Tag Archives: British Columbia

nature, Photography

Week of Flowers – Day 6

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Cathy at Words and Herbs is encouraging people to post flower photos for a week to help chase away the winter doldrums.

My contribution today is lavender and lilies; the photos were taken in July in the garden of the Naramata Inn, a heritage hotel that has retained its charm (and fabulous restaurant). I can still smell the scent of both in the hot summer weather.

Do you see the bees?
A beautiful (and busy) lavender bee. I find the sound of them almost soporific.
The scent from this stargazer lily was heady.

And for good measure, nearby …

… there was a lovely snowball hydrangea.

If you would like to contribute your own flower photos, please do!

Happy flower week.

nature, Photography

Week of Flowers – Day 5

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Cathy at Words and Herbs is encouraging people to post flower pictures as a way of escaping, even only for a few moments, the winter doldrums.

Today’s contribution comes from last August when I found these cornflowers growing in one of the city’s flower beds.

I love this shade of blue – so pretty.

Happy flower week. 🌸

nature, Photography

A Week of Flowers – Day Three

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This post is inspired by Cathy at Words and Herbs to help chase away the winter blahs.

I love hydrangeas, including the panicle hydrangeas that bloom toward the end of summer.

Hydrangea colours are always interesting, but over the life of the blooms this variegated variety will eventually become more uniform.

I like how each frond is made up of tiny blooms.

Summer will return, but in the meantime we have great pictures!

Thanks for the terrific idea, Cathy.

nature, Photography

A Week of Flowers

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Heyjude at Cornwall in Colours posted about the “week of flowers” idea from Cathy at Words and Herbs to help keep the winter blahs at bay.

Here are some of summer’s finest from Penticton’s rose garden.

October 1
October 15
October 20

If you would like to join, just link to Words and Herbs with your garden photo. Cheers.

nature, Photography

November Roses

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Penticton’s rose garden was still blooming just before we left for our holiday.

Not long after I took these photos, the gardeners did an autumn trim on all the other flowers and then followed up with the roses.

It’s lovely to have such gorgeous flowers blooming so late in the season, but they eventually had to be bedded down for their winter rest.

They will soon be back.

Happy Saturday.

Commentary, nature, Photography

Lakes

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Penticton sits between two lakes: Okanagan Lake at the north end and Skaha Lake at the south end.

Okanagan Lake in October.

Okanagan Lake is the much larger one; it’s 135 km (84 miles) long, from 4 to 5 kilometres (two to three miles) wide, and is as much as 230 metres (760 ft) deep in some spots. Technically, it is a fjord lake as it was created through glaciation.

An evening Okanagan Lake in mid-September.

For many years Okanagan Lake has been a hub of recreation, transportation, sustenance and employment; its 10,000 year cultural importance to the Syilx/Okanagan Nation cannot be overstated.

A moody Skaha Lake.

Penticton is built on the result of an ancient landslide that split Okanagan Lake into two, with the smaller one in the south becoming known as Skaha in Okanagan or horse lake in English.

Skaha Lake in early October.

Skaha Lake is 12 kilometres (seven miles) long and two to three kilometres (two miles) wide. Its average depth is 27 metres (87 ft), making it ideal for canoeing, swimming, dragonboating, windsurfing, kite surfing and sailing, and especially for learning these activities.

Skaha Lake in late June haze.

This relatively shallow lake warms up in the spring and summer and by August is like a big bathtub. It retains this heat well into October; we saw people swimming last week before the arrival of this week’s cold snap.

Much recreational life revolves around these lakes, even if only to sit on one of the beaches to relax or just to enjoy the view.

Happy Friday.