gardens

Concord Grapes Harvest (Vitis labrusca)

Cluster of organic Concord Grapes (Vitis labrusca) in a Fraser Valley garden.

cluster of organic concord grapes

Cluster of Concord Grapes (Purchase)

The backyard vines had a particularly vigorous crop of Concord Grapes (Vitis labrusca) this year and I made a few photographs of them. The Concord Grape is mostly known for juice, and not a grape that one hears about often in conversations about wines. It can be used for wine, but is much more often used for juice and grape jellies. The Concord Grape was first produced in 1849 by Ephraim Wales Bull in Concord, Massachusetts, which gives a good idea where the name came from. This particular photogenic bunch was growing in the backyard, and hadn’t yet been harassed by hungry wildlife or grazing humans. Normally I just eat a few fresh off the vine when outside, but this year I decided to harvest some.

harvest of organic concord grapes

Concord Grapes after Harvest (Purchase)

I left the majority of the grapes on the vine, and picked what looked to be the ones in the best shape. I had a sizeable bucket by the time I was done, and put about 3/4 of them in the freezer where they are still waiting. My intent is to juice them and then make some jelly, but I’ve done neither before, so we shall see how that goes. The process of using the steam juicer here doesn’t seem difficult. There may be some potential errors to be made in making the jelly though. I’d imagine that not quite getting things right could result in something syrupy instead of jelly-like but we will see.

organic concord grapes in a bucket

Harvested Concord Grapes in a Bucket (Purchase)

For more photos of crops and farm related images, visit my Farms Barns and Crops gallery.

Burnaby’s Deer Lake Park Part 2 – Ceperley House and Century Gardens

Century Gardens, Ceperley House and the Burnaby Art Gallery at Deer Lake Park in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.

burnaby art gallery ceperley house deer lake park

Burnaby Art Gallery (Cepereley House – built in 1911) at Deer Lake Park (Purchase)

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In my previous post “Burnaby’s Deer Lake Park Part 1” I showed some photographs I made while walking around Deer Lake Park. On some of my repeated visits this fall I photographed the area on the northern edge of the park around the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts and the Burnaby Art Gallery. Ceperley House is the name of the mansion that has been home to the Burnaby Art Gallery since the late 1960’s. It is also often called Fairacres Mansion and has been a part of the Canadian Register of Historic Places since 1992. Ceperley House/Fairacres Mansion is a two and a half storey house in the British Arts and Crafts style. The building was built by Grace E. Dixon Ceperley (1863-1917) and Henry Tracy Ceperley (1850- 1929) in 1911. The City of Burnaby purchased the mansion 1966 and converted it into their first art gallery to celebrate Canada’s Centennial of Confederation.

arbor in century gardens at deer lake park and burnaby art gallery

An Arbor and Ceperley House at the Century Gardens in Deer Lake Park (Purchase)

In 1967 Burnaby planted an extensive garden around the gallery called Century Gardens also in celebration of Canada’s Centennial. The photo above shows some of the gardens in late fall, with the plants in fall decline but with the Rhododendrons looking good year round. The Rhododendron is the city of Burnaby’s official flower, and there are a lot of them planted in Century Gardens as a result.

flowering annuals at century gardens with the burnaby art gallery at deer lake park

Burnaby Art Gallery with Begonias and other flowers at the Century Gardens at Deer Lake Park (Purchase)

Century Gardens also is home to a lot of annuals that flower for just one season and are then removed. The first photograph and the one above show a large number of Begonias in the flower beds alongside the more permenant plants. On my second visit to the gardens this fall all of these had been removed by city crews. There are also a lot of Hydrangeas and Japanese Maples in the area.

fall foliage maple leaves century gardens burnaby

Fall foliage colour from various Japanese Maple Trees (Acer japonica) in the Century Gardens at Deer Lake Park (Purchase)

You can view more of my photos from the City of Burnaby in my Burnaby gallery.

Sweet Violets – Viola odorata – Flowers and Leaves

Flowers and leaves of Sweet Violets (Viola odorata) in a backyard garden.

sweet violets viola odorata flowers

Sweet Violets (Viola odorata) Flowering (Purchase)

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   While I enjoy photographing winter scenes I don’t often get up into the mountains in the winter so I tend to shoot a bit less during that time of year. So when the spring flowers begin to emerge I usually wind up in the backyard photographing the first ones I can find. The flowers here are called Sweet Violets, and are aptly named. Even 50 feet away you can still smell the sweet scent coming off the flowers, especially on a warmer, sunny day. I photographed these flowers and leaves in the last days of winter, but it certainly felt like spring. V. odorata (you can tell where that scientific name came from!) goes by a few other names such as English Violet, Garden Violet, Sweet Violet, and Florist’s Violet.

sweet violets viola odorata leaves and flowers

Sweet Violets (Viola odorata) – Leaves and Flowers (Purchase)

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   Due to their powerful scent it is not surprising that Sweet Violets have been used in many fragrances and perfumes. The flowers are also made into Violet Syrup which is then used in such products as scones and marshmallows. The leaves can also be eaten and are also used in perfumes.

You can see more garden photographs in my Garden Photos Gallery.

Peace Arch Provincial Park Monument and Gardens

The Peace Arch as photographed from Peace Arch State Park in Blaine, Washington State, USA looking towards Peace Arch Provincial Park in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.

peace arch border crossing - state park looking towards canada

Peace Arch Border Crossing Looking Towards Canada (Purchase)

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   One of the first outings I made with my new camera was to the White Rock Pier but earlier that day I visited Peace Arch Provincial Park and Peace Arch State Park in British Columbia and Washington State. Parking in the provincial park lot, I walked across the road to photograph the Peace Arch monument and gardens. I’d tried this before a few years ago but there was so much of that orange snow fencing everywhere (lawn was under repair) that working around it for good photographs was not something I ended up attempting. Now there is a perfect lawn and no fencing in sight so it was a great time to revisit this location.

peace aprovincial park looking towards the united states

Peace Arch Provincial Park Looking Towards USA (Purchase)

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   The Peace Arch is a monument completed in 1921 to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the Treaty of Ghent. This treaty ended the War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain. The Canadian and American flags fly on top, with the Canadian side (second photo above ) reading “Brethren Dwelling Together In Unity” and the American side (first photo above) reading “Children Of A Common Mother”. When walking through the arch you can read the words “1814 Open One Hundred Years 1914” and “May These Gates Never Be Closed” on the interior sides. The monument straddles the United States and Canadian border which feels a bit strange as you can just walk all around it. I tend to take my passport with me here, but apparently that isn’t really necessary. Both Peace Arch Provincial Park and Peace Arch State Park are situated between their respective border checkpoints, so you haven’t really crossed the border in an official sense by entering the parks.

gardens at peace arch provincial park

Gardens at Peace Arch Provincial Park (Purchase)

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   Both parks have some gardens planted for visitors, though I’ve found much of the time some of these are empty of plants for some reason. The photograph above shows the pond and gazebo (made from many different species of BC wood) on the Canadian side in Peace Arch Provincial Park.

   The last photograph here is from last year when I made a trip down the Washington coast towards Anacortes. On the way I stopped at Blaine Marine Park in Blaine to see the view of White Rock and photographed the arch from that perspective. You can see the Canadian border crossing (officially the Douglas Border Crossing) beyond the arch.

gardens at peace arch provincial park

Peace Arch Border Crossing from Blaine (Purchase)

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For more photographs of this park visit my Peace Arch Provincial Park Gallery.

Stanley Park’s Air Force Garden of Remembrance

Fall flowers and the wishing well at the Air Force Garden of Remembrance in Stanley Park, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

flowers at air force garden of remembrance in vancouvers stanley park

Air Force Garden of Remembrance (Purchase)

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   One of the many small areas in Vancouver’s Stanley Park that has been on my list to photograph is the Air Force Garden of Remembrance. This is a small area, located just west of the Stanley Park Dining Pavilion and contains a bench, a small garden, a waterfall and a pond. The garden was created in 1948 to commemorate the Air Force personnel who died in World War II. I had previously photographed this in the fall fo 2013, but came back hoping for some nicer leaf colours and a few more of the flowers still around – and I picked the right time this year. The pond’s waterfall was dry, however – likely due to our historic dry summer months in 2015.

wishing well and bench at air force garden of remembrance in vancouvers stanley park

Wishing Well at the Air Force Garden of Remembrance (Purchase)

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   I haven’t tried the starburst/sunburst trick before. It can be a bit of a gimmick in my opinion – you’ll see some photo galleries with the majority of shots with a sunburst in them. Here the sun was right in the way, and I either embraced it in my composition or tried to block it with tree trunks or foliage. Setting the aperture to f/16 and f/18 allowed this effect to work in these photographs. I like the results, but I will probably only use this technique when the sun is getting in the way.

   The photograph below isn’t from the Air Force Garden of Remembrance, but is actually just above the Stanley Park Rose Garden. I liked the way the Douglas Fir trunks lined up, though this certainly doesn’t show a natural forest setting.

silverhope creek fall foliage colours

Fall leaves on the ground in the forest at Stanley Park (Purchase)

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For more of my recent Vancouver area photography please visit my Vancouver Coast & Mountains Gallery.

18 Roses in a Backyard Rose Garden

   This spring I decided to document as many rose varieties I could find in my parent’s rose gardens. I’ve made a few photographs of them in the past, but I figured documenting them by name and variety (accurately) would be a good idea. Most of these roses fall into the categories of Rambler, Climbing, Old Garden, Shrub, Species, and David Austin’s English Roses. This is a sampling of those photographs – you can find all that I’ve made so far in my Roses Gallery.

rosa new dawn

New Dawn (Climbing Roses)

rosa glauca

Rosa glauca – Red Leaved Rose (Species Rose)

eglantine rose

Rosa rubiginosa Eglantine (Species Rose) was said to be Shakespeare’s favourite rose

fimbriata rose

Rosa rugosa – Fimbriata (Old Garden Roses)

celestial roses

Celestial (Old Garden Roses)

Read more

Blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum)

Organic Blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum) in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia.

group of blueberries organic highbush

Ripe Highbush Blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum) in the Fraser Valley of BC (Purchase)

These are some Highbush Blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum) I photographed back in August of 2011. I didn’t get the final editing done until now – but I wish I had processed these when I could actually eat some. Viewing these gave me a craving for some fresh Blueberries! Unfortunate that I will have to wait until around August before I can have some fresh ones again!

The Highbush Blueberry is native to eastern North America but is grown in large numbers here in British Columbia as a food crop. The Highbush Blueberry also goes by the names Blue Huckleberry, Swamp Huckleberry, Swamp Blueberry, and High Blueberry. The bushes can grow to 3.7 meters (12 feet) tall but most farms seem to keep the plants around 1.2m (4ft) and under. The bushes produce a high volume of large blueberries. Highbush Blueberries do not self pollinate, and consequently many farmers have beehives brought in for pollination.

group of blueberries organic highbush

Highbush Blueberry (V. corymbosum) Bush with Ripe Blueberries (Purchase)

More photos of blueberries and various other harvests can be found in my Farms, Barns, and Crops gallery

Focus Stacking ‐ Spring Crocus Flowers

a crocus flower - crocus vernus - emerges from the ground in one of the first signs of spring

Crocus vernus
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   A closeup of two Crocus (Crocus vernus) flowers in the backyard last Spring.

   This photograph was a bit of an experiment. I wanted to have a shallow depth of field that would blur the background. Since these flowers were at different heights, having them both in focus was not going to occur along with a shallow depth of field. I might have been able to get these both in focus with an aperture of f/16 or higher, but this would not have the background bokeh effect I was looking for. So this is a blend of two exposures shot at f/2.8 each focusing on the top of one of the flowers. The two exposures were then merged in Photoshop. I like the effect this created, and it shows that a “focus stack” doesn’t have to have everything in focus through the composition.

   More photos of Spring flowers and gardens can be found in my Garden Photos Gallery.