A walk in the wild does wonders for the senses and awakens an attention to the beauty of the natural world.
A recent walk in the Mount Diablo State Park provided a first view for me of Brodiaea laxa Queen Fabiola aka Ithuriel’s Spear in its natural habitat.
Photo 1: Fabulous Fabiola
Photo 2: Queen Fabiola
Photo 3: Ithuriel’s spear
Photo 4: A visitor for the Queen
The post Mother’s Day sale on blooms was irresistible so I just had to buy a pot of purple tulips. Hope you enjoy seeing them as much as I did!
Photo 1: Purple Tulips
Photo 2: Tulip Time
A gathering of purple faces
Dancing in the light
Swaying gracefully in the breeze
Till they are darkened by the night
Photo 1: Patch of Society Garlic
Photo 2: Starry faces
Photo 3: Dancing in the breeze
Photo 4: Circle of Life
Photo 5: Purple company
Photo 6: Light Society
Photo 7: Society Garlic
Photo 8: Part of the patch
A walk along the nearby creek trail can reveal some interesting specimens. I came across what I thought was Queen Anne’s Lace only to discover after some checking that it was actually Poison-hemlock ( the purple blotches on the stem were quite noticeable in the photographs). What was nice to see though was it had two ladybird visitors, one with spots and one without. A little further away I found a purple flower that I had only seen in yellow before in the UK but did not know it’s name. Upon investigation I found that it is called Goat’s beard (Tragopogon dubius).
Photo 1: Spotted Ladybird on Hemlock
Photo 2: Purple Goat’s beard
Photo 3: Two ladybirds on Hemlock
Photo 4: Tragopogon
Photo 5: Spotless Ladybird on Hemlock
May 8 is Iris Day and to celebrate it here are some of the Iris photos I have taken recently. The word Iris is derived from the Greek term for “rainbow” so I’ve added as many of the colours as I have. The Iris is the state flower of Tennessee, symbol of Brussels, and flower for the 25th wedding anniversary. Brussels celebrates the Fête de l’Iris (Iris Festival) this weekend 10 and 11 May.
Photo 1: Yellow Iris
Photo 2: Purple Iris
Photo 3: White Iris
Photo 4: Blue Iris
Photo 5: Lilac Irises
Photo 6: Delicate Purple Iris
Photo 7: Top of Blue Iris
Photo 8: Yellow Iris Eye
There is a lovely patch of Gazanias flowering close to the school so I went out early to take some snaps. Unfortunately I was a bit too early and they needed more time to open. The Society Garlic growing close by looked so pretty in the morning sunlight though that I wasn’t too disappointed.
Photo 1: Society Garlic in the morning light
Photo 2: Purple Society Garlic
Photo 3: Sociable Society Garlic
Photo 4: Society Garlic Mood
Photo 5: Society Garlic swaying
Alstroemeria sounds so exotic to me – well suited to the blooms. The two tone colouring is so alluring. The petals are rather delicate so any fiddling or touching up against other blooms tends to bruise them.
Photo 1: Alluring Alstroemeria
Photo 2: Alstroemeria petal
Photo 3: Lily on Lily
Photo 4: Inca Lily and Wax flowers
Photo 5: Alstroemeria “Inca Lily”
Photo 6: Inca lily
Photo 7: Inca Lilies
A few Society Garlic blooms have appeared in the garden and their long delicate stems dance gracefully in the wind. In another spot in the garden however the salmon pink and white-edged Geraniums continue to bloom barely responding to the wind.
Photo 1: Society Garlic blooms
Photo 2: Salmon pink and white-edged Geraniums
Photo 3: Purple Society Garlic
Photo 4: Geraniums blooming
Photo 5: Society Garlic
The small purple bell-shaped flower of the Campanula is delicate and very pretty. “Get Mee” is the American name given to the same plant that is known in Europe as the “Dalmation Bellflower.”
Photo 1: Campanula Get Mee
Photo 2: Purple wonder
Photo 3: Campanula Company
Photo 4: Campanula and feather
Photo 5: Campanula and Pink Breath of Heaven
Photo 6: Campanula Get Mee Purple Blooms
Photo 7: Campanula Get Mee please
The first sunny morning this week so decided to take a stroll around the block with my camera. Been playing around with the ISO to reduce the noise so was happy to come across these pretty African daisies.
Photo 1: African Daisies in the sun
Photo 2: African Daisy after rain
Photo 3: Cluster of African Daisies
Photo 4: African Daisies
Photo 5: Solitary African Daisy
Photo 6: African Daisy duo
Photo 7: African Daisy and buds
