Goldenrod

Goldenrod

The Goldenrod (Solidago fistulosa) is in the Aster family. There are about 120 species of Goldenrod. They grow to about 40 inches or nearly 4ft tall. Some species branch out, others are like this one growing up singular. Goldenrod is also blamed for causing allergies in humans, similar to ragweed. However, the pollen is heavy and does not blow into the air. It has to be pollinated by bees or butterflies. So, in order for humans to get an allergic reaction, they must touch them in some way, maybe brush against them with their clothes.

In North America, Goldenrod is seen as a weed, but it is prized as a garden plant in Europe.
 
Goldenrod blooms from June through November and can be found in Florida in dry pinelands, flatwoods, ditches and roadsides.

Day 4 of 5 Day Black and White Challenge: Oleanders

Oleander

This is Day 4 of my 5 Day Black and White Challenge that I accepted from my friend, and fellow photographer, Rosemary Morrison, of Rosemary Kaye Photo, who's work I admire. I am supposed to post 1 b&w image for five days, as well as challenge a fellow photographer each day that inspires me.

I am challenging Chuck Vosburgh, who's work I feel is outstanding. I hope he accepts this challenge. Chuck is an amazing photographer and all around great person. Chuck's website can be seen here: http://www.LightingisEasy.com Check it out.

Backlit Sunflower

Sunflower, Rockport, MA

The back lighting and its huge size is what attracted me to this Sunflower found in a side garden in the Bearskin Neck region of Rockport, MA. I love the way the sun was shining through the yellow petals making them almost translucent.

Sunflowers have long been my favorite flower. They remind me of the sun, which reminds me of summer and happiness. They have no fragrance, therefore, no allergies for me! Sunflowers also attract birds, which is my other favorite thing to photograph.

When I was living in New York, I placed several feeders in the front yard so the kids could watch the birds eat. I think the triplets were around 3 by the time they noticed them. They would spend hours looking out the picture window just behind the couch watching the birds. The birds rewarded us by "planting" Sunflowers all around the feeders. They disguised the feeders and beautified the yard. What a nice thank you for feeding them.

Purple Cosmos with Bee

Purple Cosmos with Bee

This Purple Cosmos is another flower found in a side garden in Rockport, MA. The bee was an added surprise when I saw it though my lens.

Cosmos are in the Aster family and are native to Mexico. They are popular garden flowers here in the states. They are  herbaceous perennial plants with many different species and colors. There are also many hybrids and cultivars. I particularly like this species and the color.

Sunflower

Sunflower

I thought I'd step away from the architecture stuff and post something different. This sunflower was so tall, it was above my head. You can see how I had to shoot up at it. It was also about the size of my face. I love the brown in the petals closer to the center.

It was photographed in Rockport, MA in one of the side gardens while we walked around the Bearskin Neck area. I think there's some kind of ordinance that everyone must have and maintain a side garden, because there were these gardens on every single house we came upon. Not that I'm complaining.

 It was also unusual to see so many flowers in bloom in late September. That's unheard of for the area. As a matter of fact, there were very few flowers still in bloom except for fall flowers in CT, which is south of Rockport.

Dahlia

Dahlia

This was taken at my son and daughter-in-law's house in their back garden. They have many different gardens on their property, each with its own theme. Visiting them and walking around the yard is like walking around botanical gardens. This one was one of my favorites.

There are 42 species of Dahlias, along with many hybrids. This particular species is called, Dahlia (Dahlia rosea) because of its red color. Some are round, some flat, they come in different sizes, shapes and colors. They are native to Mexico and have been used as a source of food. Their hollow stems were used to make water pipes, and they've been used as medicine, specifically to treat Epilepsy.

I especially like this particular variety because of its pom-pom shape.

Salvia

Row of Salvia

While driving around in South Windsor, my son and I spotted this row of Salvia on the side of a farm house. I love the color and that splash of pink in the tree in the background.

Dahlia Bud

Back side of Dahlia Bud

This photo was shot two days before it came in as a full bloom. I like the colors of the backside and the freshness and firmness of the bud. There are about 20 different types or species of Dahlia. This particular species when in full bloom are deep pink in color, like the outer petals around the edges, and round like a pom-pom. They are stunning flowers.

This image was captured at my son and daughter-in-law's home in South Windsor, CT.

Let me know in the comments what you think of it.

Luna Hibiscus Seed Pod

It had just stopped raining, and I just had to go out and shoot something. So, my son and I went looking at their pretty much spent Fall garden. I was looking for water drops to shoot to try to capture the garden in a water drop. That's one thing I've never been able to accomplish. It just never works out well for me. I finally did it, but that's not the photo I decided to post tonight. It'll show up in a later post, so if you want to see it, you'll have to check my blog out often so you don't miss it.

These Luna Hibiscus seed pods were just begging to be photographed. The water drops on the leaves, and that deep purple color with the light green pods just captured my eye. It helped that the lighting was perfect for this kind of shot as well.

I hope you like it as much as I do. Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Brown-eyed Susan

Brown-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)

It's been a long time since I posted on my blog. I've been away from the blog and photography in general. Taking care of my elderly Aunt and working part-time took up most of my time. I had given up my photography clubs and generally wasn't taking any pictures. I don't feel safe walking around alone in the city or the woods, so I just didn't go out. I've joined a couple of groups and plan to try to get out at least a few times a month. Come back here and look for my posts. I do apologize to all my followers for being away for so long.

I bought a new camera, a Canon 6D and a new lens (Tamron 28-300mm EF VC) and went on vacation to my son and daughter-in-law's home in CT. Not being used to the camera or the lens, it was a little difficult finding settings and getting used to the weight. 

We had planned a day trip to Rockport, Massachusetts and I knew I had to get used to the camera fast. So, I walked around my son's yard and found a few flowers still in bloom in Donna's gardens. The one pictured is a Brown-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta). 

Brown-eyed Susans are known by several different names, Black-eyed Susan, Brown Betty, Gloriosa Daisy, Golden Jerusalem and Yellow Daisy. It depends what part of the country you are from. These flowers are in the Asteraceae family. They bloom in late summer and most of them had already passed. I was lucky to find this one in decent shape. Another day or two and I'd have missed it.

The foliage still hadn't begun, which was a bit disappointing, but the trip to Rockport made up for me missing the Fall leaves.

Southern Magnolia

Southern Magnolia

Southern Magnolias (Magnolia grandiflora) are not only beautiful flowers that smell magnificent, but they are also very interesting. Their stamen are like little flowers in themselves. Unfortunately, Magnolias only bloom for one day, leaving brown, dry petals, which are not quite as pretty as the petals were the day before.

However, the stamen stay to become beautiful soft, red cones which last a very long time. I've never picked up one to see if they are fragrant which makes me wonder why I've never thought to do that before.

Pickerelweed

When I first moved to Florida in 1988, this was one of the first aquatic flowers that I photographed. When I saw this one in John Chestnut Park in Palm Harbor, it reminded me of the time many years ago when I first saw these pretty flowers.

I was standing by the edge of a pond photographing it, when movement at my feet caught my eye. Just as I took the camera away from my face, I saw an Alligator come up slowly right between my legs. It scared the daylights out of me. It was the first Alligator I'd ever seen in the wild. I didn't know it then, but it was a pretty young one, because it was so small. I doubt it was more than a year old.

When I look back on it that incident now, it gives me a chuckle. When I saw him, I wasn't sure what to do so I slowly walked backward and got out of that park as soon as I could. I think I'd still do the same thing today.

Since the subject of this blog is Pickerelweed, I should probably get back to that instead of reminiscing about the past. Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata) is an aquatic plant that grows in shallow, still water. It gets its name from the Pickerel fish that shares the same habitat. Pickerelweed blooms from June through November in freshwater marshes, lakes, streams and at the edge of ponds.

I like to finish my blog with a little nature lesson for those who would like to learn as much as I've learned about nature ever since I started taking photos of nature. It has taught me so much.

Doing What a Bee Does Best

While on a meetup at a new place one of the members of my group has discovered, the first thing I saw was this huge Prickly-Pear Cactus at the edge of the parking lot.

These blooms are a Honey Bee magnet. I've never seen these blossoms with no bees busily pollinating these beautiful flowers.

Prickly-Pear Cactus blossoms (Opuntia humifusa) bloom from April through August, and they can be found in sandy pinelands, open dry woods,dunes and pastures. The fruit is edible.

Lantana

Of all the "butterfly plants", Lantana is my favorite. For one thing, it is native to Florida, so it will not become invasive, but mostly for its delicate little flowers and its range of colors.

In my yard, I have the all lavender variety, but this multicolor variety was found at Sawgrass Lake Park in St Petersburg, FL. I'm fortunate to live about 1/2 mile from Sawgrass Lake, and it's one of the most popular nature parks in the area. Being so close, I can visit it every day. It's also free to get in, so there is no reason to stay away.

This park has lots of American Alligators, and I think of all the times over the years I've visited Sawgrass, I've seen Alligators in every visit but one or two. There are many native plants, many species of birds and plenty of wildlife to be seen. All one has to do is walk through the boardwalks being quiet and aware of sounds on the trails. There's also a beautiful overlook where one can see many shore birds as well as 'gators and turtles. There are also two separate butterfly gardens, which is where I made this image.

Settings for this image is as follows: I used ISO 400 because of the heavy canopy in this park. I was trying out my new 90mm Macro lens on this floral cluster shooting hand held at 1/25 second (pretty slow for this focal length) at F11 for good depth of field. I used partial metering and aperture priority which I use for about 90% of my shooting.

Unknown Flower

Today my friends and I went to the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo for our weekly get-together. We originally planned to go to Gatorland in Orlando until Stacy reminded us that this was Spring Break time, Good Friday and Easter weekend. Traffic in Orlando and the theme parks would be brutal. Since we already live here, we can go to Gatorland anytime, so we opted to stay in Tampa Bay for our weekly shoot.

I've taken photos of this flower before and was able to identify it, but wouldn't you know, the name just slipped my mind. If anyone reading this blog can ID it, I'd be most grateful.

I love the softness of the cone-type top of this and the little yellow blossoms at the mid section. The color combination is gorgeous. I'd love to try to grow these in my yard, but without a name it would be difficult to find them at the nursery.

I think they might be some kind of Bromeliad, but they also resemble Heliconias too. A Google search didn't provide any answers, either.

Tomorrow we're taking a trolley tour in Tampa again. This always proves to be a fun time. I'm looking forward to it.

White Flowers

Usually I tell you about what I've photographed. Today, I'm asking you to tell me.

I captured these flowers on a shrub just outside of the hospital where I work. I have quite a few books on wild flowers and garden flowers, but I haven't been able to identify this one.

Anyone have an idea what it is?

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UPDATE: I found the name of the flower, it is a White Crepe Myrtle. Thanks, Larry, for your help.