Alisa Varney
@AlisaVarney
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Gardening is my grand obsession. Creating an 8-acre garden for beauty, food and wildlife. When I’m not weeding I’ll roam art museums and botanic gardens.
California, USA
Joined July 2013
I’m elated the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) has awarded my farm with a grant for their Pollinator Habitat Program (PHP). This will expand the existing plantings by adding a double hedgerow to surround the 8 acres, filling the interior with trees and adding
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A female red-tailed hawk has been my garden companion for a good many years. ❤️
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Two examples of trompe l’œil, one at Tate Britain and another on loan for a current exhibit at The Getty.
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Trompe l’oeil ❤️
The Reverse of a Framed Painting (ca. 1670) by Cornelis Norbertus Gijsbrechts. More on this remarkable painting and other trompe l'oeil by Gijsbrechts in our latest post: https://t.co/EMMYijP5Wx
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Each flower has a unique combination of red and white petals with the York and Lancaster, a rare dahlia traced back to the 1800s. The tuber I bought two years ago was teensy and has bloomed for the first time this summer.
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The butterfly landed on feverfew, which grows in the milkweed area.
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It seems that every time I step outside there’s a monarch fluttering by. The milkweed field is well established with another area up and coming.
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Stunning! I’ve tasted the colorful petals but not the tubers.
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It’s time to order dahlia tubers for 2026 and I’m wondering if it’s possible to ever have enough. 🤔
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I fell behind on picking blackberries, they got overripe & overrun with wasps/flies… But to my surprise, I came across a gorgeous Mourning Cloak also enjoying the sweet taste of the berries! It’ll be getting ready to hibernate in another month or so, then emerge in Spring!
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While I was enjoying last evening’s sunset three owls flew into a nearby tree. I’m guessing they were a mother and her offspring because two were squawking and physical, resulting in one losing its grip and tumbling to the ground. The mother watched, remaining calm and collected.
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Happy September! Russula Bouquet III, 2005, Alexander Viazmensky (Russian, b. 1946). Watercolor on paper, 38 x 28 cm (14 15/16 x 11 in.).
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Marriage certificate and family records from the 1800s, painted with watercolor and ink on paper. @TheHuntington
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Vase of Flowers, mid 1670s, Jan Davidzoon de Heem (Dutch, 1606-1683/84). Oil on canvas. @NortonSimon
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Fashion Fatale: The Human Obsession with Feathers, now on display at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.
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If I lived in the area I’m sure I would have visited this exhibit half a dozen times. Thanks for sharing, Micki! More pics, please. 😍🦋
Another work from “Little Beasts exhibit” on my birthday trip to the National Gallery of Art in DC. Wenceslaus Hollar - amazing detail 💛 so grateful for where I live and all the art and science I have within a stone’s throw. #InsectThursday 🐞 @AlisaVarney
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