What better way to spend a Saturday morning, after rain showers throughout the night, flowers covered in raindrops and perfect overcast skies? The conditions were too perfect to not make photographing my flowers a priority. I had made a challenge to myself to photograph more this summer. Especially all of my flowers. That challenge has been a failure up until yesterday.
It has been hard with my day job, vegetable garden, multiple flower gardens, strawberry patch, raspberry patch, and going to a local organic blueberry farm to pick blueberries to meet my own challenge. Yesterday, I decided to let the weeds that needed pulled, making pesto and dead heading flowers wait for another day. Although I do find dead heading annual flowers therapeutic after a trying day. I needed to play! And play I did.
The first image in the gallery below is of snapdragons from Johnny’s Seeds. I planted Johnny’s Early Sunrise Mix. And they have been so beautiful, I plan on planting them again next year. If you look close on the right side of the frame, there is a newborn praying mantis. They are born brown and turn green as they mature.
My purple prairie clover is blooming quite nicely. It is a native wildflower to Iowa. The yellow flowers behind are black-eyed susan’s. Also a native wildflower to Iowa. The final image in the gallery is of new growth to one of my snapdragons. Soon there will be more flowers.
What have I been doing with all of these flowers? Every Monday I take a bouquet to work and put on my desk. If I can’t be home in my garden, at least a small portion can go to work with me.
The bouquet tomorrow is limelight hydrangeas and a few queeny formula mix zinnias. The queeny formula mix is also from Johnny’s seeds and is a mix of the queeny lime series zinnias.
Another challenging week for my 30 day project From My Garden. Between my limited time for being able to shoot with natural light, my day job and mother nature, I wasn’t sure if making an image each would be possible.
My first image is of a dried pink lady apple tree leaf that is still hanging on. It amazes me how leaves held onto this tree during the winter. Between snow, ice and wind that at times was 50 mph, it shows how resilient plant life can be. The first image was taken during the late afternoon golden hour. The shadows and curves caught my attention. If you look close, you can see the tree starting to form a bud.
The next day was extremely windy, which is not unusual for Iowa. I had seen a few dried cosmos in one of my planter beds with the frilly leaves still attached. They had been in the back of my mind to be a subject for my 30 day From My Garden project. Breaking off part of a Cosmos, I took it inside and chose to use it for a flat lay photo. Using the same set up as before, I wanted to show both the seed head and the dried leaves that were once frilly. Now they are dried and curled.
One of the many perennial plants in my garden is Anise Hyssop. Bees love this plant. The aroma of anise is still present in the dried flowers. I love the texture of the blooms and how they curl. Several times I tried making an image outside and was never happy. Some days using the wind as my friend, some days trying ICM and some days a traditional image. Finally, I chose to bring a stem inside and make a flat lay photo. Diffused natural light in my south facing living room window and the same piece of barn wood I used during my first week of this project was my setup.
The next day was cold, rainy and windy. Not the conditions to have fun photographing outside. Not only was this next image made inside my home, but in my basement. This is my strawberry mint that is being overwintered in my basement. It will be a few weeks before my mint can be moved back outside. As mint is invasive, I grow it in terracotta pots. If they are left outside, not only is there the risk of the mint not coming back, but terracotta cannot withstand the extreme cold, snow and ice. I grow chocolate mint, strawberry mint and peppermint. All are on a table under grow lights, which weren’t on for this image as they shine purple.
Winter isn’t quite over in SE Iowa. High winds and blowing snow the next day. It was still windy after work. I went out and saw there was a small amount of snow on my limelight hydrangea tree. Waiting for a break in the wind, I was able to make this next image. If you look close, you can see how the snow had started to melt, leaving the flakes to look like ice.
Finally, a break in the weather and outside I went with camera in hand to explore my garden. On the west side of my house, with no wind barrier, is a flower bed with zinnias and cosmos. This particular zinnia was curved downward showing the delicate petals that have hung on all winter. The shape and colors grabbed my attention. At first, an image was made with my iPhone, but the background wasn’t as blurred as I wanted. To make this image, I went inside and picked up my mirrorless DSLR camera with my 105 mm macro lens attached and headed back outside.
Another of my perennial flowers, are Purple Coneflowers. The dried seed heads had not yet been chosen for one of my subjects for this project. Using my iPhone 13 Pro with the macro function enabled, I was able to make an image showing the texture and colors of the seed head.
Fourteen days into this project, From My Garden. It’s getting more challenging to come up with new images. Partly due to weather and partly due to my limited time for this project. Daylight Savings Time started this weekend which will give me an extra hour of light after work. The temperatures will be warmer than normal this next week. I’m looking forward to see how my garden changes.
Different Isn't Wrong, It's Just Different 