Connecticut Sunrise and a Rose

Connecticut Sunrise and a Rose

There are certain benefits about living on top of a large hill. The sunrises and sunsets are beautiful and you really don’t have to be worried about getting flooded out. The negatives are the winds and there seems a bit more precipitation. Going down the hill in the winter can be kind of a crapshoot, too.

This picture was taken a couple of days ago with the new 70-300mm VRII Nikon lens at 169mm and the Nikon D700. I am really chomping at the bit to shoot some flower pics with this new camera. Just another week or so and hopefully there will be some flora to try it out on.

Just to keep with the flower picture theme of this blog here is a rose picture from this summer. The rose is a floribunda called ‘Sans Souci’. It is the first rose ever featured on this site that was bred in Italy. This rose really has some nice color shading. Sans Souci is also the name of my favorite beach on Oahu . It is quiet refuge from the storm of Waikiki. We usually stay at the New Otani which isn’t the most plush hotel but we love the location and people.


For other skies around the world check out Skywatch Friday

Sky Watch Friday and a Camellia Flower

Sky Watch Friday and a Camellia Flower

I have wanted to join in with Sky Watch Friday for several weeks but I had the self imposed rule that the picture had to be taken on Friday or the day before. I have the greatest respect for Dot and her blog. I think she is a wonderful photographer that really captures life around her area. This morning the sunrise was so pretty I thought this is my time. It is funny since we are expecting a freezing rain/rain storm today and I didn’t think the sunrise would be anything remarkable. There is over an inch of rain forecast and it should start soon. This is the view from my driveway. I am not going to work today but got up like I do everyday at 6 am (5:15 am during the season).


I won’t be updating tomorrow as I am going to try and sneak off to Long Island early in the morning. I want to see the Camellia Collection at Planting Fields Arboretum. This picture is a teaser as I hope to come back with a few nice Camellia pictures and will discuss them a little if I do. This one is Camellia ‘Tinsey’ and it was a beautiful red set off nicely by the white center. I do envy gardeners that can grow these outside. They just don’t make it outdoors in Connecticut.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Tuesday Edition

Jackson Pollock. (American, 1912-1956)
One: Number 31, 1950


Connecticut sunrise from my driveway.

Reed Stem Orchid - Epidendrum

Reed Stem Orchid
Epidendrum ‘Michael’s Rubelite’
(ep-ih-DEN-drum)
Synonyms: Star Orchid, Crucifix Orchid

I think this orchid is named right, I bought it at a small plant sale so I wasn’t sure. It was blooming at work a couple of weeks ago and probably still is, since the flowers last a long time. I took this using the on camera flash since the light in the Conservatory is a little low, especially on a cloudy day.

Epidendrum is not the showiest Orchid to grow but is one of the easiest. It is an epiphyte type. Epiphyte is used to describe plants that attach itself to another plant for support. It is not parasitic and very rarely damages the host. Often referred to as “air plants” since they do not root in soil this only describes some of the epiphyte type plants, as there are some aquatic plants that are in this category, also. Epidendrum is a huge (mega) genus of Orchids and are native to the tropical and semitropical regions of North and South America. They grow in almost all conditions and elevations and have been distributed and naturalized all over the world. There thought to be about 900 species in the genus.

These are Orchids are easy to grow and can take a variety of conditions when grown indoors or outdoors. The main cause for them not to flower is low light. If yours isn’t flowering move it to an area that has brighter light. They do like a lot of water and regular fertilization.


I took this sunrise picture last week. I don’t remember which day but it was one of the few clear days. It seems like it has been cloudy a lot lately. The colors aren’t bad for Connecticut, eh? When it has been clear there have been some really, really nice sunrises. I guess that is one benefits of living on top of a huge hill. I know one of the bad things is how fast the wind whips through here in the winter.

More 50mm/1.8 Photos

Here are some more shots from the 50mm/1.8. In some ways I against having too many lenses in your bag as it complicates things. I start thinking well if I only had this lens or that lens. Basically you need to have a couple of good lenses and a pretty good camera to get good shots.


The first picture greeted as I walked out the door yesterday morning. Too bad the day didn’t live up to this sunrise. It was just one of those days where a lot of little things kept me from getting done what I wanted. I did get the sprinkler system blown out but it took all day. I did manage to walk around and get a few pictures. This is a native tree from the Estate. Pretty good color for a seedling.


I read on Ki’s blog that his ‘Beni Kawa’ Japanese Maple was in fall color already and many of his other Maples hadn’t changed yet. So of course I had to check my specimen and sure enough it was coloring up. There are some other Coral Bark Maples planted near this one (‘Japanese Sunrise’ and ‘Sango Kaku’) and they haven’t started yet either. You can actually just see the tips of ‘Sango Kaku’ coming into the picture on the left. One thing I have noticed about Coral Barks is they do hold their fall color for a long time. Anyway I thought it was interesting that both of the ‘Beni Kawa’s were turning already and I think it maybe a characteristic of the cultivar.


I posted recently I was moving some shrubs that had grown too big and were interfering with the drainage along side the house. Here is a picture of the monster Burning Bush we moved. I put the rake in there for scale. Pretty good for two people, although Karen did help drag it out of the hole. It looked good in its new spot. We moved that big Pieris in the background and a large Redvein Enkianthus (E. campanulatus) and Koreanspice Viburnum (V. carlesii). The stuff had been in for 18 years and I was sick of trying to prune it back. This is not at the estate but another garden I designed and built in New Canaan.

I stayed at the Harbor View Hotel in Edgartown and this fantastic flower border was planted along a path. I probably wouldn’t have put together all the colors and species but it was very effective. When annuals start growing and blooming with such reckless abandon it shows why we always try and grow them in our garden. If you look more closely, and each time I walked by this I found something new, you will see that each flower has kind of carved out its own niche. The types of flowers loosely repeat which I find a good technique for annuals and perennials. This was probably the best border I saw on my island tour but there were several others that came close. I don’t know who the gardener was that put this together and takes care of this, but I would certainly give them a plug here if I did. This border lifted my spirits and intrigued me at the same time. I think anybody that does a lot of planting would settle for that.

Here is a photo of the sunrise from the Harbor View.