Gladiola. Hoover. 'Yves Piaget'

Gladiolas were about the first thing I planted in this yard, and I've been trying to get rid of them ever since.  They tend to revert gradually to a pale yellow, and produce a forest of small corms that form a messy ever-expanding clump.  The one in the picture above came up in an odd spot and I tripped  over it about six  times in the process of cleaning out the koi pond filters.  After  the sixth trip I ripped it out of the ground, noticed it had rather a graceful shape and decided to take a picture of it. 

I was trying to get said picture while Hoover stared at me. 



Hoover has been staring at me for nearly thirteen years now.   He always knows where I am.  He follows me, drools on my knee, steps on my feet, sheds on my pants, gets in my way, shoves me out of the way, tries to herd me towards the dog biscuit jar.  To impress me, and bolster my confidence in his power, talents and abilities, he pees on something.  Mostly, though, he stares. 



While he was staring from inside the house I tried some pictures of 'Yves Piaget'. 'Yves Piaget' is a difficult rose for me to photograph.  My camera is not the latest and greatest, so perhaps the sensor pad does not have sufficient capacity to capture the subtle changes in shades of pink.   In most lights the petals white out.  'Yves' has a muddled form which is gorgeous in person but in a photograph looks--muddled.  I love the scalloped petal edges.  

While I was struggling to get something in focus, shrieking hummingbirds were streaking over my head, fighting over territory.  A Towhee was scratching all the mulch out from under the Japanese Maple.  There were bees all over as well:  they've decided the pond's shower filter is a perfect place to get a drink of water.  The koi splashed and made sucking noises at the surface of the pond, trying to get me to feed them.   Hoover was staring. 



Or is the white background better?


Summer means the hummingbirds fighting, and the koi waiting to be fed, and Hoover staring at me.  All is well.  Plenty of buds on 'Yves', I'll keep trying for a satisfying shot.