Our son made this arrangement that brought beauty in from our backyard flower garden. The combination of flowering chives, mint and Asiatic lilies made for fragrance and color.
flowers
Very strange dandelion
Today I noticed a couple of strange looking dandelions in our backyard. Instead of individual stems for each brilliant yellow bloom several had grown together in one solid super stem. You could sort of feel the cluster of stems in these large “stems”.
One big stem, multiple blooms
Another large stemmed one…
There are plenty of “normal” dandelions nearby. Any botanists or agronomists or anybody who knows anything about these dandelions? I’ve never seen anything like this. Appreciate any comments or answers.
Some different kinds of insects
Praying mantis with shadow on a car’s hood
Honey bee doing its job of pollinating
Red eyes on this Katydid
Paper wasps on the nest
Here is a cicada emerging
It is truly interesting how many insects you can see if you stay alert and keep your eyes open. They are everywhere!
Morning glory clings to a rose plus a bud
A persistent morning glory vine slowly encircles the rose. Our vine blooms are all white.
Here’s another bud with a rose on the way. The rose bush is still producing flowers.
Views around the yard
Rose in full bloom
Still putting on tomatoes
Pollen covered bee in a white morning glory
Healthy sage plant
Flowering mint
Fossils imbedded in limestone rock
Sharing with you some of the plants and items in our yard.
A rose two days later
Saturday morning against a gray sky
The same rose Monday morning
Watching the progression of blooms is always a wonder to behold.
Roses after the rain
Rose against a gray sky, morning glory vine grows under the bloom
Getting ready to open
Bet there are fresh raindrops caught in the bloom
Color is peaking through, delicate drops perched on the bud
We had an nice surprise when an unexpected downpour came through right after 12 noon. We had a good 20 minute heavy shower. The air is so fresh and clean right after a rain. Earth’s local cleaning service…
Oliver Winery is an Indiana landmark
The Oliver Winery is located north of Bloomington, Indiana, home of Indiana University. That is important, as Oliver Winery traces its roots to the basement of IU law professor William Oliver in the 1960’s. He started as a hobby, planted a vineyard north of town, and soon had a production winery in the early 1970’s.
Tasting bar in center
Lots of cool stuff!
Covered deck, lovely hill with picnic tables overlooking the pond
Oliver’s website gives a wonderful bit of history: “Professor Oliver was instrumental in passing legislation allowing for the creation of small wineries in our state. The Indiana Small Winery Act passed in 1971, and Oliver Winery opened in 1972. Sales took off with Camelot Mead, and we’ve been growing ever since. Today, we distribute our award-winning, fruit-forward wines to 40 states and ship across the country.”
Interesting limestone feature
Path to the tasting room
From the flower garden…
Oliver Winery grew rapidly during the 1980’s and early 1990’s. The new tasting room was built in 1997. The winery has become a very popular gathering place. The beautiful grounds provide peaceful areas for picnicking, including a lovely pond to add ambiance.
The stunning gardens and grounds are worth the time for a visit! We really enjoyed seeing the Oliver Winery in person. We had discussed many times making a visit to this well known winery. And yes, we left with some Cherry Moscato, Blueberry Moscato and local Dillman Farms Plum butter and Blackberry preserves. Deliciousness coming!
An Eastern tiger swallowtail
These images were captured in a lovely flower garden on the grounds of The Hard Truth Distillery in Nashville, Indiana.
Views around our yard
Wild strawberries
Water drops and fungus
Morning glories
Morning glory vines on mint
Wild strawberries, sage, and a Canadian rock
The last photo shows a rock labeled “Canadian”. We did not get it from a trip to Canada, rather it ended up in Central Indiana by means of widespread glaciation during the Pleistocene epoch. This piece is a metamorphic rock made of granitic minerals. There are thousands of such rocks of all sizes that were pushed here by the glaciers, and left here when the glaciers melted. This one now has a home in our flower and herb garden.
Roadtirement 