November 2023 Calendar
Desktop Calendar for November 2023
Happy November!
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October 2023 Calendar
Desktop Calendar for October 2023
Hello! Happy October! This month’s flower, an African Iris, brings back memories of living in the Bay Area in California. We lived in an apartment that had a shared courtyard for the backyard. The courtyard was filled with many types of flowers like hygrenea bushes, bearded irises, and of course these African Irises. Now, whenever I see this flower I am reminded of those days with the cool breeze while checking out what flower was currently in bloom. Do you have a flower that just takes you back to a specific place or moment?
Starstruck/A Garden Variety
A photograph of an African Iris.
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September 2023 Calendar
Desktop Calendar for September 2023
Hello! Happy September, my friends, fall is approaching! With the coming change of seasons, I like to sneak away into the backyard and spend my time thinking about what an interesting world we live in. I often think about the magic of flowers. In our garden we have some flowers that I buy from a nursery, ones we have planted from seed, and then there are some flowers, like this one, that just showed up in my yard this spring. It makes me wonder, where did the seed come from that grew this ursinia? I imagine that maybe it blew into the yard on a windy day and then has it been just waiting for the right amount of rain to come in and nourish that seed. The conditions were just right then to bring this delicate flower to life. But then I start to ponder, how many more seeds are just waiting to come to life and bring beauty to the yard?
Well, this wasn’t meant to be an analogy for how each one of us is affected by the little things that happen to us and can bring out something new and unexpected! But I guess it was the connection that I, myself, needed to hear. I encourage you, and me, to be on the lookout for the little things blowing our way this fall!
Lazy Afternoon/A Garden Variety
A photograph of a ursinia flower.
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Botanical Garden Flashlight Night
Violet and I took a special trip to the Botanical Garden at night!
Violet and I had an excellent opportunity to get to go to the Desert Botanical Garden for their Flashlight tour. This is open to anyone but Violet was getting to do this with Girl Scouts. They had different stations set up throughout the garden and we could visit them as well as the other places. We arrived at 7 pm, just before the sunset, but it was still quite hot outside, around 107° f, and our first stop was at the drawing with glow-in-the-dark chalk. They had buckets of chalk and asked the kids to make something desert related on the black cloth. Violet decided to draw a quick saguaro cactus. Then we strolled through an area that had some great cactus called espostoa nana, which had dense white hair that grows on it, it is almost tempting to touch that but I think you would quickly come to regret that choice.
Our next stop was, thankfully in an air-conditioned room, where she was looking at different plans under microscopes and trying to guess which each one was. Then we both learned about how mesquite trees have so many helpful options from creating pitch paint, which we painted fun designs onto some pottery, all the to the seed pots being ground up to be made into flour, which tastes like cinnamon and a hint of chocolate. Now Violet keeps asking if we can get some mesquite flour to make pancakes! We learned about the saguaro cactus and how birds will peck away at them until they create a hole and then that hole will become calloused and they can make a nest in that spot. They also told us about how the saguaro generally starts growing arms once they are between 50-70 years old.
One of our favorite things was they had a telescope set up on a mountain that anyone could come and look through. It was a nice and powerful telescope that they had pointed at the moon and you could see the craters. When Violet went up to look she said, “WOW!!” loudly and exuberantly and the lady said, “That is the type of reaction we are looking for and exactly why we do this!” On our walk back out this was the thing that she talked about! We made a quick stop to check out her saguaro glowing in the black light and went home to cool ourselves off.
Since this is something that anyone can do I would highly recommend checking out the Flashlight Night at the Botanical Garden, I just wouldn’t do it in the middle of the summer heat!
Music is Sunlit Saturdays by | e s c p | https://escp-music.bandcamp.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
August 2023 Calendar
Desktop Calendar for August 2023
The last few weeks have been SUPER HOT with, currently, 31 consecutive days over 110°f in Phoenix. Needless to say, we haven’t been going out of the house much and I haven’t been out photographing flowers in the yard. Instead, I am taking you back to a photograph I took in April. Our yard was covered in California Poppies and because we have our own poppies, and we water them, we are able to keep them for so much longer! Enjoy some of the beauty from my backyard! I hope that this image will be like a cool spring day in the middle of summer!
Summer Escape/A Garden Variety
A photograph of a California Poppy.
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July 2023 Calendar
Desktop Calendar for July 2023
July in Minnesota looks vastly different than July in Arizona. The kids and I were able to escape to Minnesota, for many fun adventures, while Bryce stayed in Arizona to keep the house full of pets up and running. Well, our summer days there look like flowers growing on the side of the road, spending days outdoors running around at the lake, and hiking. One of the flowers that is on the sides of the road, and all over the yard, is the bird’s-foot trefoil, a clover-like plant, and it certainly adds a pop of color to the green everywhere. Minnesota is green and lush, but I see all of this with the desert of Arizona's eye, yet I know that they are also in need of rain. It makes me so happy to get to see a totally different type of flower that doesn’t grow around Arizona, and to get to share it with you!
Summer in Minnesota/A Garden Variety
A photograph of a bird’s-foot trefoil.
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Father's Day e-card
Your Father’s Day e-card
It’s that time! It’s time to wish that special dad, your own dad, your friend, your uncle, or any special dad in your life a very happy Father’s Day!
How to Download
Save the e-card to your desktop by right-clicking and saving the image, or clicking and dragging the image to your desktop. Then just send on the e-card by email.
June 2023 Calendar
Desktop Calendar for June 2023
June, the month when we get to relax and not rush around getting the kids to school. In June we officially start monsoon season here in Arizona and we all know that monsoon showers bring flowers! Which means that the desert will be alive with color again. Before I get too far ahead of myself, right now it is saguaro blossom season and I couldn’t wait to get out and find some that were short enough that I could capture the beauty without a ladder. I am stunned at how many flowers each cactus has and how each one takes its turn sharing its beauty with the world. May the saguaro brighten your screen and bring a smile to your face this June.
Infinitely Angelic/A Garden Variety
A photograph of a saguaro blossom.
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Mother's Day e-card
Your Mother’s Day e-card
It’s that time! It’s time to wish that special mom, your own mom, friend, your sister, or any special mom in your life a very happy Mother’s Day!
How to Download
Save the e-card to your desktop by right-clicking and saving the image, or clicking and dragging the image to your desktop. Then just send on the e-card by email.
May 2023 Calendar
Desktop Calendar for May 2023
Last month I showed you one of my photographs from Picacho Peak, when my family joined me on an outting, to see the wild flowers. This month I am excited to share a different flower from that same trip. This photograph is of a white tackstem, which is part of the sunflower family, and is native to the southwest and northern Mexico areas. White tackstem isn’t a very large plant they typically grow between 2 to 11 inches. Next year I want to grow some of these in my own garden! I hear that they are great in rock gardens and xeriscapes, and best of all they are a great food source for bees and other pollinators!
Spring Breeze/A Garden Variety
A photograph of a white tackstem.
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