The subject is “The Gardener’s Intent”.

 In my entry, I am trying to convey what I love most about my  yard and gardens. ~ They are enjoyed. 

 I took the picture earlier this summer and I thought it fit the bill, at least for my garden.  The setting sun gives our fire pit area a spotlight, and the young fire give an extra warmth to the twilight of a beautiful day in one of our favorite parts of our garden. 

  It has come a long way since we moved in three years ago. 

  ~”Summer is the time when one sheds one’s tensions with one’s clothes, and the right kind of day is jeweled balm for the battered spirit.  A few of those days and you can become drunk with the belief that all’s right with the world.  ~Ada Louise Huxtable

Click here to go to the gallery of entries for July
  Visit A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday

Visit Gardening Gone Wild’s Picture This Photo Contest to see the other entries.

Gardening Gone Wild- Picture This

~Plants cry their gratitude for the sun in green joy.  ~Astrid Alauda

The awakening  of this pink peony blosssom being anticipated by one of it’s biggest fans (aside from me, that is).

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action.  ~W.J. Cameron

I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars.~
Walt Whitman

Many really great photos of roses were submitted.  Southern CA garden photojournalist Debra Lee Baldwin had the tough job of  judging the contest.  This is a copy of their post announcing the winner:

Picture This Photo Contest Winner

June 27th, 2009 by Debra Lee Baldwin · 17 Comments

 A big thank you to all who entered and an ovation for your rose photos. Many of our 31 entrants submitted the full allotment of three photos, so I had close to 100 to judge—a daunting yet delightful task.

Our winner Tes seduced me with her tight shot of ‘Hot Cocoa’. I like the way the way sunlight shines through the water drops. Exquisite lighting also emphasizes the translucence of the petals and their felty texture. The lines draw the viewer into the center of the flower, and by illustrating the bloom’s intrinsic geometry, interpret the concept of “rose” in a fresh new way.  Tes, take a bow!

Gardening Gone Wild is hosting their monthly photo contest.  The Subject is Roses.  Weeeeellllll,  I just love roses. 

                                                               The following 3 pictures are my entries.   

   This is the rose in my garden that I think is easily one of the most beautiful roses I have ever seen~ It is a russet-colored floribunda named Hot Cocoa. 

The texture of the petals and the shiny leaves make it stand out from other roses.I watched the flowers unfurl.  When it is was a bud – I was sure that it was the prettiest thing I had ever seen, then it opened and it was even more pretty, now when it’s in full bloom, it is even more beautiful.  The color is extraordinary, and I also really love the name~ how could a rose named after chocolate be anything but delicious?

 I took this picture last week at Cayuga Lake.  I couldn’t resist photographing them, they looked very old fashioned and romantic.

      You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses”~ Ziggy