It is a beautiful time of year right now — our garden is in full bloom. I try to walk through the gardens each morning, allowing myself to observe the changes in the flowers and plants and to marvel at the new ones that have just bloomed. Our roses have burst into bloom, the hydrangeas are coming along, the lilies are budded, but right now it’s the clematis that are stealing the show. We have over a dozen different varieties, and each is unique in its sun & shade requirements, its bloom time, its size, and its color. This photo is of one of the newer clematis – silver moon. It’s bloom is large, soft, and of the palest color – almost as if whispering the shades and hues of its petals. With a garden in full bloom it’s easy to overlook the cold and snow that Mother Nature sends to us in winter — this makes the wait all the more worthwhile.
Month: June 2009
Kansas wildflowers
We just recently returned from the Biking across Kansas ride where we traversed from the Colorado border, across the wide state of Kansas, to the eastern border with Missouri. As the state has had plenty of rain this spring, the landscape was lush and green. Although I was focused on bicycling (as opposed to photographing), what jumped out to me were the beautiful wildflowers that were dotting the fields and roadsides. The coneflowers, butterfly milkweed, daisies, spider-wort — all were bursting into bloom. Last year at this time I spent over two weeks in Iowa and was fortunate to document the daily changes in a prairie area. That experience gave me a new appreciation for the wildflowers that grace our landscapes with their burst of color and beauty. So our mode of travel across the state of Kansas by bicycle gave us front-row seats to this amazing display of blooms.
Biking across Kansas 2009
553 miles, 8 days, heat, cold, sun, rain, wind — we had it all on the Biking Across Kansas ride that just finished last Saturday. It was a great experience, and an adventure of the best kind. 800+ riders travelled from the Colorado border across southern Kansas to the Missouri border. We stayed in small towns that rolled out the red carpet for this mass of hungry cyclists. The wheat in western Kansas was golden and beautiful, and the Flint Hills of central Kansas were lush and green. Wildflowers were in bloom throughout the state, benefiting from the abundance of rain in the past few months. And I can attest to the fact that Kansas in NOT flat; the rolling hills of the east side of the state gave us our toughest workout. This was a perfect way to see and experience my home state. Bicycling puts you directly into the landscape, and you meet the locals face-to-face. Everyone (and I do mean everyone) was friendly, giving me a real taste of mid-western hospitality. This was the 35th year for the BAK ride (www.bak.org), and I tip my helmet to the BAK committee. The ride was wonderfully organized, the food was fabulous, and the entire experience was a great adventure!
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