Bells in Bloom

It got down to 33°F last night and my flowers out in the open suffered. But these are near the house and seem unaffected by the cold. I thought they had finished blooming a month or so ago so I was quite surprised to discover late this afternoon that they are thriving. I doubt we have many more warm days left but for today it was a joy to see them.

Last Color

It's been in the 70s and the Morning Glories are still trying to bloom even after their leaves have been damaged by frost. Tonight it turned cold (41°F) and rainy so this may be the last time we see these flowers this year.

Destruction

It started raining in the later afternoon but I was surprised when I got home to discover the damage to my trellis. There must have been strong winds here in Warrenville, even though I didn't notice any from my window at work.

Leaf

It's another overcast rainy day but sometimes cloud cover helps a photographer. I stopped by West DuPage Woods Forest Preserve on my way home from church today and found some great fall leaves. This one that got stuck to my window is a favorite.

Petunias

There was frost on the ground (and my car) this morning. Tonight when I got home I noticed that the leaves of the Morning Glories looked wilted. These Petunias however are still looking pretty good. Not sure how many days they have but I'll enjoy them as long as I can.

Fall Garden

Even with a dry fall my garden is blooming gloriously.

I even found the closed Morning Glory blossom intriguing.

Storm's Comin'

Just after I took this photo there was thunder and within a minute or two a steady rain began. Summer may be leaving with a cold front coming in from the West.

Warm Drink

13 September 2012*

It was a cold evening and just right for the first mug of fall hot chocolate.

* Photo taken 9/13/12 but not posted until 9/14 because I forgot to bring my computer home from work.

Field

Fall is just around the corner. This field of corn at Kline Creek Farm is about ready to harvest. It was planted with a team of horses circa 1890 technology. Considering the drought of the summer this corn looks good.

Rainy Day

Drizzle, then steady rain all day.

Drizzle ends

It was a rainy/drizzly day until just before sunset when the rain stopped and the clouds started to break up so the sun could shine through.

Calypso

Tonights Concert on the Common band was Mr. Myers from Sycamore, IL. A cold front came through and the temps were in the 70's. Maybe a little cool for Caribbean music but a nice change from hot.

Reflowering

Tonight I noticed a number of my garden plants are once again producing flowers. I think it might be that we've gotten a bit of rain over the past 3 weeks and some that flowered early and quit blooming are starting to produce again.

This white Hosta is blooming for the first time this year. Of course the Black-eyed Susan is a native prairie plant and survives even when their isn't rain. They have been in bloom for almost a month but i think they are a bit more prolific now that the rain has come.

Drought

This summer of severe heat is really taking a toll on my flowers. Even though I water my potted flowers every morning some of my Vinca plants are really suffering.

On a brighter note, my petunias continue to thrive.

Tree Devastation

About 1PM yesterday the sky got very dark and the wind really picked up. The TV scroll said "Thunderstorms." At my house it rained hard for 45 min and left behind 3/4" of rain. Once the rain started the wind died down. By 2PM it was over and the sun was shining. At 3PM I went to an outdoor concert about 3 miles away.

This morning I discovered that just another mile north of the concert site the storm had reached 90 mph winds and trees were down at almost every property. The destruction is incredible. These pictures were taken more than 30 hrs after the storm hit. 

                             The  streets in this neighborhood is lined with branches.

Spring into Summer

This has been an odd year for weather. In March, as Spring arrived, we had a week of 80°F temps. Trees started to bud, but cold weather followed and the budding process stopped. Now that summer has come, the tree in my yard is only half leafed out. Near the trunk it's pretty full but there are many branches that are completely bare.


Update: 3 August 2012

This morning I discovered they cut this tree down yesterday. I've seen other trees with the same problem this tree had but I didn't think this would be reason to get rid of the tree. 

Update: 26 September 2012

It seems the tree was probably taken down to fight Emerald Ash Borer. Many trees throughout the subdivision and local towns have been cut dow to prevent the spread of this tree disease.

Rain

We had a cold soaking rain all day. It already is good for the garden.

Clouds

This evening the sun on the clouds was spectacular. This was the prelude to a "Severe Thunderstorm Watch" which so far has not materialized.

Spring

How do you take a photo that does justice to the change of season? 


Today, Leap Day, just felt like Spring had arrived. Overnight it rained and the ground glistened. Along with the rain, the temperature had risen to 45°F, shirt sleeves weather! (By midday it topped out at 56°F.) The sun was shining brightly and I just knew I needed to find the perfect picture. 

With the snow gone, warm temps and wet ground, I remembered growing up in Vermont and decided this photo should be titled
 "Mud Season."

Then I saw a tree and knew the Spring Photo for today should be "Sugar Maple."

As I started to leave I began to wonder if the sap was running, so I looked under the lid, and sure enough, there was a steady drip, drip, drip. A cold night followed by a warm day is a perfect sugaring day, even in Illinois.

Lichens

What is there to photograph on a dreary, overcast, February afternoon. Not much. But when I stepped out on my 2nd floor balcony in the drizzle and looked down I saw the lower branches of a tree. I went outside to see if I could get a better, closer shot of the lichens growing on the branches. What do you know? None of them can be seen from ground level. You have to be above looking down to see their beauty. It reminded me that God sees the beauty in me even when it's not visible from the ground.