Challenge Reward!

Even though I'm still working up to my whole post-four-days-a-week thing, I did want to share what I did as a "reward" for actually taking a picture every single day and posting it here in January.

Several of the pictures I took of my house plant (like this one) were all taken in the same place - this weird ledge-think I have in my house, by the stairs. It actually doesn't get much natural light, but with some of the other lights on, it made a good spot for taking pictures at night. So for my reward, I decided to make it nicer - hang some pictures, some paint, and, of course, more plants. Here is what the area looked like while I was trying to pick a paint color:

Green, dark blue and light blue were the options - this area is very open to the rest of house, so it had to match...

 Since I already had the paint, the only things I bought for this area were the two new plants and containers to go with them. I ended up using the light blue paint:

Here you can see the odd shape this ledge has.

 And here it is all finished with pictures and plants:

It's not too cluttered, which is good. always room for more plants.

The plant at the far end is the fake plant that was up there already. The one in the middle is a very bright Dracena - hopefully it will be ok with the lack of light. If not, I'll switch it out with something else.

Here are the pictures that are on one side of the wall. The fun part is that these are all pictures I took during the January challenge! I just printed them on 8x10 photo paper, and framed them. I think I will add matting to them at some point in the future (when I make/find some).

The new plant + pictures on one side

 This plant is a Sanseveria "Moonlight". Loree recommended a Sanseveria for this low light area, and this one is really pretty. Of course, now I have to look at different colored ones every time I go somewhere, and I'll probably end up with more of them, assuming I don't kill this one.

The little succulents in pots that show up in these pictures are also pretty fun - they're not real plants, but wall-stickers that I got at IKEA of all places a while ago! They come six in one pack, and they just stick to the wall, but can come off if needed. I added them to the area to add some more color and interest. Plus now it looks like there's even more plants.

The other side of the wall has this grouping of pictures. The one in the middle is one a local artist made of an airplane. The others are more pictures from the challenge:

The picture arrangement makes sense with the sharply-sloping ceiling at this point

The best thing about this reward is that this is now the view from my favorite spot in the living room:

sorry for the blurry cellphone picture!

Pictures and plants! Much nicer to look at than the white walls and not-much-else that was there before. And now, if I do this challenge again, and need to take pictures indoors at night, I'll have a slightly more interesting background for them! And I'll have the pictures up on the wall to remind me of the challenge - and the fact that I actually did it.

Now if only I could get on that 4-day-a-week posting schedule...

january challege summary

Yesterday, I spend much of the day outside, weeding, cleaning, mulching, and in general, getting the garden ready for spring. It was a wonderful day - and I didn't take a single picture! I did want to summarize what I learned from this month-long challenge I gave myself: take a picture and write a blog post per day for all of January. I actually finished the challenge, and have decided there are 5 main things I learned, with specific applications for each, one near term and one longer term... (why yes, I am being a nerd about this)

1) I don't see the sun enough. I know this is partially caused by it being January - every year at this time, I get into the trend of it being dark when I leave to go to work, and dark when I come back. On some days, this made taking pictures of the garden difficult. This will get easier later in the year, but there are still two applications for me:

• Near Term: Appreciate my houseplants - I never realized how much I depended on my houseplants to see "green" during the winter. Taking care of the ones I have, and doing things like forcing paperwhites make the dark days more fun.
• Longer Term: I also want to find ways to enjoy the garden after it's dark (and cold) - maybe lights, a firepit, and some actual outdoor furniture that's comfortable for curling up in.

One of the many houseplants I photographed for the challenge

2) Always be ready to take a picture. I already talked about this one - with the fog I mentioned in this post. Having my camera, and my phone with me at all times, and actually using them, means I can capture those cool moments. To apply this lesson:

• I'm going to continue bringing my camera when I travel, and my phone.
• But I also want to keep giving myself permission to just be somewhere, and not worry about pictures (like Sunday!)

Having my phone be able to take (decent) pictures made this challenge much easier

3) Posting every single day is hard, but knowing I had to post about something was good, because made me go look for things, like hikes, gardens while on travel, or plants in airports

• I'm going to keep going out and looking for new things, and revisiting places I've been. Being me, I've made a list :)
• I'm going to set a goal to post four times a week going forward - that should keep me "in the swing of things" without going overboard. And it will force me to stop and pay attention to the garden, even if work/life get hectic

I want to keep finding places to see plants - there is such a variety out there

4) It can be hard to get a good picture, but playing with photo editing (like this, or that) can make it better! Sometimes, I was able to take a not-so-good phone picture, and make it a lot more interesting with a few edits. I especially liked the different frames around the picture.

• I want to keep using some of the photo editing programs I used during the challenge, and maybe find some new ones
• But I also want to get better at taking good pictures, even if it's just with my trusty point-and-shoot

That means more pictures like this one - or hopefully better

5) Finally, this challenge was a lot of fun, but also a lot of work! I'm happy I was able to stick with it, even if there were a few days (like this one), where I actually had to get out of bed to go take a picture and post it!

• I want to do this again - later in the year (like summer/fall). That's going on the list!
• I wanted to reward myself for completing the challenge - so I came up with a little project that I just finished. Hopefully it will help in the future challenge also... Post to come soon!

My reward is not this awesome sculpture...I wish!

Last -  a big THANK YOU! to everyone who commented during my challenge! I love all of your blogs, so to see you comment on my little ramblings is awesome...

winter in the fort worth botanic garden

Here is another picture-heavy post of pictures I took during my January challenge. In this case, I visited this garden specifically to take a daily picture, and I'm so glad I did. I'll be back soon with my lessons learned from this challenge.

Earlier in January, I spent some time in Fort Worth, Texas, and a combination of an earlier flight plus a good hotel location meant I got to see the Fort Worth Botanic Garden. This 109-acre garden is the oldest botanical garden in Texas, having been established in 1934. The garden has several parts, I started in the Conservatory, mostly because it was this beacon of green and warmth. On the inside, views like this greeted me:

Green and water vapor - two things I haven't seen a lot of

 There were all kinds of great-looking foliage and flowers growing, all very lush and topical.

Just some of the plants

 The lighting was pretty amazing - the combination late afternoon sun, humidity, glass and plants make even my photographs look pretty without any filters/editing:

back lit leaves

sunlight through a variegated palm leaf

water drops sparkling on big tropical leaves (technical term, I know)

 There was a waterfall near the front of the conservatory, which made for some pretty cool pictures, as I looked through it to the plants on the other side:

flowering Bougainvillea through water

Cyrtostachys lakka (I think) through the water

This picture was one of my favorites: Roxburgh Fig (Ficus auriculata), growing into the canopy of the conservatory.


Those leaves!

After getting  my tropical fill in the conservatory, I went back outside and walked though the Texas Native Forest Boardwalk to get to the rest of the gardens.  Most all the trees outside were bare of leaves, looking very structural:

The branches on these trees were so intricate!

Here and there, an evergreen tree stood out:

I couldn't find a tag to tell me about this tree - that board was about animals

The boardwalk leads to the rest of the gardens, which are a combination of natural and formal gardens. Visiting in the winter meant there was a lot of the structure (natural and man-made) on display:

Trees, bark and the formal rose gardens

There is also a Japanese garden, but I didn't visit it on this visit - maybe next time!

Japanese garden entrance

The formal gardens at the other end of the garden had several water features and a strong axis to draw you down to the ponds at the end:

Note to self: retake this picture in a few months!

Heading back to the car, this clump of grass was being lit by the now almost-setting sun:

Pretty

And along the boardwalk, I noticed this tree I missed during the way out - I'm sure those plants growing on it isn't great for the tree, but it makes a pretty picture:

I wonder what made it form that U shape at the top?

The last thing I noticed before heading back to the car was this great looking pine-tree (again no tags). I love the way it looks against the blue sky - and the tiny Texas flags in the background. Visiting this garden was a great idea - I can't wait to go back later in the year. If you happen to be in Fort Worth and have a few hours, I'd definitely recommend going here!

I wonder if it will stand out as much when the rest of the garden is in full leaf?

a desert view

During my "take a picture and post it" daily challenge during January, I kept wanting to show some of the desert, but I never got a chance to post these pictures. I wanted to share these, plus another post in the next few days, even though my challenge is over.

This shape is how I know I am back at home:

Can you guess what it is?

 They are Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia), one of the indicator plants of the Mojave desert. There are a lot of them around here:

Joshua Tree forest

 When I first moved here, I thought they were kind of ugly, but slowly I began to appreciate them for all their different shapes and forms. I still like the big ones with branches the best. They can grow in all kind of weird shapes:

Joshua Trees around town

 They grow in lots of places here - dirt lots, people's yards (having been there before the people), and just out and around. Some businesses use them in their landscaping. They have a reputation for being difficult to grow in gardens, especially if you water them. All these pictures were taken in "the wild" - so no irrigation possible.

Up close, there are lots of interesting details:

Trunk with and without old leaves (L), left over blooms (C, bottom R)

They usually bloom in the spring - and given the cold temperatures we've had, there might be lot of flowers this year. I'll have to go back and take more pictures.

Here are some more examples - I still don't think they look much like proper trees, but they are interesting looking in their own right. These plants can live for hundreds of years - some of the big ones are probably at least a 100 years old.

More Yucca - the one in bottom center is probably ~50 ft tall

One of the plants that it's often found with (at least here), goes by the common name "Teddy Bear Cholla" (Cylindropuntia bigelovii)  Golden Cholla / Cylindropuntia echinocarpa (thanks to David of The Desert Edge for the correct ID! I would not suggest touching this particular cholla:

Evil Spines

It is covered in spines. This is definitely a case of "looks pretty" but don't touch!

They glow in the sun, especially in the afternoon

These are wider shots of one of the areas I took pictures - when I see this, I know I'm back in the desert:

Joshua Trees in the afternoon

I had to include this one, just for the light.

And when I see this tree, I know I'm almost back at work:

Mojave Desert - Joshua trees/power lines/mountains - sounds about right

last challenge post

I challenged myself to take a picture a day for January, and post it. I will have to come back and think about what I learned, but until then, here are the last day's pictures of my jade plant, Crassula ovata, including one with some super-heavy editing...

Jade plant plus star

Close up of the texture of the leaves

  I almost killed this plant a few years ago, by over watering it. Now it happily lives in my kitchen window.

Crazy edited picture, for the last one of the challenge!

 I can't believe its February already!

just for fun...

After a long day, I just played around with some pictures of the Sedum morganianum that's been living in my kitchen.

Playing with filters and borders.

Adding fancy overlays.

Its friends outside got turned to mush, I think, in the recent cold. But these ones are happy to stay in my kitchen for now! Hopefully it will grow the long trailing stems its known for, and I can get a cooler container for it.

playing with pictures

For today's image, I started with the very precise variegation in this dracaena, which lives in one of the darker areas in the living room:



I'm hoping the same white stripe will show up on any new leaves

 And then, playing with some "fancy" photo filters and stuff, I got this:

Might make for some interesting art work

Today was another one of those days where I really didn't see the sun. But I did get some plant catalogues in the mail, so let the daydreaming begin...I think my garden style is going to be "one of everything" for a while!

another house plant, and clouds

In this case, Ficus elastica, or Rubber Plant, decided that making some new leaves for the new year was a good idea:

Aren't they shiny?

 I'm not sure what prompted the growth spurt, but I'm glad it happened. This plant lives near an east facing window next to the front door, and it makes a nice green accent when I first walk in.

More views of the leaves.

 After yesterday's lesson learned, I wanted to include of these pictures of the sky today, and late last night. We've been having cold and rainy weather, and the sky has been looking pretty cool. These are all slightly blurry cell phone pictures.

Clouds peeking over the top of the hills

Same view from further away

 You could actually see rainbows in some of the high altitude clouds, but they didn't show up in my pictures.

Here is what the sky looked like last night, at about 7pm. It was cold outside, but not raining yet.

The undersides of the clouds looked like they were glowing

I'm glad I was able to capture those images, even if my photography skills need some work!