The Garden at Night

One evening in the week, I decided to turn the ceilings fans on out on the patio and go sit outside for a while. It was actually quite pleasant and not muggy like it usually is.

I've always been fascinated by the night sky, although I'm by no means an expert.  This particular night the sky was clear and I could see some stars in spite of the chronic light pollution that pervades this whole area.

I quickly realized that these must be planets, rather than stars and after taking some (mostly fuzzy) photos, I used the GoSkyWatch app on my iPad to identify them as Jupiter and Venus.  I love that app - it helps you identify stars, constellations, even things you can't really see with the naked eye, such as star clusters and nebulae.

Since I had my camera out, I decided to try some photos of the garden.  The only light was that from the light by the back door.  I like the way they came out, although there's a huge shadow from one of the pillars across the back of the house.

Of course, this garden isn't really a night time garden.  For one thing, I have few white blooms that would stand out at night.  And for another, I don't have any scented blooms.  I will need to keep this in mind when planning my planting for next year!  Suggestions will be appreciated!

And finally, as I was sitting there listening to the waterfall and the crescendo of serenading frogs, I became aware of movement on the wall, over by the bird feeder.

I realized there was a possum on the wall, cleaning up the seeds that had been left over by the birds.  I tried some non-flash photos with no success, so I flipped up the flash and was able to capture him on film.

He looks rather demonic with those eyes reflecting the flash, doesn't he?  I wonder now if he stops by every night to clean up leftover bird seed.  Actually I'm surprised that the birds ever leave any!

What night time critters you do you get in your garden?

I"m not really sure whether this is acceptable for Camera Critters, hosted by Misty Dawn, since the critter is tucked in at the end of the post, but I'm going to try anyway.  

You can visit Camera Critters with this link, or by using the button in the side bar of my blog. 



Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.