In the Garden On A Foggy Morning

I woke while it was still dark and went to my office after letting BreeBree and James Mason out to go potty and back in again, trying to keep the house quiet and let RH sleep in for once. I got lost in Instagram far too long--and I don't even post there.

When I got up to open the curtains and realized there was fog I grabbed the camera and went outside. 

As always when I open the kitchen door, I looked at the pond but it was lost in the mist, as you can see below, beyond the grass.

The garden seemed more colorful this foggy morning, and I wondered if it was because my eyes were still dilated from my ophthalmologist visit the day before when colors did seem more vibrant.

To my surprise when I stopped to google this to see if there was a possible scientific reason for it I discovered that there was.

While water vapor is colorless, the condensed water droplets that form and allow us to see fog can highlight the colors of their surroundings, taking the rich colors in view and fading them to the background like a natural gradient.

 May 5, 2009 post, colourlovers.com/blog

So that explains why these pictures look as if I had enhanced the colors but haven't as shown by these zinnias planted by the cupola.

The foggy conditions really show up the marvelous colors and crusty texture on the cupola roof. RH saved this piece for a focal point in our new garden when we moved here, and it covers an old well. I love looking out at this cupola from my kitchen window.

I don't think I ever showed you the second terrace that RH finished this summer, with the help of a grandson, made out of old concrete roofing tiles. I love how it turned out.

RH left a triangle area of sand in the corner for the birds to sand bathe in. Our thrasher family love it. And between it and the small first terrace that RH and our son made the second spring we were here is a flower bed that got planted to caladiums last summer. Like many garden projects this summer, it never happened but we'll plant it full of spring bulbs soon. 

The green garden chairs are all askew, pushed back for the sprinkler that RH has run every evening in our record-breaking heat.

The large canna musifolia hasn't suffered from the heat. It came back this year and again is huge.

Another Japanese maple waits in its pot for RH to plant when cooler and wetter weather comes, the fourth Japanese maple he's planted since we moved here nearly three years ago. He got this $100 beauty for $11 in the September tree sales.

Hi James Mason, come on down and join me in the garden! The new steps here are especially for James Mason who has IVDD and needs easier access up and down.

The kitchen porch looks a little messy by summer's end. A tarp covers a piece of furniture that will go underneath the big kitchen window outside that is RH's grilling area, but first it needs to be weatherized. And a cherry tomato plant has sprawled over the railing onto the porch. We have to watch our steps or squash little green tomatoes.

This little path leads back to the HVAC unit past pots of herbs. A gate keeps my babies from digging in the area. See the little maple tree growing up by the fence? RH always digs up maple seedlings and transplants them in the fall but will have to cut down this little guy. He grew up outside the fence but then grew inside so it will be impossible to move. I've asked RH to at least wait until after it puts on its autumn coat.

Let me show you a little beauty we got this summer, a garden obelisk sundial that sits on a favorite rock by our cupola bed.

Thank you for coming to my little foggy morning garden tour. Would you do me a favor and look at the plant growing in front of the zinnias? It has the prettiest leaves but so far no sign of flower buds.

Does anyone know what this volunteer plant is? We used to feed the birds in this area before moving their feeding station outside the garden fence so perhaps it's something that was in birdseed?

BreeBree doesn't have a clue.

And James Mason couldn't care less.

Had any foggy mornings in your garden lately?