A cereus bud!

We've never had more cereus (oxypetalum) plants, and they've never looked healthier. However, there's been no activity this summer at all... other than the making of many new, big leaves. In contrast with past years, the plants spent the winter indoors, and have occupied a shady place this summer. They never get direct sun. This may be why the leaves have stayed a deep, vibrant green and most of the leaves do not look motheaten.

And the plants missed blooming on my birthday this year, which hasn't happened often in the last decade.

But, here's a look at a soon-to-be literal late bloomer...



Based on my photographic record, this plant looks to be about 11 days from blooming. Any later than that, and I'll miss it, owing to being out of town.

Yellowstone National Park - August 2009 (Part III)

Now for the third and final segment of Yellowstone pictures, starting with Upper Falls from Uncle Tom's Trail. We did all 328 steps down. Well, down wasn't the hard part!



A close-up of that rainbow...



Tower Falls...



The Yellowstone River snakes around...



This sign didn't lie...



My guess is this is a young elk...



Two views of Lower Falls from Artist Point at dawn




And, finally, the Teton Range again, this time from Snake River Overlook on the way back south...

Yellowstone National Park - August 2009 (Part II)

Most of the Teton and Yellowstone pictures were taken with a recently acquired Canon Rebel T1i, a 15 MP camera bought to succeed my aging 8 MP Digital Rebel XT. It's a nice camera but one major complaint is its mode dial is far too easily moved, which has led to me sometimes taking pictures using inappropriate settings. Oh, well. Now, if only the damned cereus plants would bloom! :-)

Here are some more Yellowstone pictures, starting with Clepsydra Geyser...



That's not marble, it's the damp surface of Grand Prismatic Spring...



Another, better show from Old Faithful...



Deer near Grant Village...



Yellowstone Lake at dawn, from near Gull Point..




Ironically, fishing isn't allowed from the Fishing Bridge, perhaps owing to the otters...



Family portrait...

Yellowstone National Park - August 2009 (Part I)

From Grand Teton, we went north to Yellowstone, a much more crowded park. Just inside the South Entrance, we encountered Lewis Falls, just off the west side of the road...




The Kepler Cascades, near Old Faithful...



Speaking of Old Faithful...



Boil, bubble, toil and trouble... at Firehole Lake...



Not the surf reaching the shore... it's boiling water...



A cascade of steaming, hot water...



Firehole Falls... nice, cool water...



At Firehole Cascade...

Grand Teton National Park - August 2009

After the most exhausting summer of my life, it's time for an exhausting vacation :-) Yesterday, we arrived in Grand Teton NP, having left from Salt Lake City where the Mesoscale Conference was held. These pictures were taken today, from near Jenny Lake. The first is Grand Teton mountain itself from the trail to Hidden Falls.




And this is downstream of Hidden Falls...




The sun, low in the sky over the Snake River at Oxbow Bend...




Bison are everywhere in the park, and are completely unafraid of people. Indeed, they like to stand in the road and stare at all the shiny cars with their strange, two-legged occupants. With time, bison encounters went from a scary novelty to a tedious event...




Here are bison walking in front of an old barn on Mormon Row...




On to Yellowstone...

Huntington Library - February and April 2009

We were able to get away to the Huntington Library's botanical gardens twice so far this year, in February and April. As you certainly would expect, there were many more flowers in bloom in April, especially in the Cactus Garden. First, flowering plants related to the cereus, though of course these will all be day bloomers. The cactus greenhouse is open on Saturdays, and among the specimens in bloom during the visit was this beautiful cereus labeled "Epicactus 'Mystic Mood'":




Two more views of this cereus...







Echinopsis obrepanda, also from the greenhouse. (Don't these Latin names sound like vile diseases?)




I didn't get the name of this one, but I think it's the same plant I had that perished in the January, 2007, freeze:






Straining for the sun,,,




One stands above the crowd...




Cyclops is a little bit spooky, especially when it catches the sun...




Finally, from February, a butterfly alights on a peach tree in the Chinese Garden that was in bloom at the time...

Sequoia National Park - March 2009

In March, we went up to Wuksachi Lodge in Sequoia National Park. A foot and a half of snow fell after our arrival, making for some nice pictures and an interesting drive down the mountain. Before the snow fell, the clouds rolled in...




After the snow, on the drive back down...




Farther down the mountain, close to the snowline, where the snow on the road had already melted...




Looking back at the snow-covered mountains...

Death Valley - December 2008

It's been months since I updated this blog -- been too bloody busy, unfortunately -- so here's a spate of posts. These are pictures I took at Death Valley National Park late last December. First, the charcoal kilns above Wildrose are always worth a visit...




Sunrise, after a little help from Photoshop...




Two views of sand dunes, that same sunrise...







Death Valley itself, seen from Badwater Basin. A large, framed version of this one now adorns the kitchen wall...




From near Artists' Palette...




Mountains near sunset...




What constellation are you seeing in this photograph of the night sky? Click here for some assistance.

Beijing, China - October 2008

I recently spent a week in Beijing, China, but was far too busy to take many pictures. But, here are a few shots. The first three were taken at the Summer Palace:










The "Bird's Nest" as seen from a bus:




On television, the Water Cube appeared a much deeper blue than seen here, perhaps because I usually saw the building at night and perhaps illuminated from inside:




What did they do with Floor 0?

Alaska - September 2008

We took our first-ever trip, a land/sea tour, to Alaska early last September. Here are a few pictures from that excursion. The first shows our son, Ty, deep in thought on the train to Denali National Park:




More of the notoriously fickle Mt. McKinley than most visitors ever manage to see:




Some rushes growing on the swampy tundra:




Elsewhere, fall colors were much in evidence:




My first double rainbow made its appearance in Denali!




An arctic bird glides over an ice-speckled Glacier Bay:




Some of Alaska's cloud-enshrouded mountain peaks:




Ketchikan, the place where we were guaranteed to see rain, proved the only fully sunny place of the trip:




Cue the theme from Jaws:




"You talkin' to me?":

The new cereus blooms - 6/30/08

The cereus acquired last summer has produced its first bloom. The second of the two pictures below was taken after sunrise, with natural light. The aqua backdrop is a pool cover.





The plant is growing some new leaves, but there are no additional buds at this time.