We, Ann and I, were sitting out back sipping our coffee in the early morning, enjoying our time outside and sensing that little odd tinge of heat on the breeze that hinted at the 97-degree day to come, unusually hot for this time and location. I looked up and spied a sunflower, in its youth already 9 or 10 feet high, and still stretching for the cloudless blue sky. I thought, "That's a picture." And so I grabbed the camera and shot a couple hundred frames.
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| Sunflower, Blue Sky |
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| All American Bacchus |
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| Calendula, Oblique Light |
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| Grace, Grapes, and Wallflowers |
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| Pinot Gris |
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| Tangerine Sage |
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| Brooks Prune Plums |
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| Chocolate Cosmos |
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| Agastache 'Bolero' |
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| Blue Salvia |
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| Akebia, Apple Ladder |
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| Bidens |
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| Still Life with Frog |
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| Anna's Hummingbird, Blue Salvia |
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| Queen of the Backyard |
It's fitting to close with a picture of the female Anna's Hummingbird on her favorite perch in the cherry tree, strategically located so she can keep an eye on her two favorite nectar sources, the twinberry honeysuckle and the blue salvia. Woe be unto any other hummingbird venturing into our yard. Her yard that is: we are lucky to be able to share it with her. We went inside and left her to it.
