I imagine that somewhere, people are enjoying the sight of tulips and daffodils. Ours make an appearance mid-Spring. I took this photo at Ottawa’s Annual Tulip Festival. I never miss it!
Category Archives: Flowers
TO EVERY SEASON (TWO PHOTOGRAPHS)
By late March, the ground begins to thaw and the ice starts to melt on the waterways. We’ll be outside with our cameras, enjoying the beginning of spring. I live in a country of contrasts – the snow and ice of winter giving way to the warmer days that follow!
ORANGE JEWELWEED
This flower is an annual, native to North America, and often grows close to a water source. Every summer I see it growing by a small pond in a wonderful tangled mass of colour.
IN THE WIND (TWO PHOTOGRAPHS)
I think the milkweed plant is its most beautiful in the fall. The pod stood out against the dry grasses and brought contrasting colour and texture to its surroundings.
NOD TO SUMMER (TWO PHOTOGRAPHS)
Daisies are some of our earlier wild flowers, sunflowers appear later in the summer and last long into the fall. They are both members of the same family of plants, Asteraceae, which I look forward to seeing when the warm weather returns.
FALL COLLECTION – 4 (TWO PHOTOGRAPHS)
This photo was taken in late October. I liked the contrasting shapes and colours of the flowers and leaves. There’s something very appealing about these fading flowers, beauty in their imperfection.
LATE OCTOBER (TWO PHOTOGRAPHS)
Since I took this photo, we’ve had snow, freezing rain and a week of -C temperatures. The weather has moderated a bit but scenes like this are over until next year. Thank goodness for my photo catalogues where I can retrieve sights like these.
FLOWER POWER (TWO PHOTOGRAPHS)
With the temperature in the minus single digits today, I thought some summer cheer was in order. I had taken this photo shortly after a rain and the flowers practically shone. They appear to have an old fashioned quality which I like as well.
LAST OF THE SUMMER FLOWERS – 3 (TWO PHOTOGRAPHS)
These were taken earlier in the month. Most of our wildflowers have gone to seed but a few still remain, including these hardy wild sunflowers. We’ve only had a few nights that have dipped below the freezing mark and the days have been mostly sunny so the flowers might last a bit longer.
LAST OF THE SUMMER FLOWERS – 2 (TWO PHOTOGRAPHS)
With a frost advisory on the way tonight I thought it was time for another look at some late summer flowers. These were taken mid-September; the first in a field, the second in a neighbourhood garden.
LAST OF THE SUMMER FLOWERS – 1
I came upon these faded beauties on a recent walk, a few more still to bloom. The flowers take on a special beauty as the season draws to an end and summer lingers just a little longer.
QUEEN ANNE IN THE FALL
It’s not quite fall but a good number of flowers are wearing their turn of season appearance. Queen Anne’s Lace is no exception. It was framed by some goldenrod that created an attractive background glow.
A NOD TO SUMMER
I’ve never seen a sunflower this colour before. It seemed rather fitting for this time of year. The sun isn’t as bright or warm as even a week ago and this flower seems to fit in perfectly with the changing season.
OVER THE FENCE (TWO PHOTOGRAPHS)
I wish I could remember where I took the photo above, as I would return to see how the garden looks now. I liked the untamed look to the place and exotic flowers growing there. The second photo was taken in my neighbourhood. I return every year to photograph these yellow flowers against the brick wall of the house.
POPPY
Poppies grow here for a very short period in summer. Their brilliant colour makes a mark on the landscape. Even against a brilliant backdrop they are standouts.
A NICE MIX (TWO PHOTOGRAPHS)
Different flowers, the first ones from a garden, the second growing in the wild. They both have an untamed quality to them. The violet flowers reminded me of underwater plants you’d see moving in a sea current. The others were found along a path and I took the shot just as the wind was lessening.
DAYLILIES
The daylily is showing up everywhere at this point in the summer; in gardens, fields and roadsides. Not native to North America, they do beautifully here and are another flower I look forward to. The wind picked up as I was taking the photograph. The focus is a bit soft but I think it adds realism to the shot.
QUEEN ANNE’S LACE (THREE PHOTOGRAPHS)
Queen Anne’s Lace is everywhere right now. In fields, vacant lots, on roadsides, wherever there’s sun and a bit of earth. It’s classified as an invasive weed but it also produces this lovely flower. In the fall the flower dries and takes on the appearance of a “bird’s-nest”, its colour complementing the landscape.
MIDSUMMER
Black-eyed Susans appear midsummer like clockwork. The flower was on slightly higher ground than the path I was on and I liked the angle. I only noticed the soldier beetle on the flower (to the left) when I looked at the image on my computer screen. As I said in a recent post, if you see one of these beetles it’s likely there are more about.
WILD MORNING GLORY
Bindweed or Wild Morning Glory is a beautiful looking flower but can take over a garden, wrapping itself around other plants and smothering them. I saw this flower in the wild; the early morning light providing a nice soft box effect.
FIELD OF WILDFLOWERS
One of my favourite things to photograph in summer are wildflowers. They will grow just about anywhere that has plenty of sun, including roadsides and big open fields. Open fields are best as they carpet the ground for great distances.
DAISY, DAISY (TWO PHOTOGRAPHS)
There’s something innocent about a daisy but the photo’s background suggested something a bit sinister. Although my eye was attracted by the flower I think what was behind it made the photo more interesting.
SUMMER BREEZE (TWO PHOTOGRAPHS)
It’s a challenge to photograph flowers when the wind picks up a bit. Daisies can be seen in the fields and along roadsides everywhere right now. The goat’s beard is a less common wildflower and I’m always pleased to be able to photograph one.
ISN’T IT DELIGHTFUL (TWO PHOTOGRAPHS)
With the arrival of the warm weather in the last couple of days, I don’t know where to look or point my camera first. What a great feeling!
A FINE MIX (TWO PHOTOGRAPHS)
The Red or Canadian Columbine and Wood Poppy are wild flowers that grow in Eastern North America this time of year. I took these photos at the Wildlife Garden I mentioned in yesterday’s post. Between the birds and the flowers we’ll be visiting there as often as we can. We also stopped by our local nature reserve to see if it had reopened, it’s still closed due to high water levels. 😏
SPRING FLOWERS (TWO PHOTOGRAPHS)
Spring flowers, one cultivated, the other wild. Similar colour and attitude as well. Despite our cold spring they appear on schedule to celebrate the season.
MORE TULIPS (TWO PHOTOGRAPHS)
We returned to the site of our city’s annual Tulip Festival and caught these beauties on a sunny day. A late spring has its advantages; normally the tulips would have been well passed their prime. Not so this year.
TARDY TULIPS (TWO PHOTOGRAPHS)
I took these photographs at this year’s Tulip Festival in Ottawa. Given our cold rainy spring the tulips are slow to bloom. The majority of them look like those pictured below. They’re in a holding pattern (like the rest of us) waiting for sunnier days. The upside is that when they do open up we’ll be able to enjoy them later into the month.
SLOW SPRING – 2 (THREE PHOTOGRAPHS)
The first photo was taken a few weeks ago. Coneflowers are beautiful flowers and their seedheads are also quite beautiful. In this example they create a natural sculpture.
I’ve also included a little teaser of what’s to come…
SPRING INTO FALL (TWO PHOTOGRAPHS)
Spring seems to be on hold in my part of the country. The nights are still below 0C although the daytime temperature is slowly rising. Until I see some spring flowers, I thought I’d feature some late season sunflowers. I appreciate their endurance and less than perfect beauty as the weather turns colder.
SPRING BLUES
This wonderful wildflower was taken last spring. It’ll be a while before they pop through the soil this year. The ground is still pretty frozen but there are a few signs of spring – the sparrows chirping and rumours of the first crocus…
IRIS
Following a trail down to the lake one year, I spotted an Iris growing right off the water. I was standing close to the water’s edge, looking for ducks and almost missed the flower tucked to the side. Every June, I follow the same trail down to the lake and continue to see the Iris return each year.
FLOWER POWER (TWO PHOTOGRAPHS)
When I was a kid at summer camp we used to call hawkweed (above) the devil’s paintbrush. Both are common names for this attractive flower although the latter appealed more to the imagination of ten year olds! I don’t think I really took notice of the yellow salsify before I picked up a camera. It was while composing in camera and in the editing that I began to appreciate the flower’s detail and form.
A LOOK BACK
Not getting out with my camera in the current -18C temperatures and craving a bit of colour I decided to highlight these fleabane daisies. They say summer, warmth and colour. When it warms up a bit I’ll venture out with my camera but until then I’ll relive sunnier times with photos like these.
IN THE MARSHLAND (THREE PHOTOGRAPHS)
White water lilies are more common on our waterways but I do like to see yellow pond lilies. Their colour is so striking and where they appear you usually see pickerel weeds as well. A frog would have added an extra touch of green, more to come…
UNDERCOVER (TWO PHOTOGRAPHS)
Queen Anne’s Lace has a long flowering season, from late spring until mid fall; beautiful anytime of year. They’re covered in snow now but will return next May in their spring green.
I set up my Fuji XT-1 to take five bracketed shots at different exposures. For processing I used Photoshop HDR Pro. It combined the shots for a nicely exposed image. I finished with a few of my usual adjustments in Photoshop.
LOOK BACK (TWO PHOTOGRAPHS)
Frequent readers of my blog might be aware that I’m no fan of winter. As the temperature drops, I make far less excursions to our local reserve. Happily I have a number of photos taken in the warmer months of the year yet to post.
PRETTY IN PINK (AND WHITE) – TWO PHOTOGRAPHS
Trilliums appear in our woods in spring and have a relatively long growing season, blooming through April and May. It’s another species that is supposed to be quite common yet I haven’t seen them that often. On this occasion they were dotted along the pathway, ours to enjoy.
SUMMER DELIGHT (TWO PHOTOGRAPHS)
The warm weather is long gone in these parts but a quick look through my photo catalogues brought to light these summer delights. The colours, scents and quality of light for a few short months each year make any walk, at any time, a pleasure.
A GLANCE BACK (TWO PHOTOGRAPHS)
On this cold grey day, summer seems like it’s been over for weeks not days. In looking through my catalogues I found these two photographs I took earlier in the year, when the whole summer stretched before us. We’ll still get some nice temperatures before the cold really sets in but on a day like today a little summer cheer is welcome.
BELINDA GROVER PHOTOGRAPHY 