Summer's Last Hurrah!

Greetings! It's been almost two months since my last entry here so today's post will have a good number of photos for everyone's viewing pleasure. I completely skipped the month of August but what an interesting month it was. From an earthquake centered in VA that was felt all the way in New England to losing power from Hurricane Irene, there was certainly enough to keep anyone busy.

Speaking of storms, we'll begin with a photo that suggests a looming storm is inevitable. In actuality, only a few raindrops fell and the storm clouds left as fast as they arrived. The conditions interested me since the sun still managed to shine through the clouds, illuminating the trees in the middle ground.

The photo below is of a hydrangea leaf that was backlit by the setting sun. I find lighting conditions such as this fun to work with as they allow you to see things not normally visible under typical lighting conditions. Leaf structure is so intricate that one can't help but be mesmerized by it.

The next two photos are of the Night Queen flower, or Epiphyllum oxypelatum. This particular cactus rarely blooms and when it does, it happens for a single night. When I was young, I would always know when one of these beautiful flowers bloomed because it gives off a strong, pleasant fragrance. Given this small window of opportunity, I picked this flower and pinned it so that I could photograph it. This might just be my favorite flower!

The next half-dozen photos below are of various flowers including clematis, sunflower, lily, and hydrangea. Some have been posted here before while some have not.

Clematis

I'm not sure what this particular flower is. It is very small, roughly 0.25" to 0.375" at its widest and grows in clusters close to the ground. From a non-magnified view, they can be easily missed! 

Sunflower

Lily

Hydrangea (and a really big fly!)

I've posted photos of these little white flowers below and have yet to find out exactly what they are. If anyone knows, then please educate me! =) 

Here we have a series of photos featuring the blossoms of the Chinese chive. Not only are these flowers pretty but they can also be eaten! They have to be harvested before the blossoms open though and can be stir-fried or used in soups. My family's been growing Chinese chive for over 25 years in our garden and regularly use them in dumpling, soup, scrambled eggs, and stir-fry.

There were many insects feeding on the blossoms and they provided me with an abundance of photographic subjects. Below is a photo of the largest hoverfly I've ever seen. They're usually about 0.375" long but this one was over 0.5"!

In this photo, I believe we have a shield bug and this is the first time I've ever seen one. I'm not sure which species it belongs to but it looks a lot like other shield bugs I've seen in photographs online. This little guy was quite the adventurer, climbing over and under leaves like it was nothing.

Last but not least, there were also bees getting their share of pollen and nectar. There were some rather large ones flying around sometimes bullying the other much smaller critters in the neighborhood. These guys moved really fast and it was hard getting a sharp focus on them given the dim light available at the time.

Finally, we have several photos of the hairy toad lily. The first of these flowers started blooming a couple of weeks ago but this is the first time this season that I've had the opportunity to photograph them. Several buds are currently maturing so I expect some more chances to capture them in pixel form.

Some photos of the hairy toad lily were posted last year but I think this year's results are much better since I have the close-up lens to give me a magnification boost. What intrigues me the most about these flowers are the little golden orgs that hang in the central "arms". These little guys bloom at a time when nearly all of the other flowers have given their show and will continue to bloom into October. 

Well, this wraps up today's post. With the Autumnal Equinox less than two weeks away, there will be an ever-decreasing selection of subjects to photograph in my yards. Next up will be more hairy toad lilies, dried hydrangea flowers, and the fall foliage, so stay tuned!

Mid-season Bloomers

Last week's heat wave has come and gone, culminating in a miserably gloomy weekend during which I experienced one of the most awkward encounters in my life. The weather is no less miserable this week as rain clouds loom overhead for most half of the week. (I love teh Intarw3b..."most" in the previous sentence has a strike through because the weather forecast has changed. The next two days will be only slightly cloudy.)

Today's entry contains 22 photos and we'll start off with the remnants of flowers that once graced us with their splendor and in their passing, continue to do so. The two photos below are of peonies that still retain a colorful elegance despite having withered away.

With the passing of the peonies comes the arrival of the hydrangea, which are as abundant in my yards as the peonies. We have several types and colors (actually depends on soil acidity/alkalinity) and here's the early bloomers:

The last post ended with a variety of roses, which are still going strong. Today we have even more photos of roses, some of which were taken under quite favorable lighting conditions.

Once numerous, nearly all of the clematis have retired except for a few late-bloomers. I don't think I've seen this coloration before until this year so it was a pleasant surprise to find the first flower in full bloom. The second photo below shows the seed head of a clematis that bloomed earlier in the season.

I'm not sure what the magenta flowers in the first photo below are but they are aplenty in the backyard, appearing in large clusters. It was particularly challenging to photograph them since they are perched atop long stalks that sway with the slightest breeze. The second photo is of honeysuckles.

I try to identify the flowers I've photographed and have had great luck with Wikipedia, to which I often link to; however, these flowers below escape identification. The purplish/bluish ones in the first three photos below open up during the day and close up in the evening while the white ones in the fourth photo are about a quarter-inch in diameter. If anyone knows what they are, do tell!

Here is a testament to the dedication that I've given to my hobby. This hungry mosquito was just one of dozens that have bitten me while I've been walking around the garden taking photographs. Luckily for it, I saw an opportunity for a photograph and allowed it to continue feeding off of me. I actually took an HD video of this mosquito and it's noticeable how its abdomen expands and grows reddish in color as its belly fills with my blood.

Finally, we have a couple of photos of what is either a butterfly or moth. Apparently it is quite difficult to differentiate between butterflies and moths. This little fella kindly landed several times onto a clay frog that happened to share its coloration. Perhaps it was not a coincidence and he thought it might offer good camouflage!

I'm asking myself the same thing, little fella...just what is it that lies o'er yonder?

Lately, I've been contemplating much about what I want in life and work. Like the butterfly/moth in the photo above, what lies in front of me is quite blurry at the moment. While I enjoy bokeh, the blurriness of uncertainty makes me uncomfortable and simply doesn't sit well with me. Hopefully, some more time thinking may enlighten me but along the way, I'll continue to capture these snapshots as I escape into the calm that photography and nature brings to me.

Food and Flora!

All right, guess who's back from traveling! The NY-MD journey took nearly 60% longer than usual both ways due to heavy traffic and road construction but being the mellow yellow fellow that I am, I actually rather enjoyed the drive. The past week was hot and stuffy but weather was soon forgotten once I was immersed in work, which in turn was forgotten once I was sitting in front of delicious food!

As hard as it is to believe, I didn't take photos of everything I ate because the food itself distracted me. What was captured though (with my phone camera), could be said to be the highlights of the week's dining experience. We start off with steak with macaroni and cheese prepared to perfection. I ordered the steak medium-rare, which was just right and the flavor really popped in your mouth.

On my last night in MD, we journeyed to a Japanese restaurant in DE. I've only ever had sushi in NY and wasn't sure what to expect down south but was pleasantly surprised. My order comprised of two rolls: a tempura shrimp roll with avacado, eel sauce, Japanese mayonnaise, and breading and a king crab roll topped with tuna. These two rolls, especially the tempura shrimp roll, easily rivaled the NY sushi I've had.

While the sushi was excellent, the dessert was even erm...more excellent! My coworkers and I each ordered a tempura brownie topped with coffee ice cream and caramel. I'm generally not a dessert-person but I'll be damned if I don't order this again! This dessert was so rich that it was effectively a second meal. 

All this talk of good food has me salivating so let's move on to the main event. I arrived too late Friday evening to take any photos so I woke up early Saturday morning and went to work. As with a lot of the recent photos, these were taken with the DMC-FZ35 configured with the DMW-LC55 close-up lens. I can't identify the flowers in the first three photos, so anyone who know what they are, please speak up!

A lot of hover flies were busy swarming these flowers as evidenced in the photo above. These little flies are quick while in-flight so I patiently waited until they touched down on the the flowers to gather nectar.

At night, these flowers actually close up and look as if they never bloomed until the next morning when they re-open to their full glory.

This year, I didn't take as many photos of peonies as I did last year. During my week away, a lot of them opened up and ran their course. A number did remain in-bloom so I seized the opportunity to take some photos. In the first one below, we have a mean-looking black fly perched on a pink peony.

I like the next photo below because it looks as if the peony in focus has a "tail" or "train" of peonies. In the front yard, we have an entire row of peonies that have dozens of flowers in peak-bloom.

 

  

The small flowers in the first of the next two photos are also unidentified to me. They are roughly one-quarter inch in width and grow in small clusters. Again, if anyone can identify it, please let me know what they are! The second photo is of a leek flower head in bloom. We have a couple of these plants growing in the backyard.

The multi-layered clematis that I fondly photographed and posted in the last couple of posts mostly lost their main petals over the week. Nonetheless, the remaining petals retained their porcupine-like spiky appearance.

 

The next flower is yet another one that I have not yet identified so please help me out! I've actually identified this particular flower with the help of Wikipedia. I have photos from last year that have an even closer view of the central structures of the flowers. Since the LC55 lens was attached, I have a longer minimum focusing distance, hence the not-as-close view as last year.

Rosa multiflora

To finish today's post, we have an assortment of roses (actually beginning with the previous photo). Red, white, pink, yellow, and purple - we have it all between the front/back yards!

The roses in the next two photos give off an incredible fragrance that wafted in the air as I moved around to compose the photos. I think they they, along with some other of roses below, may be cultivars of Rosa chinensis.

We're due to have weather above 90*F (32.2*C) over the next couple of days this week and I expect the heat to cause a lot of the flowers to wither quicker than usual. After the roses and peonies finish up, we'll see the hydrangea come out. In the mean time, I'll try to photograph as much as I can before the heat wave takes its toll so stay tuned!