A USB key is a portable storage device no bigger than a lighter or lip stick tube that plugs right into the computer's USB port and lets you move data files on to it for storage. I bought one and the crashed computer was kind enough to let me do a simple file transfer of all my pictures while in safe mode. Hooray, my pictures are saved.
And because of that we get to go on a little trip.
I thought at the beginning of the summer when I arrived here that during blizzards and other such winter like weather I would be able to back track a bit and show more of my drive cross country.
What better place to go in the cruel cold of winter than Vail Colorado in the middle of June. I did live there for three winters some time ago. I have done cold before, with a different set of cells than I have now.
When I was last there the Betty Ford Alpine Garden was a big berm and a dream. Today it is a stunning garden in an incredible setting. I was fortunate to be driving through at the height of summer blooming season.
Vail, you can't see from the gardens, is booming with construction. The entire high country of Colorado is growing like crazy. One of the buildings I worked in when I lived there had been razed to the ground for a new building. They are already at the demolition stage of development and the town was only founded in 1966.
This is what the Delosperma nubigenum that I planted at the top of my drive will hopefully look like some day. Maybe this summer.
Plenty of Iris dotted the gardens. The resident gardener here has gotten tired of the Iris. She says they need too much weeding to be happy in her wildflower garden which means there will be plenty for me to borrow.
A nice combination. I wasn't writing names down.
The beautiful alpine rock garden filled with all kinds of petite, low spreading, flowering perennials.
Lupine. I have always wanted to have me some Lupine. I think I can now.
I think this is a Gentian, a Gentiana sp.
Bitterroot, Lewisia sp.
The small berm and a dream has grown to encompass about two acres of land in the larger park the gardens are located in.
A Pulsatilla sp.
Time to leave Vail and dreams of high summer in the high country.
Next stop Denver.
They have a botanical garden there too.
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8 comments:
I just love alpine gardens. I think they remind me of being in the mountains and out on the tundra. AAAaaaaahhh.
It will be fun to watch your alpine gardens evolve. I hope you get your computer fixed soon.
How cool to have a technically adept sister - these photos were sure worth saving, Christopher. I hope you get your lupines!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Yes these pictures and my entire time in NC until November 17th were worth saving. Thank goodness for my sister's simple solution.
The crashed computer is now repaired too. The restore CD that came with it takes it back to factory condition, a blank slate. I have started the updates, 69 of them installed and am taking a break from it now.
Two computers in the house. Priceless.
Looks like it was a fun filled road trip.
Glad you got your computer fixed and all photo's reclaimed from the dark pit of computer crash land.
I love Colorado and your pix's were beautiful.
Reminded me of my ski bum years in Telluride.
Looks like a great trip! I went to the Botanical Gardens in Denver in November! Not so much to see but the distractions are less so you get to focus on the evergreens and hardscape. Have fun! Sisters are great!
Lupine are hit-or-miss for me. And the seeds can be very tough to germinate, which I'm getting tired of.
Grow lupine in your worst soil, and look for fragrant varieties. Because why not.
Alpine gardens are fascinating. Showy flowers, often physically designed to retain heat and give pollinators a warm place to rest. Mostly perennials because it takes too much energy to be an annual in the alpine.
Very cool--and I was excited to see that yellow ice plant! You and I both have that in our gardens... and the foliage is supposed to turn a lovely reddish color in the winter. Do you see that on yours? (I haven't been out to visit mine yet this year--it's in a temporary holding spot--so I can't attest to that.)
Yes Kim the Delosperma does get a strong red tint to the foliage in the winter. It does not show up to well against my tan/brown mulch. Of course this succulent plant probably should not be mulched.
Now I am considering it for the steep sunny slope on the opposite side of the drive. It roots well as cuttings plugged into the ground and grew quickly in the late fall til it got too cold.
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