A Few Gems from the Herb Garden at Cornell Botanical Garden

 
Finally squeezed in a morning visit to a favorite garden in Ithaca.  The gardeners were busy watering to counter the extremely dry summer.  I was not disappointed.  In no particular order, here are my best results.

Everyone loves the sight of a huge black swallowtail.

Here's a secret.   Don't chase the butterfly. Move a chair close to flowers it's been visiting and let it come to you.  I was about 5 feet from it.

Be selective in choosing among the many flowers available.  Picked this because of the  two large leaves- one in upper left corner and the other at the lower center. There was no ID tag that made sense; likely an anemone.

 Next is just a blaze of color-rich yellow and red.

 

Always love Black-eyed Susans.  I see then on my bike route, thriving in a weed field.  It's brush- hogged each summer, and they just come back.   I chose this position because of the deep purple in back.

 

 Finally, a simple composition with a single delicately colored Zinnia touched by some rich blues.

I was so excited to finally get a photo outing, that I sort of lost my concentration and forgot a few details in the plan.  When I stepped out of my RAV4 at the garden, I was still wearing my bedroom slippers. No one noticed.

Best regards,

 Paul 

Watkins Glen Gorge: Change is Inevitable

Every visit over many decades to the  gorge at Watkins Glen has revealed something new to see.  I've been slow to visit this year until a hard reality arrived.  In a few days,  the  main access will be closed for the rest of 2025 while the park  replaces the original entrance bridge. Big job!  Finally motivated,  I was up at dawn to find the morning light at the entrance from the state highway golden.  

The new gardens at entrance took a few years to become established.   Enjoyable, but there was on my part an urgency to get into the gorge before the majority of the visitors arrived.  As I approached the entrance bridge, the  sun's alignment cast my long shadow directed towards the bridge.   I love the statue acknowledging the native Haudenosaunee peoples.

 The stream's water was capturing the golden light.  Have to be quick to capture the colors.

 Continuing up the trail, it is wise to look to the sides for those often missed little "treats" like these brilliant flowers.

 But, my primary goal is always reaching my favorite waterfalls.  The path climbs along the line of drops in the stream with a smaller wisp of water arching over the trail before reaching a bridge.  It's always changing with the light and the amount of water.

.... what is the new bridge design?

 

Will take a while to adjust to the absence of masonry architecture in the ninety year old park.