Tuesday, June 24, 2014

June is Bustin' Out All Over!

My husband and I visited Natchez yesterday, and I'd like to share some of the pictures I captured while we were there. Natchez is beautiful year-round, but is especially lovely in June!
  
I hope you will join me next time to see some of the other pictures I captured during our visit ... like this old treasure.  It has an interesting story, too!


Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Claiborne County Lotus Flowers


There is a lake in Claiborne County, Mississippi, a few miles from Port Gibson and just a hop, skip, and a jump from the Grand Gulf Nuclear facility, which is home to some of the most beautiful Lotus flowers I've ever seen.  My husband and I were "daytripping" yesterday and detoured to see if the flowers were blooming.  You can imagine my delight when we rounded a bend and saw this sight ...

 
 
There is a narrow, rough and rocky dirt road circling the lake, and as we drove around it, I was in my glory snapping pictures along the way.  
 
The blossoms are exquisite, of course, but the lotus pads and buds have a delicate beauty all their own. 
  
 
 
I like the shadows of the blossom on the lotus pads in this next picture ...
 

I'm so glad we decided to detour off the beaten path, and I was able to capture these beautiful works of art growing in a pond, practically in the shadow of an ominous-looking cooling tower for a nuclear energy facility.

Sometimes the detours taken during a journey can be the best part of the trip.  I think that's true in Life, too.


Thursday, June 12, 2014

You Get a Line, I'll Get a Pole ...

Remember this song?

"You get a line, I'll get a pole, honey,
You get a line, I'll get a pole, babe!
You get a line, I'll get a pole,
We'll go down to the crawdad hole,
Honey, oh, baby, mine."

I was born and raised in Louisiana, but I've never seen crawdad holes as large as the ones I recently saw in Delta, Louisiana. The community of Delta is just across the Mississippi River bridge from Vicksburg, and I drove to Delta on a photo shoot to capture pictures of the Connecticut State Civil War memorial, which is located on a plot of land belonging to the Vicksburg National Military Park.

Here is a collage of the pictures I captured of the monument ...


After I finished taking the pictures, I noticed the crawdad holes. They were in a low area near the monument, and it looked like a little crawdad village. 

I couldn’t believe how BIG they were!  The tallest ones were probably 8" to 10" tall.
There were cute little baby ones, too.

I wanted to poke them with a stick, but I was afraid I'd disturb the GIANT crawdads lurking inside them, probably just waiting to pounce!

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Bear's Breeches

Back in the early Spring we redid an area in our courtyard, and our landscape contractor introduced me to a pretty little plant with a cute name -- Bear's Breeches (also known as Acanthus).


We planted two in a flower bed beside our water feature, and they did well for a few weeks ... until warm weather arrived, at least.  They just couldn't take the midday and afternoon sun, so we moved them to a shadier location, which they liked much better.

Unfortunately, a mole or some other little burrowing critter found the leaves on one of them to be quite tasty, and the plant didn't survive his nibblings.  Happily, though, the other plant is alive and well and now has a spiky little bud in the middle of it ...


The following picture, which I borrowed from a nursery website (Munchkin Nursery), shows an Acanthus bloom.  You can click on the link to visit Munchkin Nursery (love their name!) and read a cute description of Bear's Breeches.

I also found the following information at a Better Homes and Gardens website:
Bear's Breeches (Acanthus)
A majestic plant, Bear's Breeches is like a living sculpture in the garden. It offers sturdy spires of white or pink blooms with papery purple bracts that make a dramatic statement, as does the rich-green, spiny-looking foliage.
The plants tolerate poor, dry soil once established but need regular moisture to get started. In well-drained soil bear's breeches can spread to become a large colony, but it is not invasive.

Light:            Part Sun, Sun
Type:            Perennial
Height:          From 1 to 8 feet
Width:           2-4 feet wide
Flower Color:  Blue, Pink, White
Seasonal Features:  Spring and Summer Blooms
                             Drought Tolerant

Special Features:     Cut Flowers, Good for Containers

Zones: 4-10


I plan to capture pictures of my acanthus as the bud grows, which you can almost see each day ... and, hopefully, I'll be able to share a picture of a flower soon, too!



Monday, June 9, 2014

Cedar Hill Lagniappe


Just a little lagniappe from a walk I took this morning  in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Vicksburg.


  Hope your days are as lovely!

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Odds and Ends

[Blog Post No. 1203]

Just thought I'd share a few pictures today ... a few "odds and ends" photos I've captured of things that caught my eye when I was out and about with my camera. If you are a regular visitor to Southern Lagniappe, you may have seen some of these, but I think there are a few I haven't shared in previous posts. I hope you like them!

Lettuce in my Daddy's Fall Garden
Weights
Cardinal in Bay Magnolia Tree
Radishes
Orchids
Pine Seed Pod
Profile of a Sunflower
Leaves in Water
Madonna
Church Bell
Window Vines
Our Daily Bread
Blue Cottage in Natchez, Mississippi
Mama-to-Be Cat

And last, but not least ...
Bamboo Forest
Avery Island, Louisiana

In one of my favorite poems, Edgar Guest wrote: "In photographs only can yesterdays live" ... and as I shared these pictures today, I enjoyed reliving the fond memories of the "when, where, and how" I captured them.