Some Plant Life
July 31, 2022
Here some photographs of plants—and one animal—taken in the last few weeks, all in Oberlin.
1 These hens and chicks are growing in the Courtyard Garden. Until I saw these, I didn’t know that hens and chicks came in any colors besides a rather uninteresting green.
2 Spiders must have visited these hens and chicks some time before the garden was watered.
3 The flowers of hens and chicks are small. Blowing up a photograph of them lets you see them better.
4 Hens and chicks are sedums. So are the Courtyard Garden plant at the left in the photograph (with its yellow flowers) and the plant at the right (with its purple flowers). In the middle is a flowering Ice Plant.
5 Nearby Heiser Pond is home to many white water lilies.
6 The water lilies in the Courtyard Garden are pink.
7 Here’s a closer look at one of them.
8 A friend tells me this is a Blue Dasher dragonfly. I was grateful that he stopped dashing around the Courtyard Garden pool long enough for me to take his portrait.
9 Is there any wonder that this Courtyard Garden denison is called a Buttonbush?
10 I learned just last night that Marsh Mallows were planted on purpose in our neighborhood. They are so abundant that I thought they were wildflowers. These insects seem to find them good to eat.
11 The Marsh Mallows have many close associates around Heiser Pond. These are Swamp Milkweed.
12 I know these Cardinal flowers were planted on purpose because I talked with the man who planted them a few days ago.
13 This Courtyard Garden resident is a Cholla cactus, a member of the Opuntia genus, as is the Prickly Pear.
14 Next to a downtown Oberlin parking lot, I found Pepperwort.
15 And next to the Pepperwort I found a dried mystery plant.
Romancing Reality 
Wonderful series, Linda! I like the gentleness in the last one; due to the colors and the movements. 🙂
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July 31, 2022 at 2:57 AM
Thank you, Harrie. I wonder what that plant looked like with leaves and flowers. I doubt I would have liked it as well as I like it gone to seed.
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July 31, 2022 at 9:20 PM
Very very beautiful series Linda!
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July 31, 2022 at 5:09 AM
Thanks, Jag. I think I have given in to photographing flowers.
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July 31, 2022 at 9:22 PM
The succulents in the first picture look like they embody the Fibonacci numbers. Regarding #9: nowadays we think of buttons as round and flat, whereas in the 19th century buttons could be spherical.
Photographically speaking, backlit chollas, as in #13, often make good subjects. Water drops on plants, as in #2, are a photographer’s friend.
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July 31, 2022 at 9:29 AM
I know that Sunflower seed heads display the Fibonacci sequence, but I don’t know whether Hens and Chicks do. . . . I have had a few spherical buttons even in my life. I think water in any form is my friend when it comes to making photographs.
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July 31, 2022 at 9:27 PM
Beautiful shots Linda, especially the last one. The focus on #9 is exquisite.
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July 31, 2022 at 10:47 AM
Thank you, Ken. I chimped and deleted many Buttonbush photographs before I got that one. I had to do a lot of cropping in processing the last photo, but I was also pleased with it in the end.
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July 31, 2022 at 9:30 PM
Gorgeous as always! There are plenty photos of water lilies around, but yours stand out.
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July 31, 2022 at 11:34 AM
Thank you, Zettl. Water lilies are beautiful flowers, but our Heiser Pond has far too many of the plants. The leaves cover most of the surface of the pond. Still, I’m glad we can enjoy the flowers.
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July 31, 2022 at 9:35 PM
As usual these images are stunning. I really like the first two. My mom used to grow hens and chicks and I used to wonder why. But I totally get it now. I love them and a lot of other succulents.
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July 31, 2022 at 4:34 PM
And as usual I appreciate your close attention, Clare. Thank you. I like the way Hens and Chicks fill a space, all crowded.
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July 31, 2022 at 9:38 PM
A very nice collection in both the Courtyard and elsewhere, Linda. You fooled me as I was expecting an animal but got an insect. I prefer the insect. 🙂
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July 31, 2022 at 7:56 PM
Thanks, Steve, but I must say: Insects are animals. 🙂 (So are frogs . . .)
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July 31, 2022 at 9:41 PM
The mystery plant may be my favorite but what I like most here is the variety – from plants that live in water to a cactus! If you hadn’t explained what was going on in #2 I’m not sure I would have figured it out and it still took me a minute. Cool! The lotus flowers are beautiful, of course, and the Buttonbush photo is very nice – it ain’t easy to put so many disparate shapes in a frame and make it work. 🙂 I remember a Buttonbush at a park in Staten Island but I can’t find a photo, too bad. I love the Swamp milkweed and Mallow together – delicious! Here’s to dashing Dashers! Not prancing Prancers….
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July 31, 2022 at 9:08 PM
Thanks, Lynn. The Buttonbush photo took judicious cropping, but I’m glad you like the final version. I was surprised to find so many different wildflowers mixed in with the Marsh Mallows. I have photographed this pond more often in the winter. Now I know why there is so much variety in the dried weeds then. 😉
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August 1, 2022 at 10:05 AM
And the next task is to figure out what winter stalk belongs to what summer flower…maybe not…
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August 1, 2022 at 4:27 PM
No, I actually thought about that. Not sure I can keep everything straight, though. And I am not going to spend my time making a map.
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August 3, 2022 at 7:33 PM
Another beautiful collection, Linda. The colors and focus are so well done in each one. The last one though is my favorite. All those curving culms give a real dynamic feeling of motion…and of course I like the muted color.
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August 5, 2022 at 7:40 PM
Interesting. I seem to be anonymous now! It is really Mic.
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August 5, 2022 at 7:49 PM
Ah, that has happened to me, too. Thank you for your nice comments, Mic. Even David doesn’t know what the plant in the last photograph is. He needs to see the leaves, which are long gone. If I remember, in the spring I’ll go back to where I found it and see what other plant is growing near the Pepperworts. As I told Harrie, I’m sure it won’t be as interesting to me as this dried version.
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August 5, 2022 at 9:59 PM