The Globe Artichoke (Cynara cardunculus) is a perennial thistle. If the buds or “globes” aren’t harvested, six-inch bluish-purple thistle-like flowers will form. This is an abstract closeup shot of two unopened buds and one flowering bud. Bees are especially drawn to the flowers.
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I love the way the bokeh of the grasses makes the background looks so painterly. Serendipity!
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GREAT PHOTO TIP! Here’s a butterfly photography trick I learned from my friend Mary Ellen a few years ago. Wait until the butterfly has it proboscis inserted into a flower and it becomes completely distracted by the task at hand—then move in closer, staying as still as possible.
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Hybridized by Moldovan, registered/introduced in 1975
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My wish was granted! (Sorry, no ID yet on the insect—anyone hazard to guess?)
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I think this is a type of strawflower, hybrid unknown.
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I’m not sure what the purple flowers in the background are, but they certainly look like a type of Clematis. Love the combination of orange and purple—exceedingly garish, yet perfectly lovely. The weather was stellar today and great for photography, even if only for an hour out of my busy design workday! (Special thanks to Teresa Blankmeyer Burke for pointing out that it might be a Ganzania!)
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When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other. — Chinese proverb
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved. Love flowers? Visit my botanical gallery here.
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
While these four posts in particular resonate with me, I enjoy everything this woman writes. I trust you will as well.
Why I write
http://www.adesignsovast.com/2009/09/why-i-write/
The things I carry
http://www.adesignsovast.com/2010/04/the-things-i-carry/
One phone call from our knees
http://www.adesignsovast.com/2010/04/one-phone-call-from-our-knees/
My real life has already begun
http://www.adesignsovast.com/2010/04/being-present/
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
Earlier this month, I posted a photo of a Pineapple Lily in pre-bloom stage here. Today the plants were just starting to bloom at Green Spring Gardens and I was able to get a plethora of images. In fact, I spent about 20 minutes photographing just one bed of these plants! They were full of very tiny ants and an occasional wasp. More photos to come.
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Overcast and very pleasant day, perfect for a quick (and fruitful) lunchtime shoot at Green Spring Gardens. This is an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on a ‘Zowie’ Zinnia. I wish the edge of the right wing was a tad sharper, but I had to move quickly to even get this shot! Stay tuned, more images to come.
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
I stumbled upon London photographer Tim Flach’s work a few months ago and requested permission to show this particular photo below (I want a dog with dreadlocks!) and link back to his site. Joanna Niklas, who works with Tim, told me about his newest project, DOGS-GODS, which explores and celebrates man’s remarkable friendship with the dog. The book will be a visual representation of the oldest human-animal friendship and a journey around the canine kingdom. The link below takes you directly to his website (and what a great opening!). Click on “Portfolio,” which begins with stunning images of dogs. The website itself is as fluid and luminous as his photographs.
While you’re on his site, be sure to click on the “Info” link at the top, then “Film,” and download director Chris Purcell’s Animal Planet documentary, Through the Lens of Tim Flach, Photographer.
(Note to Kathy and Kevin M.: Bet you wish I had gotten a shot like #43 of you guys with Kramer and Oatmeal before they went to their new home. Sigh…missed my chance! To learn more than you ever truly wanted to know about iguanas (and Kramer and Oatmeal, in particular), check out this posting by their babysitter, The King of Texas, here.
At Borders, armed with a 40% off coupon and deciding what to use it on—love those 40% off-ers! I whittled down the stack of “chosen ones” and purchased this book, Botany for the Artist: An Inspirational Guide to Drawing Plants, by Sarah Simblet. Fantastic book, gorgeous botanical drawings and lots of tips. Stay tuned for my first attempt at a botanical drawing (goodness knows, I most certainly have enough floral photo references in my only library, don’t I?). I’m even wearing my botanical sandals in this shot! Photo taken with Michael’s iPhone
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A recent comment from my father, a.k.a. The King of Texas, on one of my posts in December 2009:
I have been very remiss in not commenting on this posting and I extend my apologies! Obviously I’ve been very busy—too busy to acknowledge the photographic expertise reflected in these photos, particularly in the shot of that handsome chapeau sported by the handsome dude seated directly below said hat.
How I loved that hat! I remember chasing it in Arizona when an unkindly wind removed it from its wearer and sent it rolling and tumbling toward Canyon de Chelly with its wearer in hot pursuit. Had providence not placed a small bush a few feet from the precipice of the canyon, I may have followed that hat to the canyon’s floor, a sheer drop of 600 feet. However, thanks to providence, the hat’s forward progress was stopped by a strategically placed bit of flora, an indigenous plant equipped with thorny branches that stopped my hat in its race and in its tracks—and me in mine. No, I did not run into the bush—I wisely skidded to a stop when I saw the bush reach out and capture my hat.
That hat and I were inseparable for several more years, but one day it became conspicuous by its absence—it had mysteriously disappeared without leaving the slightest hint of how, when, where or why it left me.
I suspect that my hat felt—even though it was a straw hat rather than a felt hat—from the beginning of that windy day at Canyon de Chelly that its future was inextricably intertwined with the canyon floor, that because of its lightness and its ability to drift with the wind, it would wind up undamaged by the 600 foot drop, and would ultimately live a long life, squared securely atop the head of a person of the four-state region, either New Mexico, Arizona, Utah or Colorado, possibly a direct descendant of the greatest chief in Navajo history, or one of the Apache tribes, Geronimo or Chief Sitting Bull or another of the native American Indians immortalized in literature and movies and television, and still living in the tales told by the most respected elders of various tribes in the great Southwest. Tales of their exploits are also told in the great state of Texas, fantastic recitals that dance—precipitously, so to speak—on the rim of the unbelievable.
Please accept my abject apologies for my failure to respond sooner. I would also be remiss if, driven by my use of the word sooner, I failed to say that the word sooner reminds me that there are also many tall tales told in the great state of Oklahoma.
I do so say.
Reposted from 12/12/2009
Seagull on Chincoteague Island, Virginia; lone cloud somewhere in Colorado; and Dad during our road trip—Great Adventure #678—in 1990 (which he writes about in his recent blog posting, “Arizona apples & cheeseburger briefs” here). 35mm slides scanned by ScanCafe.com
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
Sorry, it’s late, I’m tired, and I just couldn’t think of a better title for this photo (see the tiny ant on the upper left bud?). As soon as I typed it, I thought of Aunt Bea from Mayberry R.F.D. I’m hitting the hay. Goodnight, Opie.
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These are images from my very brief photo outing at Green Spring Gardens this morning. When I arrived, the sun was out and the sky was just a wee bit cloudy. Just 25 minutes after I got there, down came the rain. I’m lucky I got these few images before the weather changed.
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(Sounds like a reality show, doesn’t it?—like Project Runway, but with felines). I’ve been in a sewing mood since the 4th of July weekend at the lake and to date I have made three tablecloths, 33 table napkins and six table runners. Do I need more table linens? Of course not! Every time I start sewing, Jasper insists on joining me and nestling into whatever fabric is available. Hope you like cats because that’s all I’ve photographed this week. It’s been too hot to do anything outdoors! This evening, my friend Karen joined me at the sewing table. She was making the second of two pillow shams for her bedroom (and we were so brave—flying without a pattern—whoo hoo! Wild women!). In the second photo, Jasper is serving as her topstitching quality control inspector. While Karen sewed the sham, I pulled out the Sculpey clay supplies and made some large leaf-shaped buttons for the pillow closures. Now I just have to bake them in my clay-dedicated toaster oven, paint, and seal. If they turn out halfway decent, I’ll photograph them and show you the finished effect.
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I photographed the Wagner family at Green Spring Gardens a couple of months ago. They were a pleasure to work with! (Extra special thanks to my friend Karen for the referral!)
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
Saturday, 9:14 p.m. © Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
This is a type of Oriental Lily, although I don’t remember which hybrid it is. There are 22 of these beauties in full bloom in a huge container on my back patio. What a sight!
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
I’ve been tending to this same Passion Flower plant since 2006—so this makes the fifth year I’ve been able to over-winter it in my studio office! As I was photographing this flower, I heard a creaking, croaking sound. Could there be a new frog taking up residence in our teeny, tiny pond again? I couldn’t find him, but I certainly could hear him! I’m crossing my fingers in hopes that I can get a shot of this new garden inhabitant.
Also blooming in the garden today: 22 bright pink and green downward facing lilies (they’re stunning en masse!), three huge white Casa Blanca Lilies, large clusters of Purple Coneflowers, two groups of Shasta Daisies, and one beautiful deep purple and white Dahlia. I’ll get some photographs of those this afternoon.
Passionate about Passion Flowers? Check out the links below to see more images shot in my garden over the past few years.
https://cindydyer.wordpress.com/2008/08/26/its-about-time/
https://cindydyer.wordpress.com/2008/06/22/backyard-blooms/
https://cindydyer.wordpress.com/2008/06/21/meanwhile-in-the-garden/
https://cindydyer.wordpress.com/2008/07/28/lady-margaret/
For more information on passion flowers:
Passiflora Online is a comprehensive website with growing tips, FAQs, plant ID, hybrid and species images, pollinators, and much more.
Plants in Motion has videos of a passion flower in bloom and also short clips of bees visiting the flowers.
Tradewinds Fruit has a great database of passion flower blossoms. Click on the “related species” section on the left of the site to see a wide variety of passion flower plants.
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
Unlike the Dogbane Beetle, who let me photograph him for almost 15 minutes, I got just one shot of this Cucumber Beetle before he was off to another sunflower. I wish I would have had time to add some ring flash light to add extra sharpness to his body, but the composition draws me in, so I’m giving myself a brownie point for that!
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
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