All that glitters
January 30, 2009
All that glitters is not gold. Sometimes it’s blue.
Sometimes red. This is the back of a petal of my new amaryllis.
I believe it was called ‘Red Lion.’ It simultaneously glitters like car paint and offers the tactile plushness of velvet.
The new bottle tree is better at catching the light than catching evil spirits.
I love to see it glittering in the sky.
And the amaryllis sparkles on my windowsill.
All material © 2006-2009 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
Hi Pam, I think I just OD with color but survived and came out stronger and happier then before.
Lovely post and your Amaryllis is gorgeous.
Have a great weekend.
Tyra
You too, Tyra! —Pam
Love the back of that Amaryllis – especially when contrasted with the matte finish on the front. There’s so much to see in the garden — and it’s one of the nice things about down time — I think it opens my eyes to things I might miss with a profusion of growth and color in the Spring or Summer.
Good point, Diana. We look harder in the winter, don’t we? —Pam
That wonderful saturated blue color is marvelous. It is no wonder that it is one of gardeners favorite colors. It screams “look at me”. No evil spirits would even attempt to come into your
garden with these colors protecting it.
The amaryllis is doing great shining its best. I always want to touch those petals. They seem unreal they are so perfect.
I like to touch those velvety petals too, Lisa. Imagine having a pillow made of them. —Pam
Definitely a perfect burst of colour–a wonderful sight first thing on a winter’s morning, or any morning. I especially love the light on the amaryllis.
A burst of color is a pick-me-up, especially in winter. I’m glad you enjoyed it, Jodi. —Pam
Glow? Positively neon!! You woke me up before my first coffee — something not easily done.
Hi, Linda. I took the photos yesterday afternoon, when the afternoon sun was really lighting up the bottles. It’s doing so again right now as I look out the window at the bottle tree. Zing! —Pam
Hi Pam…I like the diamond dusting that some plants have…Your amaryllis has it, too. A light sugar coating! I am loving your bottle tree very much! have a good weekend. gail
Diamond dusted and sugar coated—I like your analogies, Gail. It sounds like a fairy flower. —Pam
Great photos Pam!
I’m glad you like them, Phillip. —Pam
These shots are very uplifting as I prepare to go about my day. Pleasing to the eye, not too loud, just soothing, really. I’m thinking about making my own bottle tree, although my HOA might yell at me:( You are a great photographer;)
Thanks, Jan. I’m glad to know you enjoyed them. Maybe you could sneak a bottle shrub (a little shorter) into your back yard so the HOA would be none the wiser. —Pam
Wow! Love that first picture! I needed a good dose of color and this did it. Your blue bottle tree is quite photogenic.
Isn’t it? It may become as much of a ham as the ‘Whale’s Tongue’ agave. —Pam
Nice shot of color on, what is here, a gloomy, snowy day. Thanks.
I’m glad to provide you with a colorful pick-me-up, Jim. Stay warm. —Pam
You either have an extremely steady hand or you used a tripod. Either way, the photos are stunning.
Thanks, Grace! I should always use a tripod, but I usually just rely on a steady hand. If I have something handy to brace my arm or the camera on, I’ll sometimes do that. But for these macros of the bottle tree I was actually balancing on a stone wall and leaning toward the tree. There was nothing to steady myself against, so I got lucky this time. —Pam
Beautiful! I have a question though…How do you keep them so clean and pretty? I need to clean mine. Of course mine stay up all year long. So maybe thats why they get dull. Yours look so bright and shiny!!!! Happy Friday!!!!
Hi, Cindee. My bottles get dirty too. In fact, these just came out of a box that had been stored in my garden shed, so they’re not particularly clean. But we did just have a light rain, and maybe that gave them an extra sparkle. —Pam
That amaryllis is stunning.
They always are, don’t you think? I don’t know why I resisted getting a bulb earlier this winter, but I’m glad I finally broke down and potted this one up. —Pam
Excellent photos! How are you getting such a clear close up picture? All mine come out fuzzy when I try to get that detailed. I love the bottle tree, I might have to grow one.
I used the macro and super-macro settings on my Canon Powershot S3 IS, Jeanette. I’ve been very happy with this camera’s macro abilities. —Pam
Cool pictures. Your blog is very informative.
thanks,
brian
lawnandhome.blogspot.com
Thanks, Brian. —Pam
Where do you find those blue bottles? The color is gorgeous.
Aiyana
Aiyana, I find them in other garden bloggers’ sheds. 😉 MSS and Vertie have given me the bottles on this tree. —Pam
Beautiful photos. I too love a bottle tree. I’m also a sucker for photographing every one I see…I should do a bottle tree show.
That would be fun to see. I hope you’ll let me know if you do. —Pam
Getting a little edgy with those angles and crops, Pam. ;-7 Keep it up.
I’m glad you like, Craig. I shall try to be edgy more often. 😉 —Pam
Lovin’ all that color. You got your bottle tree up! Now, you’re really residing there I think. Happy almost February my friend.~~Dee
You too, Dee. I enjoyed your sledding story. —Pam
Wow! No tripod and no SLR but you still have gorgeous photos. I’m impressed. My hands are just not that steady, so last week I ordered a tripod from B&H’s website and will receive it Monday. I’m excited to start using it in my garden along with the christmas present slr, but it’s so darn cold that I haven’t been outside much! Maybe the paperwhites will get a macro photo op, indoors, when the tripod shows up. Thanks for sharing your photographing skill.
Regards, VW
Ooh, a new SLR and a tripod—you’ll be having a lot of fun with your new toys, VW. —Pam
I was with a friend once, we were traveling from Montrose to Camelia Forest in Chapel Hill. I saw the mother of all bottle trees. She wouldn’t stop saying we didn’t have enough time. I promised myself I retrace my steps and find it. I think I’ll try to do that this week. It was a true tree, dead oak, with hundreds of bottles.
Oh, I hope you can find it and take a picture, Helen. It sounds amazing. —Pam
Amaryllises are spectacular flowers. I was just thinking I should have 10 or more every winter, but then I’d have to take care of them the rest of the year. Great shots!
Thanks, Elizabeth. I usually treat amaryllis bulbs the way some people treat tulips—as annuals. I did plant one outdoors one year (theoretically they grow outdoors in Austin), but it never bloomed again. —Pam
Your photos take my breath away. I’m learning to look for snapshots in the mirrored water, in shadows playing across a fence. On the backs of flowers. Beauty is everywhere, if only we stop to look.
Brenda
So true, Brenda. All we need do is open our eyes to it. Thanks for your kind compliment too. —Pam
Great to see these saturated colors in the dead of winter! I was telling one of the other bloggers that bottle trees don’t seem to grow here in San Diego–maybe they require too much water (or beer?) Thanks for sharing these pictures. They perked me up!
You’re welcome! As for the bottle tree, it is actually very drought tolerant. You won’t find an easier tree to grow, in fact. You should plant one. 😉 —Pam
Pam, fabulous photographs as always! And I want that amaryllis! Linda
One flower is still going strong, but the other is at half-mast. A short-lived beauty, but it was worth the wait. —Pam
Sigh … what beauty! The photo of the glittering amaryllis petal almost made me cry! I wish my hair could do that…
xoxo
You just need a little glitter spray. You’ve already got the right color, Germi. 🙂 —Pam