The gardens are more animated in sound and color from the vivid orange and yellow of the Baltimore Orioles. The female Baltimore Oriole has a mottled brown head, throat and back, which gives her a rather unfinished look. The male's mirrored parts are tightly fitted as a divers suit in solid black. His head, throat, back and wing feathers shine bright ebony when lit by the sun. The female is perhaps more protected in her camouflaged appearance as the brown from her head is also painted on her wings. The attentive male's attire is finished off boldly in more orange/yellow plumage, where the female dons a paler yellow/orange feather frock. When eyeing the male in flight and in shade his orange is deeper than in the glaring sun. They call out to one another regularly during the day, while both are hunting food for their young. Yesterday they together flew after a crow who most likely was successful in robbing their nest ... perhaps even picking at it as it hangs in the air like a papier mâché piñata. I do so wish them good luck in raising their young, which also guarantees an annual return of Baltimore Orioles to the gardens. The Yellow Flag Iris, iris pseudacorus stands alone in its primary pigment since the yellow tree peony has faded. Nearby the Oriental Poppies are calyx cracking from the swelling whorl of paper like brilliant orange petals demanding to be freed revealing their mysterious black iridescent centers. I am attempting to naturalize the poppies along the terraced hillside of the south garden... it seems they can withstand the thug 'bishops weed', the curse of Flower Hill Farm. These images represent at this time what is blooming and winging around in the palette of yellow and orange.
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