2023 ANMPAS

The Spring 2023 Annual New Mexico Photographic Arts Show (ANMPAS)will be held in the Fine Arts Building at EXPO NM March 25 through April 18.

Where but New Mexico

My entry in this show is a sunset photographed in November, 2022, Where but New Mexico.

ANMPAS is free and all are welcome. EXPO NM may charge parking fees on weekends.

Bosque in Autumn

bosque in autumn
Bosque in Autumn: Birthdays with Friends

Tim and I share a birthday. For years we have done something on that day. Yesterday was no exception. This year we opted for a quiet day in the bosque and along the banks of the Rio Grande. It was a spectacular, cloudless afternoon. We saw a lot of crows, some geese, and a couple of cranes. Over the next couple of weeks many more cranes will be arriving. Yesterday, above all, colors took center stage.

Bosque
Saturday afternoon in the bosque.
bosque
On the way to the Rio Grande.
dry river bed
The Rio Grande is quite low now, and the shoreline is parched and cracked.
bosque in autumn
Rio Grande, golden cottonwoods, Sandia Mountains
autumn
Tim studying the scene on a cloudless October afternoon.
desert autumn
Laurie along the Rio Grande
bosque cottonwood
Gloriously golden cottonwood branch.
bosque in autumn
Tim photographing a gloriously golden cottonwood branch.
bosque in autumn
“Is it time to eat yet?” Heading back to the house after an afternoon walk in the bosque.

Silver, one of the Price cats, seemed to be watching for his people’s return. As you can see, Tim had cameras with him.

cat
Silver was waiting for his people to return.

To see what happened next, check out Tim’s blog

Rio Grande
Layers of desert beauty.

Finally, thank you for visiting and sharing the beauty of the high desert in October. 🙂

Monsoon Rainbow

monsoon rainbow

Burquenos, did you catch last night’s monsoon rainbow? Parts of Albuquerque may have seen a full rainbow, but I did not. However, the brightness of one segment made up for that. Moreover, another bonus was watching this rainbow depart in a more exciting manner than merely “fading out.” The sky phenomena here never cease to amaze me.

monsoon rainbow

monsoon rainbo
“Dissolving” Monsoon Rainbow
monsoon rainbow
Almost Dissolved Monsoon Rainbow
After the Rainbow

This is the first rainbow of 2019 I have photographed. I have been too distracted by many of life’s little issues to be out most nights, just to love being out. But this rainbow reminded of 2009’s most fabulous monsoon season and skies. It appeared on Wednesday 🙂 ))))))). In 2009 I came to expect a rainbow on Wednesdays as I was preparing dinner. I don’t know why it happened that way; it just did. I enjoyed it, and I hope you do, too.

July Jewels

sunflower

As July 2019 comes to an end, I want to share a few images from the last few days. The flowers here will last through green chile season, which is about to begin. Colorful skies do not occur every day, but they occur frequently! Monsoon season will be with us into September, although thunderstorms may – or may not – be less frequent.

Colorful skies are always welcome.

sunrise
Sunrise July 28, 2019

My love of the Old Garden Rose ‘Mermaid’ is pretty well known. 🙂

It is also well known that sunflowers are among my favorites in late summer/autumn. I did not plant sunflowers this year – too many distractions – but volunteers are appearing. This one is from a cloudy morning when a light mist was falling.

Sunflower
Sunflower in Morning Mist

This sunflower is a volunteer from one of the hybrid sunflowers I have grown in other years. Makes me a little sorry I did not make time to plant more this year…

sunflower
Sunflower

Just as in previous years, crab spiders seem to gravitate to this particular kind of sunflower. Although tiny and kind of cute, these little guys are vicious. From other years I have images of them eating bees they have killed.

sunflower crab spider
Crab Spider on Sunflower

This is a closeup of the crab spider.

Crab Spider
Crab Spider Closeup

Thanks for visiting my world in late July.

San Ysidro and Dr. Huey

painted lady butterfly

San Ysidro and Dr.Huey: another spectacular day in the Land of Enchantment. This weekend is the Festival of San Ysidro, patron saint of agriculture and farming. San Ysidro is also the patron saint for Corrales, an independent village that sits on the west bank of the Rio Grande. Nearly every year the Festival and the Corrales Rose Society’s Dr. Huey Tour fall on the same weekend. This year was the Sixth Annual CRS Dr. Huey Tour.

The day was spectacular. The sky was crystal clear and the temperature was perfect. Here at my house, most of the roses have finished first bloom, but ‘Mermaid’ is just beginning. In Corrales, Dr. Huey was not only at its peak, but also most of the other roses. While this is not the typical order of things, it made for a beautiful day.

I have a lot of photos to show (and many more for a later time), so I’m not going to “talk” much. As they say, hopefully “a picture is worth a thousand words.”

Painted Lady Butterflies
painted lady butterfly
Painted Lady Butterfly
Painted Lady Butterfly
Painted Lady Butterfly
Painted Lady Butterfly
Painted Lady Butterfly
Iris
iris
White Iris
Roses in the Price Garden

Although I have been in the Price Garden many times in many seasons over many years, I have never seen it more beautiful than today.

Price Rose Garden
Price Rose Garden
Price Rose Garden
Price Rose Garden
Price Rose Garden
Price Rose Garden
Price Rose Garden
Price Rose Garden
Price Rose Garden
Price Rose Garden
Price Rose Garden
Price Rose Garden
Price Rose Garden
Price Rose Garden
Price Rose Garden
Price Rose Garden
Dr. Huey
Dr Huey
Dr. Huey in the Price Rose Garden

The giant Dr. Huey growing ‘somewhere’ in Corrales is in great shape in 2019. A lot of underbrush had been cleared out, and we could clearly see at least three Dr. Hueys: the tall one, and at least two shorter ones, one on either side. We were happy to see these so healthy this year. They are ‘survivors’ in a harsh climate, survivors that retain their beauty.

Dr. Huey
Dr. Huey
Dr. Huey
Dr. Huey
Spunk
Spunk
Spunk
Tim and One of the Chile Guitars
guitar
Tim and the Chile Guitar
First Day to Open the Deck

While I have many more pictures to show, like Beaker the parrot taking a birdbath in his water, more Spunk and a few of the other kitties, and such, I wanted to end this evening with the way we finished the day and have so many other times: eating wonderful food with friends, laughing, just enjoying the day and company. Thanks Tim and Laurie for the hospitality on a day spent celebrating San Ysidro’s gifts and Dr. Huey!

Dinner on Deck
Enjoying the Opening of the Deck and the End of Day

Miniature Rose ‘Pinstripe’

miniature rose Pinstripe

The miniature rose, ‘Pinstripe,’ was one of my first acquisitions when I began growing roses in earnest. Ralph Moore (1907-2009) was its hybridizer. Over his long and active life he introduced many different roses. However, miniature roses are among his best known.

A little earlier I posted an image of another of Moore’s striped miniatures, ‘Climbing Earthquake.” That one is yellow and red, whereas ‘Pinstripe’ is red and white.

2019 is looking like a good year for roses in the Albuquerque area. The striped miniatures by Ralph Moore always give me a smile. I hope you enjoy them also. 🙂

Late Afternoon in the Garden

rose 'Chihuly'

Although my favorite time to photograph flowers in my garden is morning, when it is light but the sun hasn’t yet risen above the Sandias, yesterday the light was pretty good in late afternoon.

Did you watch the Kentucky Derby? I think it was the strangest one of my lifetime. When all is said and done, I’m glad none of the horses were injured.

Once the winner had been decided, I went out to see what was happening in the yard. Because the light in my small Albuquerque yard is very different in late afternoon than in early morning, I saw different things to photograph.

Lizard

A lot of lizards live in my yard. I rarely photograph them, partly because they run away. This guy was comfortable and held his ground.

lizard in the late afternoon garden
Lizard
lizard in the late afternoon garden
Lizard
Shrub Rose ‘Pike’s Peak’

This rose was a gift several years ago. I should have photographed it a couple of days earlier. However, you can still see the beauty it adds to the garden. I was heading out to photograph it when I saw the lizard on the railroad ties.

shrub rose 'Pike's Peak'
Shrub rose ‘Pike’s Peak’
Developing Baby Pear

I have two pear trees: one is a pollinator and the other produces good eating pears. This now-small pear should become a good eating pear some time in August.

garden pear
Developing Pear
Floribunda Rose, ‘Chihuly’

This rose pretty much speaks for itself.

rose 'Chihuly'
Floribunda rose, ‘Chihuly’

Today is Cinco de Mayo, observed just for fun by many people. Today might be a good day to spend late afternoon in the garden… Enjoy whatever you do today. 🙂

Garden Flowers This Week

garden flowers

Garden flowers are delightful, especially when they survive Albuquerque’s spring winds. These flowers are blooming this week and have maintained pretty good shape. The hybrid tea rose, ‘Gemini,’ is blooming (the first HT to bloom), but shows what wind can do to rose petals. Above all today, I’m showing some survivors in the high desert…

Cinnamon Delight

First is the unusually colored ‘Cinnamon Delight.’ I grow this in a container on my patio. It blooms almost nonstop from early spring until a hard freeze in the fall.

garden flowers
Miniature rose ‘Cinnamon Delight’
Climbing Earthquake

Next is the miniature rose, ‘Climbing Earthquake.’ Ralph Moore, hybridizer of many roses (mainly miniatures) hybridized this lively little beauty.

garden flowers
Miniature rose ‘Climbing Earthquake’
Spring Fling
garden flowers
Miniature rose ‘Spring Fling’
Marmalade Skies

The floribunda rose, ‘Marmalade Skies,’ can produce very large sprays of roses as well as well-formed single blooms. Sprays are developing. Maybe in a week or two I’ll have some pictures of those.

garden flowers
Floribunda rose ‘Marmalade Skies’
Pansies

You know I’ll show pansies when they are blooming. 🙂

garden flowers
Pansies
Autumn Sage

Autumn Sage requires very little care in the high desert. Hummingbirds, especially the females, it seems, prefer it over the hummingbird feeders.

garden flowers
Autumn Sage – loved by hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies
BeBop

I cannot keep from smiling when ‘BeBop’ is blooming. I also laugh about the time a photographer who didn’t know roses (“you have to grow them to know them”) told me I should have waited until the wind stopped blowing to photograph a similar bloom. The petals grow this way, and to a great extent are how it got its name.

garden flowers
Shrub rose ‘BeBop’

I hope you have a great week enjoying the garden flowers where you are. 🙂

Spring Blooms

spring blooms

On this weekend of many different celebrations, religious observances, and good weather, is there a better time to celebrate spring blooms? Probably any time flowers are blooming is a good time to celebrate them. I photographed these in my yard this weekend.

Here in the high desert roses are beginning to have buds. However, they will not bloom for a few more weeks. Therefore I have planted flowers that bloom earlier – and later – than roses.

‘Nelly Moser’ is a well-known clematis that grows up one of favorite roses, ‘Mermaid.’ The rose provides good support for the clematis. In addition, it provides shade for the roots. The two coexist quite happily.

spring blooms
Clematis ‘Nelly Moser’

Earlier this year I showed some blooms of the dwarf peach, ‘Bonanza.’ The peaches are now forming. You can see how many tiny peaches are packed onto the branches. If I want good-sized peaches and healthy branches, I must thin these out this week. Otherwise, the peaches would be very small, and so many could weigh down the branches.

dwarf peach 'Bonanza'
Baby Peaches that Need to be Thinned

Pansies are remarkable flowers. They grow well all through autumn, go dormant in the colder parts of winter, and joyously burst forth in spring. They come in so many different colors. Each bloom seems to have its own expression.

spring blooms
Wake-Up-Bright Pansies
spring blooms
Magenta Pansies

The weekend has been beautiful in Albuquerque. Wishing you a beautiful week wherever you are.

Stormy Sunrise

A Stormy Sunrise

stormy sunrise
Stormy Sunrise

A stormy sunrise had accurately been predicted by the Weather Service for several days. The prediction was correct. Although the sun was trying to peek out between the clouds and mountains, the clouds soon won out. As predicted, we had showers later in the morning. The sun broke through in the afternoon. Now, however, a light rain is falling again. Those of us who live here are happy for the rain!

The neighbors behind me have two friendly, wonderful dogs, Sampson and Inoki. They always greet me when I’m out. Inoki is a born model, and I have posted images of him before. Sampson is a little camera-shy. This image is not sharp, but it is the only one I have. Sampson brightened a stormy sunrise!

dog
Sampson, My Neighbors’ Friendly Dog. He and his brother, Inoki, always greet me when I am out.

Just an ordinary day in New Mexico…

Show Buttons
Hide Buttons
%d bloggers like this: