Flowers
A selection from the floral photography I have taken over the years. To see the images I’ve posted on RedBubble, click here. I have a gallery on Fine Art America, as well. Remember that both RedBubble and Fine Art America are sales sites as well as online galleries, so any image that grabs you can live in your home. I’ve even put some of my fuchsia photographs on coffee mugs.
Thursday, April 30th, 2020
My red Orchid Cactus is going crazy right now with more blossoms forming than I’ve ever seen. I usually find red a difficult color to capture properly, but by using bracketing and merging the images, I was able to photograph this beautiful blossom and show the veins in the petals.
Friday, April 24th, 2020
I planted several hyacinths in a variety of colors in one of the front yard planter boxes. One has, unfortunately, succumed to the Chihuahua attack as I have trouble keeping the pups out of the boxes. This pink one was doing just fine this morning, still covered with last night’s rain and this morning’s dew.
Monday, April 20th, 2020
This tulip bloomed in my garden in Missoula, but you can find many like it in the flower and farmers’ markets of Seattle.
Sunday, April 19th, 2020
Poppa grew roses everywhere we lived. I have never been able to get mine to look as nice as he did. Maybe this year. Lord knows, I have plenty of rose bushes planted in the flower beds.
Saturday, April 18th, 2020
My hyacinths grow in a raised box in the front yard. The box is four feet high. That doesn’t stop my Chihuahua pups from jumping into the box and breaking off flower stems. I’m amazed that this one has survived. In a few more days, it should be fully open, but this is how it looked this morning.
Friday, April 17th, 2020
Harry Graham wrote some perverse and biting rhymes. In 1899, he published Some Ruthless Rhymes, including number III here:
Auntie, did you feel no pain Falling from that apple-tree? Will you do it, please, again? 'Cos my friend here didn't see.
Thursday, April 16th, 2020
There is no flower of the day, today. I thought about showing you some kelp I found on the beach. What kind of flower did you expect to find in the middle of the Pacific anyway?
Wednesday, April 15th, 2020
I have daffodils planted both inside and outside our fenced yard. Apparently, they are one of the few things deer will not eat. This blossom, inside the fence next to the goldfish pond, is the first outdoor blossom of the year at our place. Shouldn’t be long before other plants start to bloom as well.
Easter Sunday, April 12th, 2020
It’s Easter. What flower did you think I would post? The thing is, “Easter” lilies normally bloom in July. They have to be hot-house forced to bloom in April. I know this because Smith River, where my parents moved in 1972 and where they spent the rest of their lives, is the Easter Lily Capital of the World. Just ask the people of Smith River. Over 80% of Easter Lilies sold in the U.S. are grown in and around Smith River. This is a photo I took for my photography class when I was in Grad School. I had to load the film canister, take the photo, unload the canister, process the film, develop and print the photo. I then had to mount the finished photo on presentation board and turn it in as part of my portfolio. I got an A in the class.
Saturday, April 11th, 2020
Yesterday’s Recipe of the Day called for dried lavender. Not having any in the pantry, I went to town and bought this plant which I repotted as soon as I got home. Fresh lavender worked just fine in the recipe, and now I’ll have for any future culinary adventures that call for lavender.
Friday, April 10th, 2020
April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
April is a bit early for lilacs to bloom in northwestern Montana. They usually come in late May or early June. The photo above is one of the very young lilacs growing at our home. After living with a 15 foot lilac hedge for 37 years in Missoula, I had to plant lilacs here at our new home. In time, they will grow as tall as the ones in Missoula.
Wednesday, April 8th, 2020
As a follow up to yesterday’s post, I present this hibiscus blossom. Yesterday, I tried to emphasize that you should always have your camera close at hand, and never worry about taking a photo similar to one you’ve taken before. My lightroom catalog says that I have 220 photographs of hibiscus blossoms already. And that does not count the one’s which don’t have a keyword yet. Still, the hibiscus is a perfect candidate for the flower of the day. Yesterday, this blossom would not have been fully open. Tomorrow it will be crumpled, faded, and perhaps lying on the floor. Hibiscus blooms last just one day, so carpe diem I say. Grab your camera and take yet another photo or 10 of these beauties before, as Ronsard says in his famous poem, “elle a dessus la place Las ! las ses beautez laissé cheoir !” (“She has let, alas, alas, her beauty fall all over the place.) For the full text (and translation) of Ronsard’s famous Ode à Cassandre, check this out.
Tuesday, April 7th, 2020
One of my two ochid cacti currently blooming. (The pink one has only bloomed twice since I got it.) That blossom is almost 6 inches (15 cm) in diameter.
Monday, April 6th, 2020
I’m not particularly fond of calla lilies, probably because I associate them with snails and slugs. I do like the color of this one, though. Momma had a group of lavender colored callas in her back yard, which is where I found this one.
Saturday, April 4th, 2020
As I captured this lavender hued peony on the campus of the University of Montana, I dubbed it an Educated Peony.
Friday, April 3rd, 2020
As the theme for today is Cozy Mysteries, and you can’t have a cozy mystery without at least one death, I did a google search to find what flowers are appropriate for a funeral. Top of the list is the lily. I assume they mean a white lily, but this golden day lily was growing in my garden when I photographed it, and that’s what you’re getting today.
Thursday, April 2nd, 2020
I’m not terribly fond of calla lilies. In California, they seem to attract slugs and snails. But this calla, blooming near San Francisco’s Land’s End struck me with its simplicity. Hence the name, Homage to [Georgia] O’Keeffe.
Wednesday, April 1st, 2020
One of the irises growing in my garden, this time caught with a visitor in the form of a wasp. Is this a floral picture or one of an insect? I leave it to you to decide.
Tuesday, March 31st, 2020
Momma’s house in Smith River California had several hedges of fuchsia. This is one that was growing in her back yard. Fuchsias grow so well on the northern California coast that the Del Norte County Fair has a building dedicated just to fuchsias. I wish they grew that well here in northwestern Montana. In order to keep mine alive over the winter, I leave them in (large) pots, and bring them indoors before the frost hits. This image is available in a variety of forms at my RedBubble online sales gallery. Personally, I think it would make a lovely tea cup, similar to the one I have posted at the bottom of this page. Just click on the blue lettered caption under the photo to open a new tab and visit my gallery.
Monday, March 30th, 2020
The South Bend Water Garden is adjacent to the Pacific County Court House in South Bend, Washington. I know I’m playing fast and loose with the category, but what a beautiful spot to stop for a while, perhaps to have lunch, or just relax from the drive. And if you look closely enough, you’ll probably find a flower or two.
Sunday, March 29th, 2020
Several years ago, Kevin and I were in the greenhouse of a nursery in Polson, Montana. Walking into the enclosed space, I was immediately drawn to plants I assumed were some sort of Christmas Cactus on steroids. No, I was told, the plants were orchid cacti. With green fronds hanging almost to the floor and colorful blossoms easily as large as my fist, the plant, Disocactus ackermannii was certainly an eye-catcher. While I didn’t feel I could afford one of the hanging baskets, I certainly could afford to buy a 2 inch pot which, fortunately, the nursery had. The one I chose was covered with bright pink blossos, and I was delighted. “Do not transplant it for at least a year,” the clerk told me. And so I took it home, put it on my plant table in the living room, and waited. In time the blossoms faded, folded up and dropped off. And still I waited. A year later, I transplanted the cactus into a larger pot. I also went back to the nursery and bought another orchid cactus, this time in bright red. The red one blooms every year, giving me many red blossoms. The pink one has bloomed twice since I transplanted it. The green fronds grow voluptuously, and are several feet long, but yesterday is only the second time I have found a blossom on the plant. Of course, I had to take a photograph. There is another photograph of this same plant at the bottom of this page. I took that photo the first time the plant bloomed after the transplant. Maybe it’s finally beginning to feel at home in its pot.
Friday, March 27th, 2020
The rose is the classic flower for romance. Poppa grew beautiful roses. I have not been as fortunate. That said, I have several rose bushes planted in the flower beds and maybe, just maybe, this year I’ll see something as beautiful as this rose I photographed back in 2011, before we moved to Wild Horse Plains.
Thursday, March 26th, 2020
I didn’t see many flowers blooming as I traveled around Finland in September, but the Market in Turku’s central square was awash with blooms, brightening an otherwise gloomy day. The church facing the square is the Orthodox Church dedicated to the martyrdom of the Empress Alexandra–no, not Nicholas I’s wife, but rather the wife of the Emperor Diocletian. It’s just a coincidence that Nicholas, who ordered this church built in 1838, had a wife who was also named Alexandra.
Tuesday, March 24th, 2020
A clump of daffodils blooming in my yard two years ago. As one of the few flowers the deer don’t eat, daffodils grow in several places outside our fenced yard. They haven’t reached this point yet this year, but I continue to have hope. I took this photo on April 21st, 2018. It is available in various formats on my RedBubble sales gallery.
Saturday, March 21st, 2020
One of the new lilies I plan to order and plant this Spring. This is not my photograph, but rather one taken from Breck’s online sales catalog. When my own Wild Horse Day Lilies are blooming, I will replace this shot with one of my own.
Sunday, March 15th, 2020
Morel Mushrooms on sale at the Farmers’ Market in Butte, Montana. July 16, 2016. OK, so they aren’t really “flowers.” It’s my blog.
Saturday, March 14th, 2020
My mother’s house on the northern California coast had a large tree at the southeast corner. The tree was so large, and grew so well, it had to be cut back on a regular basis to protect the house’s roof. And from January through March it was covered with these large pink blossoms that German botanist Engelbert Kämpfer called the Japanese Rose. Today, we know it as the Camellia. a flower almost synonomous with the American South. We had magnolias growing in the area as well, but if I were to describe my southern belle mother, she was more a Steel Camellia.
Taken March 11th, 2007 in Smith River, Del Norte County, California, USA.
Friday, March 13th, 2020
One of my hibiscus bushes blooming in the family room window on March 6th, 2017. Processed as an HDR (High Dynamic Range) image to bring out the color.
Thursday, March 12th, 2020
One of the orchids blooming in my kitchen window. Taken March11th, 2019.
Wednesday, March 11th, 2020
One of the day lilies in my garden, photographed as a macro image.
Tuesday, March 10th, 2020
I have quite an assortment of lilies in my flower gardens, both day lilies and asiatic lilies, like this one which I photographed back in 2017.
Monday, March 9th, 2020
Whaddya mean, teasel seedpods aren’t a flower. I just love this image which I took at Mile Marker 91 on Montana Highway 200 with the teasels backed by the water of the Flathead River. Besides, weavers used teasels historically to full cloth. Works for me.
Sunday, March 8th, 2020
Or at least we had glads in late September, 2017, when this photo was taken.
Saturday, March 7th, 2020
In 2017, I grew my dahlias in pots on the deck. As Fall progressed, I moved the pots onto a table in the master bedroom’s bay window. In early December, one of my dinner-plate dahlias graced us with this blossom.
Friday, March 6th, 2020
One of the irises growing in my garden, covered with rain drops and a small insect sheltering from the store at the flower’s heart.
Thursday, March 5th, 2020
I have learned to bring my fuchsias inside before the first frost. This year, the frost came early, but the end of August this beauty was still growing outside, sheltered by the garage wall.
Featured in the group Fuchsias Only, Jan. 28th, 2020.
Taken August 20, 2019 at home near Plains, Sanders County, Montana, USA.
Wednesday, March 4th, 2020
Two of my three blooming phalaenopsis orchids currently blooming in the kitchen window, the only south-facing window in my house.
Taken March 11th, 2019 at home, near Plains, Montana, USA.
One of my orchid cacti in bloom.