Thanks for stopping by

13 Kigali, by enclos*ure, June '14. . . to all my readers in 2014.

Our garden in June (the photo above, as well).
Our garden in June (the photo above, as well).

I’m also happy to welcome some new visitors thanks to Fine Gardening’s blog, Garden Photo of the Day, which has featured our Kigali garden for December 30 and 31 (and New Year’s Day).

This morning in our garden. The sky is overcast; the rainy season  has not quite come to an end.
This morning in our garden. The sky is overcast; the rainy season has not quite come to an end.

We’re down to our last week in Rwanda; next stop: Germany — where it’s been snowing for the last four days.

Happy New Year to you all!

The winter garden: under the palms

Hotel dining room, Library of CongressHotel Seneca, Pompeian room, Rochester, N.Y.,” between 1908 and 1915, by Detroit Publishing Co., via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

More winter gardens are here.

The Sunday porch: geraniums

More properly called by their genus name, Pelargonium.

Porch, Chamisal, New Mexico, Library of CongressAn enclosed front porch in Chamisal, New Mexico, July 1940, by Russell Lee, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Lee and his wife, Jean, spent two weeks in Chamisal and Peñasco documenting the lives of the towns’ Hispanic small farmers and ranchers. Both communities are located along the High Road to Taos, which begins in Santa Fe and crosses the high desert and forest of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

The area was the setting for the 1974 book  The Milagro Beanfield War  as well as the filming location for the 1988 movie of the same name.  Milagro was the first of a trilogy of novels by John Nichols about north central New Mexico.  The second and third books were set in the fictional town of Chamisaville.

Frozen in vines

C. Highsmith cabin with vines, LoC 2Monroe County, Alabama, May 2010, by Carol M. Highsmith, via The George F. Landegger Collection of Alabama Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

The infrared treatment of the late spring scene gives it a wintery appearance.

Highsmith has specialized in photographing America’s architectural heritage. She has donated the rights to her work to the Library of Congress for copyright free access for all.

The winter garden: red cactus

Red Cactus, Preus Museum on flickrRød kaktus,” between late 19th c. and 1933, by Inga Breder, via Preus Museum Commons on flickr.

The small Schlumbergera genus of plants is native to the coastal mountains  of southeast Brazil.  By 1860, a number of its cultivars were being sold in England for indoor winter color.

Today, they are commonly called Christmas cactus — or Cacto de Navidad (Spanish), Cactus de Noël (French), and Weihnachtskaktus (German).

The photographer, Inga Breder, was born in Bodø, Norway, in 1855. As an adult she lived in Oslo and became an amateur photographer, competing in and judging competitions.

Merry Christmas!