I have been trying to get reacquainted with my macro lens, and more acquainted with the various plants and trees on the ranch – so I figured that doing some nature photography right here in the back yard would be a great way to achieve both.  I’ve posted some of my favorites here.

This flower is popping up all over Bennett Valley right now.  We don’t have very many, but maybe it’s not too late to hope for more.  Someone told me they’re known as pink ladies or naked ladies – naked because there is only a bloom and no foliage.

We are still trying to learn about the different types of Oak trees.  This one has lots of acorns, most of our other oaks don’t appear to have acorns, at least not right now.

We have a lot of Oleander along one side of the property.  Seems like people either love it or hate it, although I am probably more ambivalent – it does make a nice privacy screen, but its also toxic to animals.

There are two sets of Maple trees at the front of the house, which we believe to be the “Autumn Flame” variety.  I was very excited to see that they are already beginning to turn, and I’m really looking forward to some spectacular colors if they live up to their name.

We have one pine tree, which is struggling a bit.  We are in the process of removing the ivy which has been smothering it – we’ve pulled the ivy down almost to the base but still have a lot of work to do at ground level.  The pine has lots of little pine cones right now.

Finally, I spent a lot of time getting very close to the moss and lichen growing on some of the other Oak trees and some logs on the ground.

Does anyone know what, exactly, is growing on the log in the above shot?

That’s it for now. Next week we should have a post about our septic system replacement!