Lotsa purple! Siberian irises, Columbine and Spiderwort

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Siberian iris

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

May is one of my favorite months in the garden because it’s iris time!

Daffodils!

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Nikon D850 / Nikkor 105mm micro

Tulip ‘Lady Jane’

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Nikon D850, Nikkor 105mm micro

Tulips

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Nikon D850 with Nikkor 105mm micro lens

Tulip

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

iPhone 12 Pro Max with Camera+ 2 app in macro mode

 

My 2022 Global Stamp Debuts!

Today’s the day!

It’s the first day of issue of the 2022 Global Stamp (with my photo of an African daisy) in Kansas City, MO.

Look for it at your local post office, or you can order online here:

https://store.usps.com/store/results?Ntt=african%20daisy…

This round Global stamp can be used to mail a one-ounce letter to any country to which First-Class Mail International® service is available. As with all Global stamps, this stamp will have a postage value equivalent to the price of the single-piece First-Class Mail International first-ounce machinable letter in effect at the time of use.

Global Forever® Stamp for 2022!

The USPS issued their very first Global Forever® stamp in 2013 (and it was a globe, appropriately). The USPS sends mail to over 190 countries, and guess whose photo of an African Daisy is going to be on the 2022 Global Forever® stamp? Drum roll, please…..

MINE!

I just got an email informing me that the news of the debut was released to the public today, so I can share the exciting news here!

USPS Reveals More Stamps for 2022: https://about.usps.com/…/0111-usps-reveals-more-stamps…

You can send 1 oz letters or postcards around the world with one Global Forever® stamp, which currently costs $1.30 and never expires, even if the postage price goes up. For large envelopes (flats) up to 15.994 oz, postage prices vary based on weight and destination.

The African Daisy stamp is being issued in self-adhesive panes of 10. This stamp will be released in Kansas City, MO, without a first-day-of-issue ceremony, on March 14. Sometimes the Postal Store will allow you to pre-order stamps from their website. I think they sometimes put issuances on pre-sale 30 days before issuance, so you might check out their site mid-February: usps.com/shop and then go to Stamps and search for African Daisy.

This is the 11th image I’ve had published as a Forever® stamp. Previously, I had images for: Ferns 2014, Water Lilies 2015 and Kenilworth Park (as part of the National Park Service 100th Anniversary 16-stamp panel) in 2016.

Saucy gardener

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Here’s another of my “experimental” portraits of Shawna in her wonderful desert-inspired garden. We wanted to do something sophisticated but contrast the look with those fun gardening boots. Shawna added the (mock)tail for a bit of panache!

Shawna is an accomplished author and a passionate anti-inflammatory wellness lifestyle advocate.

Check out her website here: https://shawnacoronado.com/

Check out her wonderful books here: https://shawnacoronado.com/books/

Check out The Wellness University here: https://shawnacoronado.mykajabi.com/

Stargazer lilies

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Thought I’d play with the black velvet background behind this group of Stargazer lilies blooming in my backyard garden this afternoon. I’ve previously done single blooms (mostly of Bearded irises), but wanted to see what the effect would be for an entire grouping of blooms. I shot this image with my iPhone 12 Pro Max using the Camera+ 2 app in macro mode.

Gladiolus in my garden

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Alliums

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Irises at Green Spring Gardens

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Pocket garden, year #2

And so it begins—my second year of creating the “hanging garden of Babylon,” as Michael calls it. This year I added a lot more punchy color with red and pink polka dot plants and geraniums with colorful leaves. I added an Asparagus fern, coleus, white and green polka dot plants, sweet potato vines in three color variations and several ivies. Stay tuned for the metamorphosis!

Bearded irises galore in my garden (bouquet #2)

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Bearded irises galore in my garden (bouquet #1)

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Japanese Roof Iris

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Nikon D850 / Nikkor 105mm micro

Roof iris ‘Alba’

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

(iPhone 12 Pro Max, Camera+ 2 app in macro mode)

 

Siberian iris with bumblebee

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved. (iPhone 12 Pro Max, Camera+ 2 app in macro mode)

Feed me, Seymour!

This one is, well, um, interesting. It’s got a Little Shop of Horrors “Feed me, Seymour” vibe. I’ll capture it fully unfurled and see if its demeanor changes.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Parrot tulips blooming in my new garden bed

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

 

Bleeding hearts

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved. (iPhone 12 Pro Max, Camera+ 2 app in macro mode)

Parrot tulip blooming in my garden

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved. (iPhone 12 Pro Max, Camera+ 2 app in macro mode)

Grape hyacinth (Muscari) blooming in my garden

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved. (iPhone 12 Pro Max, Camera+ 2 app in macro mode)

African daisy (Osteospermum)

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved. (iPhone 12 Pro Max, Camera+ 2 app in macro mode)

Sprouts

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

As soon as I saw this jumble of sprouted bulbs (still in the bag on the potting bench), I immediately thought of these lyrics by my beloved John Denver:

I want to live I want to grow
I want to see I want to know
I want to share what I can give
I want to be I want to live

I *think* these are iris bulbs. Or very tiny gladiola bulbs. The label was now rendered illegible due to the rain. I ordered them online, and while I planted everything else, I left these on the bench, intending to find a place for them later. Then the rains came. And came. And came. When there wasn’t rain, I watered the garden daily, never seeing these still on the bench. Just now, I glanced over and saw some tall green stalks on the bench. Whaaaaaa? The little bulbs had sprouted; every single one of them! They were poking through the holes in the bag, roots entangling. The roots even went through the bag and had attached themselves to my gardening gloves.

I sat at the patio table and cut them free from the bag and found a home for them in the garden.

Daylily

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved. Nikon D850, Nikkor 105mm micro

 

Rudbeckia

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved. Nikon D850, Nikkor 105mm micro

 

Daylilies

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved. Nikon D850 / Nikkor 105mm micro

Daylily

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved. Nikon D850 / Nikkor 105mm micro