GardenBook

It is my custom to go out on Thanksgiving morning at sunrise to shoot fall vineyard shots. I ended up at the river instead, and had a fine time shooting reflections in the water. On the way home I stopped downtown , took a few more riverside shots and noticed a few November oddities around the promenade . At this upscale hotel, the guests have views  of stuff that should be black slime by now... Tibouchina in full bloom.. The Weigela on the right hasn't lost a leaf. These Cannas look puny, but still  have leaves. Very few Aloes are hardy here, but these seem robust. Impossible. Aeoniums live on... Not to mention the Colocasias. More Aeoniums hang out with a squirrel topiary. Pomegranates love it here. This quasi bonsai-ed olive tree was oddly positioned in  a planter with Stipa , Canna and a few other unrelated plants. I believe these are winter hardy.. I 

 I am in the habit of taking time off in October ; usually a trip to the coast combined with a few days of fall clean-up at home. This year I headed to the Sierra for a 3 day photography workshop in Yosemite National Park -thankfully Uncle Sam came to his senses (such as they are) in time to avert possible cancellation. I signed up for this class on a whim , after receiving a brochure during a morning members-only photo walk at the Ruth Bancroft Garden with photographer John Ricca in August. Read about that here . John was the right hand man for our instructor Keith Walklet  of Quietworks Photography . Keith lived and photographed in Yosemite for many years before moving to Boise and his intimate knowledge of the park , it's sunlight patterns and shooting conditions made for a wonderful 3 days --in the end I was happily shocked to realize how much I had learned .  Mornings began before sunrise as we met for breakfast and set out to our first shooting location.We would stay out i