Sunlight.

On a cloudless day, the colors are more vivid.



Every flaw, every weed, every nuance is highlighted. Texture is more visible with hard shadows. Fuzzy becomes apparent.



Red is true.



Orange.



In dappled sunlight, things are fuzzier. Weeds blend with the foliage of other plants making them less recognizable.



Backlighting is useful when photographing dark colors.



In deep shade, the colors are more muted.



Details are clear if you can focus.



But once in a while, the sun breaks through for just a few moments.



It's 57 degrees. The chance of rain has been downgraded to sunny and warm. The high will be in the upper 80s today.

August 16th. Two thousand and nine.

This morning I spent a couple hours in the perennial bed. It is Sunday after all. I pulled all but the largest cosmos. I'm sick of them. I collected lots of seed and tossed the plants into the gully. I'm sure there will be some volunteers next year and I will weed them out of the perennial bed. In place of the cosmos, I dug the agastache from the white bed. There were 6 large clumps. I cut it way back and watered it well.



The Golden Jubilee was deadheaded too. I scattered the seeds all over the area.



I moved a rose campion to the perennial bed too. Lamb's ear got moved to the front bed along the top of the wall. In between, I'll plant dianthus to spill over the wall.

Nicotiana from the white bed also got moved. These are from seeds I've tossed out this summer, I assume. They're tiny and haven't bloomed yet. I pulled the sunflowers near the trellis. Too much rain, too much drought, and the goldfinches have really made a mess of them. Next year I plan to only sow seeds from black oil sunflowers found in bird seed mixes. The goldfinches love them and I like that they have more than 1 flower on each plant.

I watered all the things I've planted this week, the daylilies, the black and blue salvia, all the plants I shoveled into place this morning, and a few odds and ends that looked thirsty. I collected more seeds, pulled some weeds, and shovel pruned other things that have passed their prime. I can't remember now all that I did, but that's no problem.

When I was done, I took my camera with an empty memory card, and walked the entire length of the perennial bed making notes in my head, snapping an image every couple of feet. The images, necessary in late February when I get itchy to be in the garden again, will come in handy as I move things around and plant this year's wintersown seedlings. It's my way of record keeping. Not all of the pictures are pretty. Not all of them are in focus or have great composition. It's utilitarian in purpose and will be viewed over and over again during the winter.

Sunday's picture.



For those interested in the details, here's the August 16, 2009 slideshow. It's 77 degrees with 83% humidity. Cloudy and overcast, they say we've got a 40% chance of afternoon showers. Same forecast for the next 3 days. Off to work.