Common Lilac

Common Lilac

Syringa vulgaris

(si-RING-gah) (vul-GAIR-iss)

Synonyms: French Lilac

This is a rare flower from my home garden. What is left of the garden after the October snowstorm. What the storm didn’t take out the deer seemed determined to finish off. These Lilacs were on the property when I moved here and are huge. Big enough to cut arm loads of flowers when they are blooming. The insides of the plants were crushed but the outer branches are blooming now and it is always pleasant. There is one white lilac amongst the purples but it doesn’t seem to bloom as well as the others. We have been collecting the seedlings and making a small forest of the shrubs but they seem to take a long time to get to blooming age.

Did anyone watch Selena Gomez sing a song on Dancing with the Stars this week? I only watched since she was performing her new single, ‘Hit the Lights’. It was nice to see her with her old band, which has been broken up for a few months now. Her new guitar player was playing a *gasp* Fender® guitar. That ups his coolness factor with me. I don’t know how long this video will be on you tube but here is her performance:

Peach Daylily

Peach Daylily
Hemerocallis cv.
(hem-er-oh-KAL-iss)

Quick post before I am off to work. This peach colored Daylily is balancing off the cold gray day we are having here. Work has been kicking my butt but it feels good to be out in the garden again.

Daylilies are so amazing. I didn’t catch the cultivar name of this one but I remember shooting this picture on Long Island and it was close to 100 degrees out. The flowers still looked fresh and appealing. Summer will soon be here and that is a good feeling.

As most readers know my favorite Pop Star is Selena Gomez. She is filming a movie called “Spring Breakers” in Florida right now and from what I have heard it going to be fairly racy for a Sel movie. She is about to make the tough transition from Disney star to adult actress. I am sure she is going to do it with her usual grace and style. This video is 45 minutes long but explores Selena’s rise from a poor kid in Texas to the top of the pops. I found it interesting and inspiring.

Stella De Oro Daylily

Daylily

Hemerocallis 'Stella De Oro'

(hem-er-oh-KAL-iss)

Synonyms: ‘Stella d'Oro’

If someone asked me to name the most overused plant in the gardening world my answer would be 'Stella De Oro' Daylily. It is remarkable how it has appeared in so many landscapes over the years. Of course this leads to kind of dual situation. On one hand it wouldn’t be so popular if it wasn’t reliable and nice looking on the other hand it becomes a bit pariah for being so popular. To me it is okay with a nice warm flower color, small stature and ability to rebloom. There are just so many other nicer Daylilies to choose from but I imagine it often comes down to a question of supply (what the local nursery has). My friend was cracking me up by referring to this flower as a “ditch lily” instead of a daylily.

I hope everyone’s Christmas dreams came true yesterday. The gifts I received seemed to be a little more useful then in past years. The music store gave Karen the wrong guitar so I have to return it today. Hopefully they will still have the closeout model I wanted. Anyone that reads this blog knows I love pop princess Selena Gomez. She is just getting over a family tragedy and I wish her the best on that. I did score two Selena movies yesterday including the major release of Monte Carlo, which I think was originally going to star Nichole Kidman.

Lantana Hybrid

Lantana Hybrid
Lantana x 'Mone'
(lan-TAN-a) (kuh-MAR-uh)
Synonyms: Tangerine Spreading Lantana

This is the first year we are growing Tangerine Lantana and it has done well. Despite our relatively cool summer and wet August the Lantanas have been chugging along. My personal preference for Lantana is to grow the solid color types. We have an all white, all yellow, mostly red and the Tangerine, which is mostly orange. The solid colors are more pleasing to me but the growth rate and flowering seem about the same. It is a pleasant annual to have in the garden but be aware that the leaves are poisonous but the berries provide a nice food source for the birds.

Last night the legendary Texas band ZZ Top rolled into our little city. Even with the threat of rain we decided to go. They played a great show and I don’t think I have heard guitar playing like that for a long time. The seemingly effortless style of the band was amazing. You could tell they have been together for a long time (40 years and over 50 million albums sold). The only thing that was a little disappointing that some of the legendary guitar collection seemed to have been left at home. They did play the white furry ones and a sunburst Les Paul. It wasn’t the fabled ’59 Sunburst ‘Pearly Gates’ but still sounded great. I don’t think ‘Pearly Gates‘ goes on the road anymore. I think the main guitar he played was a Gretsch G6199 "Billy-Bo" Jupiter Thunderbird replica. It had a beautiful design on it. Fitting I guess for a Sharp Dressed Man.

As anyone who reads this blog knows I really like the pop star/actress Selena Gomez (1.45 million albums sold). It was a pleasure to see her in concert last Saturday night and meet her earlier in her tour. The juxtaposition between seeing Selena and ZZ Top in 5 days was pretty amazing. A little known fact about me (well not anymore I guess) is that I like Pop music and while I don’t know exactly what songs are on the charts at any given time I do probably have some knowledge of the songs. Selena’s concert was great. She really worked hard on putting on the best show she could and it worked. She is working with UNICEF (she is the youngest UNICEF Ambassador ever) and the George Harrison fund to look back on the 40th Anniversary of the Concert for Bangladesh. There was a short video clip of Harrison, Dylan, Billy Preston, Leon Russell and Eric Clapton playing and talking. The last thing I expected to see at the pop concert. It was awesome and Selena is working with these people. Here is the video:



On the other hand you have ZZ Top. Just a "That Little Ol' Band from Texas" as they like to be known. To me Billy F. Gibbons is one of the best rock and roll guitarists America has ever produced. He went through several music styles with a smoothness that was stupendous. The look and feel of the ZZ Top concert was very slick with a minimum of equipment and tricks. I really wanted to support our local venue for having such a big rock and roll concert. The place was mobbed and I haven’t ever seen it that crowded (been to about 20 shows up there).

The Princess and the Frog

The Princess and the Frog

Here is the gorgeous Disney Princess Selena Gomez performing at sunset at Bethel Woods. The sunset tones really set off the great skin color she had. My experience meeting her and seeing the concert was one I am not likely to forget for a long time.

On the other hand I met this Green Frog (Rana clamitans) at work yesterday. He wasn’t nearly as pretty but beautiful in his own special way. I felt bad because his eye and leg were messed up a little, which made him an easy catch. Soon after being subjected to my nosy camera he was back swimming in the pond with his friends hopefully no worse for the wear. A detailed inspection revealed a beautiful animal with a lot of great markings and colors.


Yesterday was kind of wildlife day at work. We saw a family of three deer, a woodchuck, rabbits, frogs and a huge snake. The snake was about six feet long and twice the thickness of a broom handle. The largest one I had seen in many years.

Bethel Woods Center for the Arts

Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
Bethel, New York

Here is part of the water garden from the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts. The grounds of the venue were astounding to me. Everything looked perfect including the several acres of turf. There were a lot of flowers and overall it had a nice well cared for look. It is built on the site of the original 1969 Woodstock festival.

Christina Grimmie performing at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts

The concert was amazing. Huge and vocal crowd was in attendance. Selena was a gracious host at the meet and greet. She is stunningly beautiful and has a very nice way about her. We Own the Night lived up to expectations with a lot of production and musicianship. Selena’s secret weapon is her band. They are all top quality players that can play together. Also of note at the show was opening act YouTube sensation Christina Grimmie. She is cute and has a huge voice. Her piano playing was also good. She reminded me of a little elf. I didn’t get a lot of pictures. I couldn’t find the Nikon P6000 and had to go with old technology a Nikon Coolpix 8400 and Cp5300. It shows the glaring difference which newer cameras can deal with lower light and digital noise so much better.

Selena Gomez performing at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts

Lotus Flower

Lotus
Nelumbo cultivar
(nee-LUM-bo)

Here is the 80-200mm/2.8 lens exhibiting great sharpness and color rending on a very sunny day. Even though this lens is almost 20 years old (new for me at Xmas) it is still amazing to me. As someone who truly loves prime (fixed focal range) lenses this zoom lens has been a bit of a blessing. I wasn’t the guy, for a change, hanging over the lotus pool tying to get a shot with a 60mm lens. I was able to step back and enjoy the flowers!!

Tonight is going to be special as we are going to meet and see in concert my favorite pop star Selena Gomez. I can’t believe the day is finally here after the long wait from March when the tickets went on sale.

Here is a link to Selena’s latest platinum (over 1 million sold) single Who Says.

.
Partially inspired by the wave of hate that flowed Selena’s way after she hooked up with Justin Beiber. I read that she didn’t really want to walk barefoot in downtown LA but did it anyway.

Here is another Sel video from the album before last called A Year without Rain. It took me awhile to fall in love with the CD but I have. This is a mixed Spanish and English version. Probably my favorite TV performance by Selena and she is on TV a lot.

"
A Year Without Rain from George Lopez Tonight.

Tropical Waterlily

Tropical Waterlily
Nymphaea
(NIM-fee-uh)

Here is another Waterlily shot from Florida with the Nikon D70s and the 80-200mm 2.8 lens. I wasn’t used to shooting across the lily pond and being able to get a good sized picture of a flower. The lens is pretty amazing with excellent color rendition and sharpness.

This next photo is from Key West’s Mallory Square and also uses the 80-200.


My Pansies turned to mush over last weekend and need to be replaced. The owner of the house is a gardener and understands that you can get burned by trying to push the season a little. Since th flowers are for a memorial service I have to replace them on Friday (if it doesn’t snow).

Yesterday was a happy day as we scored tickets for the world’s greatest teenager’s summer tour. Selena Gomez! We were able to get a couple of meet and greet tickets for my birthday! Her she is singing her hit song ‘Naturally’.

Yellow Lilies

Yellow Lilies
Lilium
(LIL-ee-um)

This picture was stuck in an unrelated folder and I really can’t remember where or even when it was taken. According to the digital information it was shot 1/11/09 with the D700 and the 60m lens. That doesn’t make a lot of sense unless it was from a bunch of cut flowers. Anyway I thought it was a nice way to start of the week and I hope the sun shines this bright wherever you may be.

It is suppose to be really cold all week here. Everything will be kind of building up to Friday night when Karen, Erika and I attend the z100 Jingle Ball concert at Madison Square Garden. Finally I will get to see my hero Selena Gomez performing in concert. Paramore and Katy Perry are also of interest to me. Of course Erika is looking forward to seeing Justin Beiber. Selena while young is just a nice person and the kind of person that makes me proud to be an American. She is beautiful, talented, hard working, charitable and has a great sense of style. It will also be nice to be in Manhattan during the holidays.