Natural yard art

In the beginning of the week, Pam showed you some interesting yard art she found in Downey. Well, on my ride home I came across this tall forest of sunflowers that someone used to decorate their front yard.

I have always loved sunflowers with their bright yellow petals and large seed area. They really do look like a sun.



And I love their seeds.

"A sunflower field is like a sky with a thousand suns.”
~ Corina Abdulahm-Negura

Making your own garden

Stacy, the lady that lives in this house, told me that the yard used to be grass all the way up to the house. One day earlier this year she thought, "Maybe I can plant a garden in my front yard." So she cleared away the grass from in front of the house, put a rock fence to divide the lawn from the garden, and planted some flower seeds. She had some sunflower seeds in the house and thought, "I wonder if these will grow."

A few weeks after she got her answer to both questions. Yes, she could have a beautiful garden in her front yard, and sunflower plants will grow from those seeds.

Have you planted anything to make your life more beautiful lately?

Sharing the beauty

On our walk this morning around the Orange Estates, we found this beautiful flower blooming in a neighbor's front yard. This is one of the many reasons I love walking in this area of Downey. Thank you neighbor for having this in the front to share with all of us!

Sunflower sister

My post this past Tuesday was of a sunflower. Another member of the sunflower family is the Gerbera Daisy. These are beautiful, hearty flowers that thrive in sun. In the wild, they are found in Africa, South America, and Asia. As one of the most popular flowers in the world, Gerberas are known to represent cheerfulness and purity.

This particular daisy is one I have nurtured this summer. It has continued to bloom despite the crazy heat we've had in the past week. Working in my garden is something I find relaxing. It also provides  a creative outlet that I enjoy. There is such true pleasure in watching flowers grow and bloom.

"I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers."
~Claude Monet

Sunflower

I love sunflowers!

I came across this one as the sun was going down. It was in a flower bed in a car lot across from IHOP... go figure. Still, it was a beautiful plant and looked amazing in the light of the ending day.

"Light-enchanted sunflower, thou
Who gazest ever true and tender
On the sun's revolving splendour."
~ Pedro Calderon de la Barca

The view from here

This past weekend I went exploring along the Rio San Gabriel River. I was surprised to find all the trees, grasses, sunflowers - and a pretty nice view of the foothills.

It has been fun to discover so many different  areas of beauty around our city.

Palm-metal

Clearly, we are currently obsessed with yard art. As I passed this house today, I realized that not only the beautiful and huge sun flowers were metal, but also the palm trees! I had to share these. But, as I drove on, I realized someone had come out front and was watching me drive away. Of course, I had to go back. I explained I was taking pictures for our city blog and loved her metal yard art. Then she insisted I had to see her back yard as well, because they had animals too.




Her yard was beautiful, filled with a variety of metal "wildlife". It was at this point I realized we had already posted one of her metal animals. See the monkey from a previous post. Once again, I realize what a small world we live in.