which was the winter home of Lewis & Clark in 1805-1806.
On The Washington side, Cape Disappointment in the south west corner of Washington State, is where the mouth of The Columbia River meets The Pacific Ocean. The Cape was named by a British fur trader who was searching for the mouth of The Columbia River, but mistook it for a bay after he was unable to navigate his ship through the treacherous sand bars protecting the mouth of the river. He didn’t know he actually had found the river mouth he was looking for.
North Head Lighthouse on The Cape was built in 1897 and is still in operation.
Washington state is blessed with beautiful volcanos like Mount Adams,
and views across the river,
of Mt. Hood.
Driving along The Columbia River Highway on the Oregon side, you have clear views across the river to Washington.
Cheers to you from the thimbleberry flower in Washington State~
We are staying in The Gorge Hotel built in 1921 where my grandparents once stayed,
with the wildflowers blooming,
driving up to find the views,
my grandfather painted in his Columbia Gorge paintings.
This observant robin didn’t let me distract him,
from his worm,
and this friendly elk licked our car windows!
Cheers to you from the gorgeous Gorge~
(click/tap to enlarge and be sure to look at mystery plant at the end)
in Northern California,
is a blooming,
splendor.
Rhododendron grow riotously,
and water lillies,
abound.
Mendocino is less traveled,
allowing nature and people,
room to breathe.
Note: This last plant puzzled me. Do you know what it is without peeking? The flowers suggest foxglove, but the stalk was a mystery. I did lots of internet sleuthing to no avail, until I finally searched for mutant foxglove and found one example from Clemson University. Here is the citation:
Did you guess correctly? I certainly could not.
Cheers to you from blooming Mendocino~
(click/tap to enlarge)
Wildflowers.
blooming in The Panamint Valley,
in Death Valley National Park.
Storms continue to drop record snow and precipitation in California,
making the plants,
and flowers,
happy.
Cheers to you from the blooming desert~
Be With You and Yours. (Tap/Click to enlarge).
Peace on Earth. Goodwill Toward All.
Wishing you a Happy & Healthy New Year!
Christmas Cheers to you from The Holler~
of a flower (click/tap to enlarge)
lifts our spirits everyday.
Cheers to you & stay safe and well~
by still waters. (click/tap to enlarge)
The harsh desert,
softened,
by silent pools.
Trees offer shade,
in the fierce summer heat,
allowing buds to bloom,
and thrive.
Water,
turns Sunnyland,
into wonderland.
Cheers to you from The Annenberg Gardens in Palm Springs California~
Century Plants look like giant asparagus and are members of the aspargus family.
Their name is derived because they are said to bloom,
once a century,
and then die.
We have at least a hundred or more at The Holler.
When they bloom,
the stalks are well over 20 feet tall.
They are magnets for pollinators,
especially bees and hummingbirds.
The hummingbirds fight relentlessly for control over the massive stalks.
Our century plants bloom about every ten years and reproduce prodigiously via underground root systems.
Cheers to you from The Holler Centurions~
