Flowers
Queen’s Morning
Yesterday morning started with a light blanket of fog. As the sun pushed it’s way up through the foggy horizon, it created a nice silhouette of some Queen Anne’s Lace that grows at the edge of the field of oats that is next to lawn of our country home.
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Center of the Cosmos
This bee was about some serious bee work on the center of a purple cosmos flower. I don’t recall seeing this particular type of bee before – with white hair, orange antennae and a yellowish-green eye. However, this year I’ve photographed several.
To get a better view of this bee and the flower, click on it and a larger version will open in a new tab.
Bird’s Foot Trefoil
This is a flower known as Bird’s Foot Trefoil. This is a close-up, top-view of one of tiny flower clusters – about the size of a quarter. It has been growing extremely well in our area this year during our very dry summer we are having. It’s a plant that grows in bright yellow clumps, low to ground. I’ve always considered a pretty wildflower, but most consider it a weed in these parts.
According to Wikipedia…
It is a perennial herbaceous plant, similar in appearance to some clovers. The flowers develop into small pea-like pods or legumes. The name ‘bird’s foot’ refers to the appearance of the seed pods on their stalk. There are five leaflets, but with the central three held conspicuously above the others, hence the use of the name trefoil.
It is used in agriculture as a forage plant, grown for pasture, hay, and silage. It may be used as an alternative to alfalfa in poor soils. It has become an invasive species in some regions of North America and Australia.
The plant has had many common names, which are now mostly out of use. These names were often connected with the yellow and orange colour of the flowers, e.g. Butter and Eggs. One name that is still used is Eggs and Bacon.
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Fixin’ to Bloom
In photography, sometimes lighting is everything.
This is simple Queen Anne’s Lace. It is just beginning to open up to that flat base of tiny white flowers.
The lighting and color of the background are what make this a worthwhile post. The light was provided by a rising sun. The background is a simple concrete wall – the foundation of our home.
This kind of lighting is why the times around sunrise and sunset are called the “Golden Hour” in photography.
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Garden Svengali
Hands Lifted High
This is an example of unusual light creating an unusually lovely image. This sparse bunch of Phlox were being illuminated by the muted light of very low sun in the early morning.
There were Phlox bunches filled with many more blooms, but the cool color of these few caught my eye.
Get a better look at a larger version by clicking on the photo.
Bold and Beautiful (monochrome)
Sometimes I like taking a favorite color photo and removing the color – making it monochrome – to see how the change affects the image. There are times when the B&W version is better…and times when it is not. This is a monochrome version of Bold and Beautiful. You can look and both and decide which you like better – color or B&W. I like aspects of both and would call this one a toss up.
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Daisy in the Dark
One delicate bloom holding it’s own against the relentless, encroaching darkness.
This is a daisy growing wild in our yard. Of course, when I took the photo it wasn’t dark. The image you see is the result of “processing.” (For bonus points, compare this image with one I call Unassuming Charm.)
To see more of the detail in the petals, click the photo.
Bold and Beautiful
These bold, big-as-all-outdoors flowers remind me of purple cone flowers. I’m not sure they are cone flowers because the petals don’t slope downward. I’m not an expert, I just appreciate the beauty.
These beauties were photographed in the center of the circular entrance to the Kraft Building at the Green Lake Conference Center, Green Lake, Wisconsin.
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