Blackberry Lily

I was wondering what I was going to post tonight, since it's been so cold I haven't been shooting, when my screen saver came up and I saw this one.

This Blackberry Lily, which I mistook for some kind of Orchid is one of the only flowers other than the Sweet William that's still standing after this cold spell in the Butterfly garden at the Safety Harbor Marina.

I didn't this it was a lily because it is so small. It's only about 3" across from tip to tip. For a lily that's pretty small. I found one in my wildflower book while looking for another flower and I'm glad I did. I wasn't even aware that these are native flowers and grow wild.

I guess we learn more than photography whenever we shoot nature. I'm one of those curious souls that has to know everything about anything I capture with my camera. I've had an insatiable curiosity ever since I was a kid. It drives me crazy when I can't identify a plant or a bug or whatever. I'll keep digging and digging until I can come up with an answer.

Settings used for this image were ISO 200 at 250mm in Aperture Priority at F5.6 and 1/60th.

Unidentified Orange Flower

This pretty orange flower was shot while I was "playing" with my new macro lens. I didn't have my tripod, and it was very windy, so I'm surprised I even got this one as sharp as it is.

I found this flower in the butterfly garden in Safety Harbor in Veterans' Memorial Park at the Marina. It kind of looks like some kind of poppy. The outside is yellow but the inside is orange. The color is an accurate rendition of the actual color of the inside of the flower. The flowers grow are one to a stem, about 18-24" tall and the Monarch Butterflies won't leave them alone. They apparently love their nectar. There were 3 Monarchs in this garden and each one was burried inside these flowers. They couldn't seem to get enough.

Does anyone out there know what this flower is? I'd appreciate it of you could let me know.

This second shot, although not my best because it clearly shows the effects of the wind is posted to let my readers know the shape, size and outside color of the flower to make it easier to identify.

Settings used to capture this flower were: ISO 200, 1/100th of a second at F7.1 at 90mm with my Tamron 90mm F2.8 macro lens.