Saturday, June 23, 2012

stealth: noun

the action of doing something slowly, quietly, and covertly, in order to avoid detection
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I have now walked up 3 levels...whew...lol...and come to the Italian Garden. Usually not my favorite of the garden levels until summer hits and all the water lilies come into bloom! I like to approach this garden from the back end of the Shrub Garden so I have this view of the house, with the 3 reflecting pools.  As you can see, it's an overcast day, but that's a perfect time for taking pictures of the flowers!
I am surprised at how tall some of the water lilies are, I always thought of water lilies as floating on the surface of the water. ( Here is a favorite thing of mine to photograph, the reflection in the water. )
a close up of these tall beauties, about shoulder high on me and I am 5'7" tall
I don't know about you, but it's hard to resist leaning over and picking them, lol
I am loving the different colors
and textures!! I didn't realize that some are fuzzy! I am very happy this one came out, it's about the size of a quarter! I'm just glad for a zoom lens!
so delicate
and vibrant!
and plop, plop, plop...what's a lily pad without a frog? Not only are there koi and goldfish in the pond, there are frogs too! As I approached each reflecting pool I was met with a series of splashes, it took some serious stealth like moves to capture the little guys!
a last look at the mountains seen through some classical statuary
and then back down through the shrub gardens, with one last peek at the house before I turn my back on it and go exploring along the Spring path...
Tomorrow I will share my love of wooden bridges over creeks and stone steps over little water ways. I hope you join me :)
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7 comments:

Maureen Hayes said...

Wow, you made some beautiful captures here. I think your title of "stealth" is spot on, especially catching that frog! The flowers are so pretty, the colors so vibrant! Thanks for sharing it all with us, it is nice to have a garden on my iPad!

enthusiastically, dawn said...

WOW! Thanks for sharing all that beauty. I wish I was walking with you there!

Rita said...

Gorgeous! And such variety! I didn't realize they stood so tall out of the water, either. You usually see pictures of them close to the lily pads. What a beautiful place! :)

Redanne said...

Brilliant photos Sandee, love the frog!!

Dawn said...

Ooh Sandee, more fab and cheerful photo's to chase away the gloom that has dropped on Cornwall again, thank-you. Gotta love the frog the best though, I have to admit to having a frog collection, mainly soft toy ones, best one has to be the one that croaks when you squeeze it's tummy.
Hugs x

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

Olmsted really knew what he was doing, didn't he? When I lived in MO, I drove past a pond every day on my way to work in KS. One day I stopped and asked if they would sell me a couple of the water lilies that were growing in their pond. The lady laughed and told me to bring a BIG bucket and take as many as I wanted. She said her pond was overgrown with them. At that time, I had sunk a bathtub (shame on me, because it was a claw footed one) into my back patio. I even put a small waterfall in it. I gladly took a few water lilies and was still enjoying them when I moved to Wichita. The lady was right. They are invasive and I had to thin them out every couple of years, even though I had planted them in pots.

I'm with you, though. I have a real love for water lilies.

Terrie said...

love the waterlilies! they are always so exotic looking - you have some great shots!