Photographs from the Mark Vollmer Fieldtrip to Washoe Valley

Well ~ Saturday we all met up at TMCC’s Meadowood building and carpooled down to the south end of Washoe Valley. Our first stop (besides Wendy’s so Colleen could buy a hamburger) was the wildlife viewing area with the boardwalk.

Very windy (what’s new for Washoe Valley, eh?!) down there. Not much to see but blackbirds ~ both red-winged and yellow-headed. You can’t see far into the lake from the viewing platform unless you have a telephoto lens that goes to as least 200mm…mine only goes to 72mm. So I took lots of fence pictures ~

We saw a flock of pelicans towards the enterance of Washoe Valley State Park so three of us headed back to see if they were still there. Parked at the trailhead of Deadman’s Creek trail and walked over to state park. No pelicans, but there was a redtail hawk sitting in her nest, who flew off once we were close enough for pictures. The bugger. I walked down to the beach while my sister and mom stayed under a couple of bird nest. Colleen got GREAT photos of a Western Tanager…and continued to get great pictures while teasing me with none.

We then went back to the trailhead to wait for the rest of the group ~ took a few pictures in the bottom part of the trail. Figured out the stupid macro on my camera there.

Lots of Phlox, Indian Paintbrush and Alpine Lupine on the way up to the top and at the top where the gazebo is. Sunset wasn’t that great, but pretty none-the-less.

And here’s a picture of Mark Vollmer setting up his shot of the sunset ~

DESERT IN BLOOM SLIDESHOW ~ I put most of my pictures (I took over 200 so I’ve narrowed it down some) onto my webshot’s album ~ I’m nv_michelle there.

All photos taken with a Canon Powershot S2 IS.

Front & Back Yard Gardening ~ Roses are in!

I took yesterday off work to work in my yard…wanted to finish up the front side-yard and my FIL came over to help me ro-do the raised garden beds.

THE ROSES ~ almost didn’t get my English Roses! G&G Nursery had a run on them over the weekend and there were only two Hansa’s left and a few David Austin Roses.

I bought a Weeks Roses Hansa ~ bred in 1905. Medium-tall/bushy round shrub that is suitable for growing in pots and hedges. Tolerant of poorer soils. Ornamental value of hips/large fruit. Very fragrant ~ spicy cloves. Large, full reddish-violet blooms. Very hardy and disease free.

In the ground ~ and a stock photo.

The Squire ~ a David Austin English Rose. The large double blooms of this rose are a deep rich dard red. The attractive strong fragrance of this wonderful cutting rose is a welcome addtion to your garden or bouquets. These roses are a wonderful combination of old world charm and new advancements in rose culture. They will help create a wonderful English Garden feel in your landscape and are excellent for bedding and hedges. Superb border plants.

They look great! Can’t wait for them to grow, grow, GROW! I did a jig out there on the lawn after mulching and watering!

Now onto backyard ~ I decided to take the top boards off of the raised bed as it was just way too deep. My FIL came over yesterday morning and we whacked the crap out the top boards (5 nails each side into a treated 4×4 ~ OY!)…took us a while but we were able to pry them off. We then made a 6×6 box and a small 18″x18″ for a tomato box. We left a nice walk way in between the raised garden beds and will put DG around the beds. Now I have to call Oxborrow and order the double or triple mix of topsoil/grape compost/organic lite.

Now the beds are 5′x12′x1′ and 6′x6′x1′ ~ Soon to be planted ~ tomatoes, peppers, sugar peas, bush beans, potatoes, onions, garlic, corn, zucchini, yellow squash, pumpkin, lettuce. Near the corn I’m going to plant a couple of rhubarb plants and maybe some asparagus.