When Searching For Beauty, There Is No Reason To Be Ugly!

   Back in early spring, Mark bought two packets of seeds that were advertised as "rare black, pink and purple hibiscus".  He knows that I love plants of any sort and thought these gorgeous blooms would add greatly to the garden.  Each packet contained twenty+ seeds and, true to the description, every last seed sprouted within days.  I was elated to say the least.  Sometimes, it can be a bit tricky to get seeds to sprout especially when the seller is not someone that is personally known.  I was pleased, to say the least.  Below is the advertised bloom.  It is truly amazing!

  After the plants grew to about three inches tall, I potted them in individual pots and shared some with Darling Daughter and with my sweet sister-in-laws making sure to describe the blooms that were supposed to soon adorn the plants.  They were as excited as I was!  From there, the plants grew rapidly and needed to be put in larger pots so...I repotted.  The hibiscus plants were now in one-gallon pots.  Imagine how much space the nigh on forty remaining plants took.  They grew...larger.  Well...now.  I was running out of pots so twenty-eight hibiscus plants were planted directly in the garden.  Here, in the Deep South, hibiscus shrubs can overwinter with just a healthy mound of mulch covering them...plus, I still had over a dozen in pots.  

  Imagine my surprise when several of the potted plants started setting buds.  A mere three months after planting the seeds, I was to have blooms on my "rare black, pink and purple" hibiscus!  The plants were guarded carefully so the Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers would not munch the buds.  (Those critters will eat anything and everything!)  The plants were carefully watered and moved around to give them optimal lighting.  The plants were watched with great expectations!  Below is the bloom I got!

  Then...this morning...one gorgeous six-inch bloom opened to greet the morning sun!  Oh, happy day!  Except...wait!  I checked the saved seed pouch and it still said "rare black, pink and purple" hibiscus.  Uh..well..umm...no.  No, no, NO!  There was not the combination of colors mentioned.  While the flower was stunning and I love it, it was not black, pink and purple.  Not even close.  It was white.  WHITE!!! Granted it has a deep red throat, the petals are WHITE!  SNOW WHITE!  The bloom is white!  Alrighty, then.  My plans for a midnight-colored garden were abruptly altered.  My only idea is to have these hibiscuses as stars?  Hopefully, some of the other shrubs will have colors as advertised but, for now, I have white.  Lovely...but not what was sold.  Most likely, some of the other plants will produce the lovely, colored bloom as advertised.  If not, I am not disappointed at all since every seed sprouted and turned into healthy plants.  Stray, "throwback" plants are not unheard of and the seller had a great return policy "if not satisfied".  Will I return or complain?  Nope.  I am tickled pink with the hibiscus plants with whatever color they bloom.  Just because something is different than what is expected, when searching for beauty, there is no reason to be ugly.  I will simply look forward to seeing the blooms and continue sharing the plants no matter what color!  Happiness is how you look at things not in what you think they should be.

All Laid Out In Black and White

  It does not take a whole lot to amuse or interest me.  The most mundane occurrence can pique an interest and while away a good hour or so.  Late this morning, the event that took precedence over planting grape vines was a huge flock of pelicans that came to visit the Bayou.  While there is nothing unusual about pelicans and bayous, these just happen to be white pelicans.  White pelicans are visitors here.  They are not permanent residents like their cousins, the brown pelicans.  White ones are a reason to quit work, head to the pier and take a few photographs.  

  This mornings' scoop of pelicans was larger than the normal four or five of years past.  Twenty four birds came!  This was cause for elation!  As I was trying to take as many pictures as I could, I began to notice other birds gathering.  Dozens of cormorants soon joined the pelicans.  The mix of black cormorants and white pelicans made me giggle...it was all there in black and white.

  I am not sure what triggered the memory but Pop always used that term to describe something that was quite simple.  "It was all laid out in black and white."  I always took it to mean that it was as simple as reading something.  It was a done deed if it was written in black ink on white paper.  My pelicans and cormorants were nothing of the sort but the term still seemed to be adequate.  

  My photo shoot came to an abrupt end when I remembered the grape vine roots that were laid bare in the beaming sun.  Oops, better get those things in the ground!  Goodbye, birds!  Hopefully, you will hang around for a while!

Me and my Shadow?

  A lovely pair of friends visited the pier...a dark one and a white one. Since I am not absolutely sure about the identity of the dark one, it is possible that it is a dark phase of the lighter one.  The bill shape makes me think these are Reddish Egrets. These birds can have a morph stage where one is dark while the other is snowy white.  I am thinking this is what is happening here but with the lighting, it is hard to identify the birds.  Also, with only being able to see the back of the darker of the two, I am at a huge disadvantage!  Same type of bird but two different stages?  Who knows but, still, they seem to be best friends.  

  Back a few years ago, a similar pair visited the pier and hung around for quite some time.  I could never get near enough to the birds to identify them either.  Whether this is the same pair, once again, I cannot be certain.  I do know that both pairs have been rather skittish about my presence.  This is unusual as the other egrets and herons have no qualms about even eating from my hand.  Perhaps these birds are migratory and are not true denizens of the Bayou.  This would explain their uneasiness toward humans.

  Each time I have photographed the pairs of birds, I get tickled.  Both are always standing on one leg!  I know this is a common practice among egrets and herons but it seems strange when seeing two remarkably different birds in the same pose.  Had the birds both been facing the same direction, it would have almost been like the darker one was the shadow of the white one.  Or, perhaps, I am just easily amused. Regardless, I am glad the birds came for a visit!