Vitanuova

@vitanuova

⚕️🧪Physician scientist, amateur gardener🌱, soprano🧑‍🎤cat lady 🐈, mother of excellent children, Episcopalian, native Floridian, 🦑scuba diver, 🇺🇸🌎reality-based community member.

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Vitanuova@vitanuova· 8d

From a friend earlier today in the north of Spain

Vitanuova@vitanuova· 8d

It’s still #whiteWednesday in the 🌱garden for a bit longer!

A branch of white crepe Myrtle in close up

A cluster of white phlox with pink eyes against a stony border.

Rosa “Desdemona” blooms, white with a pink tinge, on a vigorous bush.

A stalk of white lobelia siphilitica, a sport of the purple ones I originally planted. Behind are a tall rosebush and dahlias.

Vitanuova@vitanuova· 12d

Happy International Cat Day and also Happy #Caturday and ALSO happy 3rd birthday to my adorable baby cats! Here they are, brother and sister, brought together by a paper bag.

Morris (ginger cat) and Tessie (the tabico) rejoicing with a paper bag. Tessie is coming out and Morris is preparing to go in. Both look surprised to be caught in the act.

Vitanuova@vitanuova· 12d

Anguilla is a very pleasant surprise - hot sun but steady breeze, cool shade, lovely people, calm and quiet for the most part (and we were there during Carnival!) and really good food! #leBleu #littleharbor #anguilla #family

a house with a swimming pool overlooking the pass between Anguilla and St Martin, mountains of which are seen in the left background. The day is bright and the blue sky is set off by low puffy white clouds.

A man sits reading in a row of beach lounge chairs under blue and yellow umbrellas on a white sand beach. The water beyond is clear teal green shading into dark blue in the distance.

In a long shot, a man in swimming trunks is seen emerging from the blue-green wavelets at Shoal Beach. The sand is a light bisque color and the beach in the foreground is wide. A typical Caribbean blue sky and clouds under bright white light.

A nearly full moon rising over the Caribbean ocean, behind some nicely backlit cumulus cloud towers. On the shore is a small beach with some lounge chairs, and a lawn with Bermuda grass and a palm tree lit by house lights. At the edge of the lawn is a lighted in- ground hot-tub, where a small child is swimming. A woman stands watching the child with her back to the camera. Both figures are glowing in the light from the hot-tub, contrasting with the dark sea below.

Vitanuova@vitanuova· 18d

Ah, Monday- #magentamonday! My excuse to show off my purple-ish pals.

A large deep magenta dahlia “Boogie Nights” in a vase on a countertop with a white-tipped magenta dahlia “Mystery Day”, a purple-tipped white dahlia “Jowey Martina”, a smaller orange dahlia “Jowey Nicky” and some final blooms of a pink gladiolus on the side.

Beautiful rose mallow - they call it a hibiscus up here- blooming against the inflatable bubble over a tennis court.

A large floppy white dahlia bloom with faintly purple tips, growing in a thicket of dahlias.

A pretty magenta flower stalk on a pea plant climbing a white pillar.

Vitanuova@vitanuova· 24d

Hi Yara! What a lovely tour across the river! Thank you 🙏🏻! Reminds me of the view from the Key Bridge over the Potomac. We will have heavy thunderstorms today so I won’t have to water the dahlias. Here’s a nice bee for you!

Vitanuova@vitanuova· 25d

🌱#tomatoseason with Bada Bing cherry and yellow Jellybean grape tomatoes. Nothing beats open face tomato sandwiches! “Better Bush” was germinated last year and wintered over as a short spindly vine, then grew into a 5ft bush with big dark leaves to produce a crop of large sweet slicers.

In a white oval bowl, spaghetti with fresh yellow tomato sauce and a garnish of parsley and grated Parmesan cheese.

Fresh chunks of tomato in a white ceramic dish with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Two baskets of tomatoes, large red ones on the left and assorted cherry tomatoes on the right. In front is a slice of rye bread slathered with mayonnaise, almost completely obscured by two juicy slices of tomato.

Golf-ball sized red tomatoes and yellow grape tomatoes in a large saucepan on a gas range, about to become tomato sauce. A teakettle and various cooking tools are seen behind.

Vitanuova@vitanuova· 29d

Like this one in Islington!

A red telephone box on a sidewalk under blue partly cloudy skies, lined with bookshelves.

A view to the inside of the phone booth showing neatly arranged books on shelves.

Vitanuova@vitanuova· Jul 20

🌱It’s #magentamonday and the garden is becoming riotous as plants grow to the sky

Closeup of Dahlia “Boogie Nights”- a beautiful solid magenta dinnerplate dahlia in portrait mode against a blurry background of green leaves

A small dark red dahlia- name unknown. It has a single set of eight petals around a large bright yellow eye.

A large dinnerplate dahlia on a tall plant in the garden. The petals are magenta with white tips and formally arranged.

An upward-facing, dark magenta dahlia bloom “Boogie Nights” is almost lost amidst a forest of rapidly growing dahlia plants. The green stalks blend into a background comprised of a massive climbing rose “Zephirine Drouhin” that is just now focusing on getting even bigger rather than blooming.

Vitanuova@vitanuova· Jul 6

Two years ago, I got two cuttings of a night blooming cereus from my friend. I didn’t know what to do with them. So I stuck them in a water bucket and four weeks later they had extensive roots. So I planted them in clay pots. Tonight, one of them is flowering. Astonishing fragrance and beauty!

A large pendulous white flower with a skirt of pink tendrils hanging from a cactus stalk supported by a stake. The flower, seen from the side, is about halfway open at this point (10pm).

The same flower viewed from below, showing the long pistil and stamens.

Vitanuova@vitanuova· Jul 4

Happy 4th everyone! 🇺🇸🎆🎇 it’s a great country, even if it needs a lot of work!

Vitanuova@vitanuova· Jun 30

Moonrise last night- hard to get a good shot because of all the atmospheric shimmer and dust but so cool to see both the strawberry moon rising, and the blue Spotlight on the Washington Monument #strawberrymoon #washingtonmonument

The first in a sequence of shots of the moonrise last night. Large dim orange moon disc is seen on the horizon over the Potomac River just to the left of the Washington monument

Same scene, second shot. The moon is now just above the tip of the Washington Monument and the top third has acquired a bright orange color from the setting sunlight. In the foreground of the shot are dense treetops in Glover Park and an outdoor sports field light.

Third shot. the moon is coming off the tip of the Washington Monument and is now almost completely orange. Moon rise is proceeding at an approximately 60° angle to the horizon.

Last shot. The moon is now fully up and away from the Washington Monument, which is now illuminated by a blue spotlight on its north face. The blue light is a nice contrast with the now intensely orange moon.

Vitanuova@vitanuova· Jun 27

We saw beautiful columbines in the Elizabeth garden!

Blue columbines - five outer petals with a central cup of 5 offset inner petals edged in white

Pale lavender and white columbines with bright yellow central eyes

Pink and purple columbines with a more informal structure than the previous two

Vitanuova@vitanuova· Jun 27

For #caturday, here’s Tessie with her legs on backwards 😸

A small sooty tabby playing with a pipe cleaner seems to have her legs installed upside down but she’s merely in a 180 degree twist at the waist.

Vitanuova@vitanuova· Jun 20

🌱🌹Double Delight (on own roots) froze almost back to the ground this winter, but is back with gratitude!

A crimson rose with cream petals in the center blooms on a healthy looking rosebush in a pot on a patio. In the background can be seen another pot with spikes of Salvia and a clump of Lobelia that was a seedling last year. Right behind the rosebush is a tall dahlia that is almost ready to flower.

Vitanuova@vitanuova· Jun 20

🌱Summertime and the catnip is high! A #caturday blep, TBT #Midsummer 2020 #catnip

My black cat of loving memory licking his chops, sitting on a classically designed 🌱flower pot from which tall stocks of catnip are growing. He has been enjoying it, as suggested by the blep.

Vitanuova@vitanuova· Jun 20

*leiber

Vitanuova@vitanuova· Jun 9

@leventturedi.bsky.social could this be Latte’s cousin? Spotted last September outside a high end department store in #istanbul

Vitanuova@vitanuova· Jun 6

Oh no!🌱 conflict comes to my seed tray😟

A Chinese package label featuring the word “warring” in bright red all caps. Below that is a text warning of danger of suffocation due to a plastic bag holding the contents.

Vitanuova@vitanuova· Jun 1

Here he is looking like a normal guy. I think he might have just left the nest for the first time.

Vitanuova@vitanuova· Jun 1

Blocking my driveway this morning -a pileated woodpecker seemed lost. (But he went up a tree eventually).

A young woodpecker with a bright red crest sits in a paved driveway looking up into the branches of a crape myrtle.

Vitanuova@vitanuova· May 26

A fellow orandge who is being goode today

Vitanuova@vitanuova· May 18

🌱We went to Costco yesterday and I had my first ever Costco hotdog, and bought 2 bare-root Tropicana roses for $8 each. I told myself it was a rescue mission. Leafless, dry but healthy stems and brutally pruned roots. Soaked overnight, planted out and now warming in the sun. We’ll see what happens!👀

On an outdoor patio, two completely bare and harshly pruned rosebushes in pots on either side of a larger pot with a healthy-looking dahlia plant.

Vitanuova@vitanuova· May 17

🌱I was inspired by visiting rose gardens in El Retiro and Regency Park to try out a striped rose. Two years later, “Rock & Roll” has delivered an incredible performance. Survived the winter freeze that took DC from zone 7 to zone 6 (at least temporarily) and roaring back now!

A multi-petalled crimson red rose with irregular white and pink striping on a bush in closeup

A rosebush with red and white striped roses and lots of new shoots coming up, in a rose bed with two pink roses. Pink rose petals are scattered on the ground behind. Morning light is falling on a trellis with a fourth cream colored rose in the right background.

Three or four red and white striped rose blossoms in a vase on a wooden table. Behind in separate vases are white, peonies and blue and purple delphiniums.

A close-up of the glossy disease, free foliage of the “Rock & Roll” rosebush.

Vitanuova@vitanuova· May 15

🌱time to get back to my own garden! This place is so lovely though but.

A church with two towers on either side of the entrance and a façade of Portuguese blue and white illustrated tile.

Looking southwest from the north bank of the Douro River in Porto in midafternoon.

Porto seen from the south bank of the river in early evening. A very tall two level metal bridge crosses beyond.

After sunset, looking west down the river. The old part of the city is seen across the water, lighted up.

Vitanuova@vitanuova· May 15

Evening and morning at the odd but Michelin-starred Octant Hotel in Raiva. You have the option of a boat arrival.

Early evening looking west along the Douro River. The banks are covered in dense dark eucalyptus forests. Lights of a small village are seen at the bend in the distance.

Same view west from the hotel, following morning. A bank of yellow flowers is in the foreground below a green lawn. The sky is blue with some low puffy clouds.

A view of the hotel from an approaching riverboat. The hotel is stacked up the hill in long Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired layers. A white-haired man with beard and dark sunglasses sits in the right foreground.

Vitanuova@vitanuova· May 14

What’s blooming in the Douro right now besides roses, calla lilies, oranges, bougainvillea, ice plant, camellias? Basically everything.

Brazilian Verbena -light purple miniflower clusters on long stems against a stone wall.

Tiny grapes in clusters on an Albariño grape vine.

Bright blue purple blossoms in a weedy low clump on the side of a stony road.

Saucer-sized clusters of white elderberry blossoms on branches of large green leaves. The tree is in an outdoor garden under a misty grey sky.

Vitanuova@vitanuova· May 4

🌱Cloudy but lovely morning in West Ham Park #london #ceanothus #Englishgardens

A sunny gardened area in a large tree-filled park, with giant purple alliums and bluebells and some formal hedges and shrubs beyond. The sky is threatening an overcast.

Huge deep purple and violet ceanothus bushes in full bloom along a garden path, fronted by a large smooth boulder.

Acer maple leaves in pink, orange, and violet shades seen up close, with small bi-lobed red seed pods.

Vitanuova@vitanuova· Apr 25

My white iris always blooms later than the purple-now synched up with the first peonies!

A glass vase on a wooden table with stems of white irises and peonies

Vitanuova@vitanuova· Apr 18

🌱Blue iris and Orange Iceland poppies are some consolation that I’m going to be away for the spring rose extravaganza. Still probably a couple weeks off, but maybe I’ll get lucky! Right now the bushes that survived this awful winter are covered with small tight buds.