almost Wordless Wednesday - Eagles' nest

This pair of bald eagles, above, built their nest in a cottonwood at the south end of the lake in 2007.

The photos were taken with a Canon Powershot G3 mounted on a scope, not a super-duper-professional-photographer-type one, but one which allows us to see and photograph the nest located a quarter mile+ away. So the images can be a bit blurry, sorry.

March 2010

The eagles added to the nest every year, gradually increasing the size and weight. They say the nests can weigh up to TWO TONS. Click here for more information on bald eagles.

During a severe wind storm at the beginning of this year, 

the nest blew down.

The eagles were back in February, rebuilding in the same location.

Image, taken from the comfort of a kayak on the lake, of a juvenile in nest, testing its wings, summer of 2008.

There's at least one eaglet in the new nest now.

Hooray for Spring!

For more Wordless Wednesday posts, click here.

~Aerie-el

'Tis the Plant Sale Season

The plant sale season is really heating up, much faster than our weather this year! And in preparation for the growing season,  there are plenty of upcoming sales in the Seattle area, north and south, 

from British Columbia to Oregon. There is sure to be something for everyone, even the pickiest of hort-heads out there. 

 Here are a few images of the plants I scored at previous plant sales, along with links to sales this year. 

(Please click on the images to see them in more detail.)

 Eryngium (Sea Holly)

 Quite a few of the plants in the above photo 

actually survived the winter this year.

All were purchased from various vendors at FlorAbundance, 

an annual sale to raise funds to support the Washington Park Arboretum. 

Their sale takes place on April 30 and May 1.

Click here to a link for this year's sale information.

Lake Wilderness Arboretum is located in Maple Valley, south of Seattle.

Their plant sale will be on Friday and Saturday, May 6 and 7.

Click here for information about this year's sale.

Ginkgo

 

 Hepatica americana

 Sanguinaria canadensis

(Bloodroot)

 (The 3 plants above were purchased at LWA plant sales.)

 

The King County Master Gardener Plant Sale will be on May 7 and 8 

at the Center for Urban Horticulture in Seattle, on the UW campus.

Click here for more information.

 Larix kaempferi 'Diane', 

a great plant pick.

Yes, tiny right now, but will grow to be even greater!

I have purchased plenty, and I mean a lot, of other plants at this plant sale, but for the life of me, I can't find other photos of them. 

Sorry...please refer to my plea for HELP in organizing my photos 

in this previous post.

Last, I will leave you with the link to the Mother Lode of information, 

courtesy of the Elizabeth C Miller Library, 

for plant sales in the Pacific Northwest, from BC to Oregon.

Which plant sales are you looking forward to attending?

Inquiring minds want to know...

~Aerie-el

Wordless Wednesday - Welcome new plants

New plants potted - isn't the Cryptomeria japonica 'Spiraliter Falcata' the cutest?

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~Aerie-el

GGW Picture This Contest - Hope Springs Eternal

The wonderful folks at Gardening Gone Wild have engaged the incredibly talented Rob Cardillo as the judge for the April 2011 Picture This Contest. The subject for the contest is Let's Talk about Light, which fascinates me to no end. The information and photographs Rob shares are insightful, educational, and inspiring.

I've taken many photographs with my simple little Panasonic DMC-ZS3, so I began sorting through them, knowing there must be one shining star that I could enter. First thing I noticed: I need to sort and file my photos so I can find them more easily! How do you organize/sort/file yours? Do you use a special feature of a program to help you do this? 

Help, I'm drowning in photos!

While poking around the in the files, I found a few in the bunch 

that I thought might be worthy of an entry.

Here are some of my runners-up.

Click on the photos to see them bigger.

 Above and Below

 Bent reed reflections

 Calendula

Solomon's Seal

 Winter on the lake

 Pollen on the water

 Beach sunset 

(Cape Cod, Massachusetts)

And the one I selected as my entry is below. 

I chose it because, to me, it says there is hope on the horizon. 

Always.

Hope Springs Eternal

(Cape Cod, Massachusetts)

I look forward to seeing what many of you enter for this contest!

Good luck!

~Aerie-el

Wordless Wednesday - Garden Visitor Today

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~Aerie-el