Succulents and More™

I’m in southern Germany for a few weeks to visit family. I don’t have any plans to travel within Germany, instead sticking close to the Nuremberg area. The weather has been a mix of overcast skies, rain, and brief interludes of sunshine. I haven’t done any “real” photography with my big DSLR, but I carry my phone everywhere I go so I can grab quick snapshots of whatever catches my eye. There’s no theme to the photos below, but you may notice one thing: It’s so green here! California has been plenty green this winter because of all the rain, but not like this. But I want to start off with another color. The countryside around Nuremberg is dotted with expanses of yellow. These are field of rapeseed , grown on a commercial scale for the production of oil (canola oil is a food-grade version of rapeseed oil originally developed in Canada). Rapeseed field Blaze of yellow through the trees Now for a blast of green: Not that I’ve ever been wanted to be a cow, but if I did, I thin...

We're in Victoria, British Columbia this week to visit our older daughter. The timing couldn't have been better. While California is sweltering in a heat wave, with temperatures in Davis above triple digits (close to 40°C), Victoria is in the low to mid-60s (15-18°C). Not only that, we've experienced more rain here in the last three days than we have at home all year! No wonder there's so much green. It's a sight for sore—or should I say dry—eyes. Here are some photos from around Victoria and Salt Spring Island where we spent a couple of days. There's a lot more to come in future posts. Inner Harbour, Victoria Parliament Building and Inner Harbour, Victoria Hornbeam trees ( Carpinus betulus ) on Government Street, Victoria My two favorite gardens in Victoria are Finnerty Gardens on the campus of the University of Victoria and Abkhazi Garden. We visited both early in our trip. I'll have separate posts in the weeks to come. Finnerty Gardens Finnerty Gardens Rh...