Delicate November Bloomer... African Daisy revisited!

Hope you aren't tired of seeing these flowers... they are still putting on a show in my garden and I simply cannot resist sharing this one... taken earlier today while the rain of the past couple of days was still misting down on the garden... flash photo because it was too dark to do otherwise without the tripod and I was too lazy to go get mine and set up in the rain for this shot. (This blossom is the exact same one as the photo below it... overnight cool temperatures cause the petals to curl up... this one won't fully open again today unless it warms up more than it has already.)

Delicate Beauty... November and my African Daisies are still blooming...

This is the first year I've planted African Daisies... I have three... this one plus one that is dark pink (magenta) and a white one. The white one has a half dozen buds and the dark pink is also blooming here in my Bethesda, MD garden. Wikipedia says African Daisies are half-hardy perennials so they may survive the winter here unless we get a particularly hard freeze. The blooms just BEG to be photographed!

Sunlight on Gazania center... with ANTS and ???

As always, once the image (taken with a Nikkor 105mm VR macro lens) was uploaded to my computer, I saw much more than the brilliant sunlight on this Gazania blossom. I'd noticed the ants, but the fat little insects are unknown to me, and until the image was on the computer, had also been unseen. Perhaps a bug expert among you could provide an ID for the fat guys!

Sunrise on my last day at Depot Beach, NSW, Australia

Still finding photos not yet posted here from my July/August trip to Australia and New Zealand. I particularly like this one for the presence of the sea kayaker in the dawn's early light. Shortly before I snapped this particular photo, a HUGE (to me anyway) male kangaroo hopped up over the dunes and startled me.

Reflections of beauty... Mt. McGowan reflected in Stanley Lake, Idaho...

Still working on image selection for my February, 2010 gallery show... cannot believe I haven't posted this one previously... from our September trip out west to Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. (OOPS... and now that I've posted it here, I can see it would benefit from a little straightening in post processing... LATER!)

Crepe Myrtle showing fall colors against a blue, blue sky...

My neighbor's Crepe Myrtle is particularly stunning this time of year!

Glowing Gazania... fall blooming beauty!

Gazanias are marvelous annuals to plant for a spot of color in window boxes. Mine are still blooming in November in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. The other flowers in the window boxes are fading and didn't provide a nice backdrop for this beauty... so I stuck a soft lens case behind it to give a somewhat dull background and make the flower stand out.

November bloomer... wet with rain and not yet fully opened!

This year, my garden has been graced with African daisies from three different plantings that may or may not return in the spring. According to Wikipedia, some varieties of Osteospermum are half-hardy perennials and those that are hardy have purple centers (as this one does). So maybe at least one of mine will return in spring. I planted a deep purple one, a pale purple one (this one) and a white one; all of them stopped blooming in August but started a new round of blooms in late September/early October. (this photo was taken using a shallow DOF to deliberately blur the unfolding petals and focus on the center of the flower)

Sun lights up this green beauty... resting on Lemon Balm leaf...

This image will be included in my gallery show... the owners say people like bugs... and I love the way the light hits this guy!

Magnolia Splendor... revisited...

Thought I'd posted a Magnolia blossom earlier but cannot find it! Maybe it was posted to Flickr but not here... in any case... here it is for the first time? or again? (another image that might make an appearance in my photography show)

Jeweled Heart of a Yellow Chrysanthemum...

Working away at gathering images for my gallery show in February... found some photos from awhile back that might be good for the show so will be posting a few over the next several days. Enjoy!

Fall is here... my Dogwood shows the promise of spring to come!

I started a dogwood project album on Flickr in the spring... then summer came... and travel happened... and I didn't shoot many pictures of my dogwoods over the summer. Now that fall is here, the leaves are changing and I'm once again inspired to capture the changing moods of my dogwood trees. I like this shot because of the brilliant orange-red of the leaf in the foreground and the slightly shadowed bud that will bring spring beauty in the form of the lovely dogwood blossom!