Friday, May 21, 2010

The Brenda Photo Challenge (5-22) Flowers

It's time once again for another Brenda Photo Challenge. This time the theme is flowers. I've been using up quite a few flower photos lately but I still managed to come up with some for this post.
It won't be long before the peony's are in bloom. I'll never forget the first year I had these. I went out to check out the buds and found them covered in ants. I quickly grabbed some ant spray and proceeded to get rid of them. I had no idea that they needed the ants to bloom. Needless to say, they didn't that year. 

 
This next one I've had for quite some time. It started out as what looked like a small clump of grass. It gets these little pink flowers shooting out of it. When I first got it, I would say it was maybe 3" in diameter. It's now closer to 2'. I have no idea what it is so if anyone recognizes it I would love to know.

Last but not least is my white Iris
 And here it is in black and white.
 Just for fun lets add a gradient to that.
This doesn't officially start until tomorrow but I always schedule my posts for 7:00 p.m. and I didn't want this to go up that late. I've been changing my time when I do the photo challenge but I think from now on I'll just do it the night before. At least this way I won't be late.
Now that you've seen all my flowers go check out all the other entries, although keep in mind that they may not be up until tomorrow.

39 comments:

Joanne Olivieri said...

Wow, Ann, these are exquisite. The white Iris is amazing. Some great shots here.

Donna said...

Hahahaa!!! You little tart!! These are Wonderful!
Gads Girl! That Iris is just Beautiful! I Love the back lighting on it!
You did Good!!!
hughugs

Ann said...

poetic shutterbug, thanks. I was quite happy with the iris picture

donna I took this one sitting on the ground looking up at the iris and the sun was shining just behind it.

WillOaks Studio said...

Hi Ann, I think your pink "puffs" are known by the common name "Sea Thrift" and I just can't remember the Latin name...although some years ago I did know all these names...ah well, use it or lose it I guess!! You are sure having fun with flower fotos!! Way to go!

Angela said...

These are beautiful photograph's. I love the Iris in black and white. Gorgeous work. You have such a great eye!
Have a great weekend:)

Ann said...

WillOaks. Oh Karen thank you. I've had that in my flower beds for years now and have never known the name. I looked it up and THAT'S it. It says that it's botanical name is Armeria maritima.

Angela, thank you. Even though a photo in full color can be gorgeous I've always loved the look of black and white.

wenn said...

wow, the flowers r very lovely!

VanillaSeven said...

I guess sometime we just let nature unfold by itself. Great effect on the Iris :)

BeadedTail said...

The iris is lovely - looks like an angel! I've noticed ants on peonies but never realized they actually needs those ants to bloom. Interesting!

GratefulPrayerThankfulHeart said...

Beautiful! I especially love the gradient Iris!

Cindra said...

The iris shots are wonderful. I love the little touch of yellow of the iris fur on the petals. Great shot!

Janice said...

I love the different effects with the iris pictures.

June Zach said...

All the three photos are wonderful but indeed the Iris has the best capture! The effects you did to it all the more made it beautifully captivating!

May every one enjoy their weekend! ^_^

Unknown said...

Well, this comment may further damage my reputation as a manly man. For I happen to love irises, or flags. We had several different colors of them when I was growing-up. Oh, gotta do something quick. Hey, would the title of that first pic be, "This bud's for Duke?" Oh yeah, I've still got it!

Karen M said...

Lovely pics! I'm partial to the white iris!

Marg said...

Gosh you are really getting good at the photo doing. That white Iris is gorgeous. I don't know about anyone else, but I love to look at flowers. Those are all super pictures. Keep up the good work.

Ann said...

Wenn thanks so much. I can't take much credit though since they flowers are just natural beauties

Vanilla Seven I think that's probably the best way.

beaded tail. I was thinking the same thing about the iris. I had to learn the hard way about the peonies...lol

LDH I've been having a lot of fun adding gradients to pictures

Cindra that yellow seems to stand out just a little more on the white ones.

Butterfly gardener thanks, I had fun with that

Junezach the iris was my favorite also, I saved the best for last

fishhawk I don't think any damage was done by your comment. I only have the white ones and the more popular purple. Good save on that photo title by the way.

Karen thanks, and me too.

Marg thanks, I'm hoping I can improve with each picture but I don't always see it :) I love looking at the flowers too.

Unknown said...

Lovely flowers Ann!

Out on the prairie said...

I always enjoy looking at photos in black and white. The image can be totally different.When I shot film I often would get a few rolls and had fun and folly trying to play with the medium.Iris is such a complex flower and always catches my eye.I like the purple ones that smell like grape soda and yellow with a touch of citrus, but newer hybrids I wish I had all.

Erika said...

Ann, the photos are great. And I would have done the same thing about the ants--I cannot stand them. In fact, it is taking every bit of willpower to not get out the bag of pesticide to go after the japanese beetles; I am trying to be more env. friendly. But they are winning the war against my plants:(

Lynn said...

Can't help you on the first one, but the black and white is wonderful. :D

Kim said...

The iris is great...I usually like the black and white but this time I like the true color one best! :) You do a great job!

Ann said...

DKMiller thank you, love taking flower pictures but even they have a hard time sitting still for me on a windy day :)

out on the prairie I find black and white photos to be more dramatic sometimes than the color and I love the look. I wish I had more variety of iris but I just have the purple and white

NicoDesigns I get a lot of japanese beetles in the summer time. they like to float in the pool.

Lynn thanks, I got the answer to what the pink one was

Kim The iris was a perfect subject. It's a natural beauty.

marie said...

Wow ~ beautiful photos!
Like everyone else ~ I love the iris shots. All three of them. I'm so glad someone was able to identify the mystery flower for you.

But my favorite is the shot of the peony bud...it brought to mind some special memories.
My grandmother used to have peony bushes all across the front of her porch and she would always tell us "touch but don't pick". I remember that I was fascinated by all the ants scurrying around. When I was about four I fell off the porch and landed in the middle of the peonies. The fall scared me and I cried ~ my grandma let me pick a bunch of peonies as a "feel better" treat.
Silly little story ~ but the memories are sweet!

Have a wonderful day!

Brenda said...

I have no idea what the little pink bloom is but it's very beautiful and I'd love to find some for my yard. Your photos are lovely!!

allotments4you.com said...

everyone has already said it but I wanted to let you know I had been by so I will repeat everyone else in saying great shots of the flowers...i do know the middle one but the name escapes me so i guess that isn't much help either. Good luck with the challenge!

Anonymous said...

These are beautiful. The first one I've never seen. How pretty that Iris is. And I really like it in black and white. Thanks for sharing. :) have a great weekend. :)

Leeuna said...

Beautiful photos as usual. I learned about the peonies and their ants the hard way as well. I cut a few blooms from the bush in the once and took them inside the house to make a flower arrangement for my dining room table. (I hadn't been married long) and you can imagine my horror when ants started crawling all over the table. Oh, the humiliation! I remember it still.

Anonymous said...

Well I'll be the "off"one - I like the first and second photos best and of the iris shots, the first one - I like being able to see the details in the leaves clearly.

As to the peonies - my mother had them in her garden and I did all the scut work, when I told her about the ants she said "Leave them alone, they open the flowers" Well, excuuuuse me!

Ann said...

Marie I just love your story about your grandmother's peonies. Things like that are what make grandma's so special.

Brenda ya know I can't even remember when or where I got that. But at least I do know what it's called now. Karen identified it as Sea Thrift

allotments4you thank you. Karen was kind enough to solve the mystery for me. I looked it up and got the botanical name but now without looking back at my comment I can't recall what it was...lol

Thom Your missing out on the peony, they have a heavenly scent to them.

Leeuna lol, love the story. At least you didn't kill yours with ant spray :0

Grace, I think "unique" rather than "off" one is a better description :) I wish someone would have warned me to leave the ants alone back then. Silly as it sounds, I look forward to seeing the ants arrive every year. Of course if they try to come in for a snack I'm not so thrilled.

Jeanette said...

That white iris is gorgeous. I had no idea that peones needed ants to bloom. I planted my first one last year. Its about to bloom and I am about to go outside to see if it has ants on it! Thanks for that info!

Jeanne said...

Beautiaful all Ann but I have to say my favorite is that first shot of the peony. Flowers don't even have to be in bloom to be beautiful.

gayle said...

Beautiful flowers!!

Sandy Trefger said...

Hi! Your flowers photos are simply gorgeous!! The pink flowers reminded me a bit of some little carnations I had many years ago but then, I don't know the names of most flowers so maybe not. Again, lovely photos!

Sandy

Ebie said...

Ann, I love how you played "tricks" on your iris! They are just gorgeous!

SquirrelQueen said...

Beautiful flowers for the challenge. I love peony's but I don't like ants so I just look at them in other folks gardens. Looks like your Sea Thrift has already been identified, it is a pretty little flower.

I love all three photo versions of the iris but nature's colors are my fav.

Ann said...

Jeanette Although I like the purple iris the whites are my favorite. Don't forget to leave those ants alone and then sit back and enjoy the scent from those peonies

Jeanne no they don't have to be in bloom to be beautiful, maybe it's the anticipation of their full glory that makes them a beauty at any stage

gayle it's a shame that they are forced to live in beds that are in such a mess :)

Sandy other than MOST of the ones I have I can never remember the names of them either.

Ebie the iris is a natural.

Squirrel queen it does make me crazy seeing all the ants all over the place on mine but I know that they are there for a good reason so I deal with it. Once the peonies bloom the ants just move on to better things.

Lindy said...

Really beautiful flowers from your garden! I like the different ways you've 'adjusted' your iris, but the last one is so beautiful that it looks like a painting. Simply stunning!

Thank you for your visit and comment on my Brenda Photo Challenge flowers.

Hope you have a great week!

Ann said...

Lindy, thank you. I was pretty happy with that last iris myself.

Related Posts with Thumbnails