Oakleaf Hydrangea Fall Color

Oakleaf Hydrangea
Hydrangea quercifolia
(hy-DRAIN-juh) (kwer-se-FOH-lee-uh)
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On December 5th Oakleaf Hydrangea was posted on this site. There were also a couple of pictures from Sedona, Arizona on that post. So when skimming some files from last fall I found this different fall color picture of Hydrangea and I also knew that I had this other picture of Cathedral Rock ready to go.

Oakleaf Hydrangea is usually nice to have in the garden. The flowers aren’t as familiar to people as the more common types of Hydrangea but are nice. One reason I like them is the plants are not as water hungry as the lace caps or mop head types. So in summer the Oakleaf often look better if your garden is a little dry. This type of Hydrangea has three seasons of interest summer: flowers, fall: leaf color, winter, nice bark. The deer do seem to like to nibble them.

Yesterday was our first day back at work and I have to admit I am a little whooped. The garden was in pretty good shape from the winter although I have found that there are two types of damage to look out for this time of year. There is the surface and easily apparent damage and the more subtle underlying things that you noticed only on very close inspection or later when the malfunction cannot be missed.

The first thing I noticed was the broadleaf evergreens (rhododendrons, holly, Andromeda, Mountain laurel) foliage was not brunt. That is a sure sign that the winter wasn’t that bad and although this winter seemed to go on forever we didn’t really have a lot of super cold temperatures here in Connecticut. We also had a nice blanket of snow, which provided insulation for most of the winter.

There were quite a few flowers out including all of the normal early spring stuff (Crocuses) and with the beautiful weather there seemed to be a lot of pent up energy just waiting to burst forth. The buds on most plants didn’t seem to be damaged so hopefully it will be a nice spring.

To everyone, Have a great first day of Spring!

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This next picture is from Sedona, Arizona and is a view of Cathedral Rock. It is a beautiful area of Sedona and you can hike up to the gaps of the rock. I found they trail along the river (creek) to be fascinating but didn’t get much from the Vortex located in the area. Here is a good reference site for the Cathedral Rock area and all of Sedona.
Gateway to Sedona

Desert Rose

Desert Rose Trolley Car

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Key West Sunset

Key West Sunset
Key West, Florida
Wordless Wednesday

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Red Bow from Sedona
Ruby Tuesday
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Candy Cane Chair

Candy Cane Chair
Sedona

Ruby Tuesday
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Monochrome Water Garden Plants
Wordless Wednesday

More Sedona Snapshots – D700

More Sedona Snapshots – D700

Here are a few more snapshots all of them were taken with the D700 camera and the 105mm and 50mm lenses. The first shot is some Sycamore leaves that were still hanging on in the late afternoon sun. The light at that time of day seems a little more magical in Sedona then it does at home. It must be all the earth tones that surround you. Not just in the landscape but in the building materials and decorations. This is one of the few botanical photos I scored on the trip.

This was taken behind some of the stores on Main Street. I don’t know if it is called Main Street but it should be. The road is actually State Route 89A. Again the late afternoon sunlight was working. All the rocks have names but I only found out a few of them.


This third shot was going down some stairs at an outdoor gallery. It was a quick snap as the figures seemed like they didn’t want their pictures taken. It is hard to describe and not scary. More regal than anything else.

Sedona Snapshots

Sedona Snapshots

All of the pics in this post are from the Coolpix P6000. The camera did well for its first serious outing. It sure is nice to have a little camera that has a wide lens. The yellow Snapdragons were probably the brightest looking flowers we saw in Sedona. There was much more dry/frozen type of plant material than flowers. This next picture was an interesting seed head I found along Oak Creek. It was nice and bristly. The color is almost perfect for Sedona it fits right in.


Here are some more dry leaves from along the creek. It was fun and a little noisy to walk through them. There are several species of leaves and it was a little weird that there was hardly any color among them.


This picture was taken at the Sedona Airport at sunset. That is West Sedona in the foreground. One thing that is nice about the little camera is you can take a picture like this and then focus on a subject that is one inch away if you like. About ten minutes after snapping this photo it was dark.


Tomorrow I hope to go through some of the snapshots from the D700 and post them. Have a nice weekend.

Sedona Skies

Sedona Skies
Skywatch Friday

The scenery in Sedona was amazing. This first photo was taken on Schnebly Hill Road on our drive from Flagstaff to Sedona. We just happened to stumble on to the road and later found out it is considered one of the top scenic drives in Arizona. For the first few miles it is relatively flat and meanders through a Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa) forest with grass under the trees. Later the grade and the road surface get rough. Each switchback turn reveals views of the dramatic red rocks and Oak Creek Canyon. There are not any guardrails and my stomach was getting a little queasy with the 1,000-foot drop offs that were right next to the edge. Lucky we were in a Jeep, as a car probably wouldn’t have made it. This photo was taken outside of the truck with the D700 and the Nikon 50mm/1.8 lens.

Karen wanted to visit a couple of the energy vortexes while we were in town. Reluctantly and a bit skeptical I decided to accompany her. We went to the Boynton Canyon and Long Canyon Mesa Vortex, which is considered to be one of the strongest. Since it was early in the morning we were alone on the ¾’s of a mile trail. Without knowing how close we were to the Vortex I was having a lot of trouble catching my breath. It was a moderate climb to the top of the knoll and I was thinking that I shouldn’t be that out of breath. Right before stepping on the flat area (of the vortex) I literally couldn’t breathe but once on top of the knoll everything returned to normal and I was wasn’t even winded. It was quite an experience and you will not find me doubting the energy at these types of places anymore. This picture was taken a few minutes after arriving at the Vortex. The sun was poking through the clouds with shafts of light landing here and there in the valley.



Here are some more of the rocks. This picture was shot with the Coolpix P6000 right from the Main Street of Sedona while Karen was shopping. The lens was set at 26mm.


This was the view one morning right from the deck of our room at the Southwest Inn. It wasn’t a fancy place but it was clean and well kept up and we got a nice deal on our stay there. This dawn was worth it alone. It went on for about 45 minutes and I was watching it right from bed.


Tomorrow I want to post some snapshots from around Sedona. I saw a funny expression when I was in town. It may be true!

'God made the Grand Canyon but He lives in Sedona.'

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Oakleaf Hydrangea Fall Color

Oakleaf Hydrangea
Hydrangea quercifolia
(hy-DRAIN-juh) (kwer-se-FOH-lee-uh)

When I posted on Thursday I had forgot we were going to Arizona for the weekend. We are here now and it is so beautiful. It is a little cold but we knew that going in. The city (or town) of Sedona is very cool with what looks like a little bit of something for everyone.

I was going to post a mini-review of the Coolpix P6000 but have decided to hold off until after this trip. Today’s Hydrangea photo and the first picture of the red rocks were taken with the P6000. The Hydrangea leaf just needed a little orange and it would have perfect as far as the fall colors that I like. The little camera did well on the landscape shot but it did come out a little oversaturated, which was toned down a little in Photoshop. The photo was taken across a parking lot and after walking through the store for a few minutes and coming back out the mountains were a dull brown. What a difference five minutes makes in photography sometimes.


This picture is from the same spot (little different angle) and time but was shot with the D700 and the 105mm lens. These pictures only convey a wee bit of the majestic beauty that was laid out in front of me.