Harry & David Garden

This stunning and incredibly beautiful lilac rose was at the Harry & David Gardens in Medford, Oregon. These gardens are vast, and even in October, there were flowers everywhere. Truly, it would have taken me at least several long days to appreciate everything there which I wanted to photograph. Overwhelming was definitely the word of the day! I'd heard that the Harry & David gardens were overflowing with countless varieties of roses, but though I felt I was prepared, the sheer number and variety of roses completely blew me away!! Every color you could imagine--even variegated--so many types and sizes, and so many in bloom! It was an incredible show to behold, and I look forward to going back many times! And, by the way, this gorgeous blossom was matched with a wonderful and richly sweet fragrance. PURE HEAVEN! :D Explored on January 13, 2015. Highest placement, #3.

(By the way, the new 10-Week Photo Projects has begun--as of January 5--and it's all about TREES! Please feel free to join in the fun! 10-Week Photo Projects: Trees ) Some months ago, Steve and I visited the gardens of a local company, Harry & David, and they have an incredible rose and flower garden. I got zillions of pictures and would like to post a few as I find the time to do so... This is a Blanket Flower. These incredibly gorgeous blossoms are, if you can believe it, WILDFLOWERS. Once these perennial beauties are established in your garden, they will grow with little care, as they are hardy and drought-resistant. I love them, and would love them in my garden!! Sadly, the seeds that I planted did not sprout, so I'll have to try again this year. For now, behold the majesty of the Blanket Flower, photographed at the Harry & David Gardens. Explored on January 19, 2015. Highest placement, #7.

Such rich and luscious colors in all the roses at the Harry & David garden, it was hard for me to decide what flowers to take pictures of! This one had such a lovely shape to go with its bright orange-pink color...how could I resist? I added a bit of texture to the background, which helped to pop this blossom out of the picture. Explored on ipernity on January 20, 2015. Highest placement, #3.

If you can believe it, there were countless blossoms like this everywhere I turned on my visit to the Harry & David garden. This was also my first opportunity to visit a garden with such a vast array of roses to appreciate. Every single plant seemed special and covered with extra beautiful flowers. My question is: do you think anyone could take a bad picture of a blossom that looks like this?! :) It is such a treat to be able to share some of these images! Explored on January 26, 2015. Highest placement, #4.

Everyone knows that roses come in lots of beautiful colors. In fact, roses can be found in stunning bi-colors...but have you ever seen a MOTTLED one? Steve and I live near the Harry and David company here in Medford--it's a large specialty food shop--and they have a sprawling garden that's open to the public. The highlight of their flora are their seemingly countless varieties of roses. They literally go on for acres! It is a mind-numbing experience when going on a photo shoot because there are unending perfect subjects to photograph. So when I found myself staring in disbelief at a mottled rose, I could hardly believe my eyes! Turns out there are at least a couple-dozen mottled rose plants there to appreciate, and I DID! :)

Now here is a flower that will hit you in the face with WOW!!! About a year and a half ago, Steve and I visited the Harry & David garden nearby in southern Medford. They are known for their roses so I wasn't prepared to see this magnificent stalk of flowers that was nearly as tall as I was! What a treat!

The Harry & David rose garden is brimming with flowers of every color and shade. I loved the multiple hues in this one, which ranges from red to almost yellow! If you look at the sepals (the odd things hanging down from the bud), you'll notice they appear to be fuzzy, and in fact are quite soft to the touch. Sepals protect the bud as its forming, and then fold back to expose the bud when it's ready to open! :)

Wandering around the Harry & David public garden, I had the opportunity to look for the little things that caught my eye. It had rained the night before and added twinkling droplets to everything which added to the beauty. I noticed this blade of grass complete with a single droplet of water poised to roll off to the ground below and it reminds me of a single tear.

These rose leaves are showing the signs of a highly-contagious disease called Black Spot. This fungus causes leave to yellow and fall off the bush and weakens it. Although it's a horrible thing to find on rose leaves, it makes for beautiful images with the variegated colors and spotting. It was unfortunate to see that Black Spot was running rampant throughout the Harry & David garden and the probably reason many bushes had been removed over the past year.

Would you just LOOK at this rose? Is it not the belle of the ball?! On top of that, the rain from the night before left behind droplets to add to the beauty of this incredibly lovely flower. What a treat to have the time to take many pictures of these blossoms at the Harry & David garden last spring! :)

This tiny beauty look almost artificially colored to me because the colors are so outrageous! Steve and I found groups of these Violas scattered here and there among the grounds at the Harry & David public garden. Getting a proper image required a lot of looking around for just the right arrangement of fore- and background flowers, but was a grand challenge that I thoroughly enjoyed. Then, I needed to scrunch down very low to get the perspective right. In the end, I got just what I was hoping for!

A lovely sherbet-colored rose from the Harry & David garden. You can see why I couldn't stop taking pictures of these! Totally stunning! Exlpored on November 26, 2016. Highest placement unknown.

There are ponds at the Harry & David garden, and they attract lots of waterfowl. We were so amused to find this goose on top of one of the buildings, peering down at the parking lot below. Such an odd sight!

The other day I posted a picture of a pair of these lovely little flowers. Here is another picture I captured which turned out nicely! If you look carefully, you can see the pool of water in the center from the rain the night before. :)

While visiting the Harry & David public garden about 6 months ago, I noticed some rose petals which had recently fallen to the ground. They didn't look like anything special, so I gave myself a challenge: find a cool image. I stared at the petals and took pictures from many angles until I finally zeroed in on this, which was a planned crop from a larger image. It would turn out to be one of my very favorite pictures from my visit! There are many reasons why it hits the spot for me, and I hope you like it too! :)

I am always on the lookout for anything unusual, so I was overjoyed when I found this rose at the Harry & David garden! Explored! :)

The leaves of roses look like beautiful green hearts with maroon-accented teeth. Add rain drops and the sight is even more lovely!

[+1 in a note above] Foxgloves are pretty outrageous, aren't they? There is so much to look at...they are very tall, and the stalk they grow on is covered with individual blossoms. The blossoms themselves are absolutely stunning and truly deserve a spotlight to be appreciated alone. Just look at this masterpiece of nature! AMAZING! With lovely shades of pink and magenta with beautiful maroon spots circled by white. Hairs can be seen everywhere, and there are interesting details inside as well. What a sight. :) (you can see the whole flower in a note above)