Not Dandelions

Because we only moved into this apartment a year ago, the backyard is full of mystery plants. Most of the unidentified plants are weeds, which have regrettably turned one side of the area into a wasteland despite my continuous efforts to uproot most of the plant life.

It hasn’t been hard removing the majority of the weeds since the yard is covered with a layer of wood chips that prevent them from rooting deeply, but there are a couple of tenacious weeds that have dug their roots in deep.

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Two of the “weeds” are nearly two feet tall and refused to come out of the ground no matter how hard I pulled. When these plants flowered and then sprouted giant puffballs, I assumed they were some kind of enormous dandelion, but a little research has revealed that they aren’t dandelions at all, but salsify plants.

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Apparently the salsify has edible but bitter roots that taste like parsnips. While I have no intention of eating them, I did appreciate the dandelion-like head of the plant, which photographs nicely.

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As a side note, we saw the most bizarre behavior with a few little birds and these plants – the birds would hop onto the branch near the puffball and bounce up and down like it was some kind of fantastic salsify trampoline.

Not sure what they were doing, but since those seeds disperse just like dandelion seeds, I’m hoping we don’t end up with a yard full of birdie jungle gyms later this year.

A few backyard macros

My little backyard garden withered away a bit during the winter months, but now it’s back in full force, weeds included. While I yanked out quite a few unwanted plants a couple of weeks ago, I couldn’t get rid of some deep rooted dandelions, one of which flowered yesterday.

There was a perfect puff that I was excited to get a picture of (my macro lens might not be good for much, but it takes one hell of a dandelion shot), but of course as soon as I went outside with my camera the wind picked up and scattered the seeds into the sky. This was the only picture I got:

dandelion

While I hope that the two dandelions in my yard aren’t going to sprout an army of impossible-to-uproot plants, they’ve been an unexpected source of fun. This weekend two little red-chested birds kept fluttering down and bouncing on the dandelion stems, sending puffs of seeds floating everywhere. I’m not sure what purpose this served, but it sure looked cute.

I took a few other macro shots while I was outside yesterday, of my fuchsia, strawberry flowers, and pineapple mint (easily the best mint there is!):

strawberry flowers

fuchsia

pineapple mint

strawberry flower

Duck, Duck, Ostrich

When my mom visited in October, we hit up the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. John and I had been there before, but it’s always fun. It’s part zoo and part museum, with a lot of neat stuff. This time around, they had baby ostriches!

California Academy of Sciences

California Academy of Sciences

I never pass up an opportunity to photograph a butterfly.

California Academy of Sciences

California Academy of Sciences

California Academy of Sciences

See the whole set here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pixelcat/sets/72157632123639659/with/8227693517/

Japanese Tea Garden

We visited the Japanese Tea Garden one week before I headed off to San Diego in August. I always forget how cold it gets in San Francisco, no matter how many times I go. It was freezing, but the garden was a lot of fun. There were quite a few trees there that had been around since the 1850’s, which was impressive. Some of the photos I took don’t even look like they came from a real place.

japanese tea garden

japanese tea garden

I loved all the sprites that were scattered around, including this deer.

japanese tea garden

See the full set here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pixelcat/sets/72157631041896288/with/7770609624/