Flowers 2010

[Birma]

Ok, I might be "cheating" here a tiny bit as these aren't flowers, but they where once .


Seed Heads in the Snow 2 by Birm, on Flickr


Seed Heads in the Snow 1 by Birm, on Flickr

Both taken with the A700 (I got it back!) and Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8.

[mvanrheenen]

Thank you all for the kind comments!

I like the second image best Birma. It's very nice how the snow got stuck between those little branches. Nice bokeh too!

[aster]

Hi,

Birma, lovely snow-covered dry plant shots...Snow and plant interaction is certainly spectacular.


Our camellias have just started blooming and there's one tiny Quince flower all on its own blooming long after its season. The other quince plant already finished with the fruiting and looks dry while this plant is taking a chance in the cold months...We actually may have an Australian-minded quince plant that keeps up to a Southern Hemispheric calender that we Northern Hemisperic ones can't see on the other side of the garden.

And we see the exact same behaviour with a tiny Bougainvillea flower, giving blooming a chance under harsh weather of the past weeks... Plants have their own minds! : )

Yildiz

ps. Shot with Samsung GT S8500, 5MP camera

Pink Camellia

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One Last Quice Flower

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Bougainvillea

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[Greg Beetham]

Those still qualify Birma I reckon, pretty good winter shots also, fairly intrepid going out in the cold to get them too.
Very nice Yildiz, excellent really from a cell phone, those flowers are taking their chances blooming in winter I think, a Quince from down under, well you never know, it might have heard it's summer here and thought well it's summer 'somewhere' isn't it?
I suppose that Bougainvillea? probably flowers all year round, I know ours did, back when we had one that is, before it tried to take over half the front yard.
Greg

[aster]

Very nice Yildiz, excellent really from a cell phone, those flowers are taking their chances blooming in winter I think, a Quince from down under, well you never know, it might have heard it's summer here and thought well it's summer 'somewhere' isn't it?
I suppose that Bougainvillea? probably flowers all year round, I know ours did, back when we had one that is, before it tried to take over half the front yard.
Greg

Hi Greg,

Thank you, yes, your spelling of the Bougainvillea is the correct one. Sometimes the mind lingers...

I'm not so sure if it actually can flower all year round though. It needs pretty warm temperatures to flower in such a continuous cycle. The reason it did in your garden may be due to reasonable climate conditions that don't go anywhere near freezing points. Bougainvillea is more endemic to our Mediterranean and Egeaen Sea costs than Istanbul, where you can swim almost all year round...It actually likes a hot and dry day as long as the roots are hydrated sufficiently...

I'm surprised it even attempted to bloom after last week's blazing low temperatures, snow and strong winds that lifted everything off the ground...A persistent one for sure!

Yildiz

[aster]

One more from the garden... and an ant as bonus.

I call it the 'waxy snowball flower' but don't yet know the name of the species....

Yildiz

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[Greg Beetham]

That's a nice flower spray Yildiz, looks like you're still in luck with the flowers, so far at least.
Greg

ps. Got a couple of shots down at my sisters place, but only one flower I think, didn't want to take too many chances in the rain with the camera.
A700 KM18-200

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[david antony]

Some wonderful photos guy's & in December!

Really nice capture of the Seed Heads Birma.
Each one snowed up to the max, nice bokeh.

Nice compositions with good colours in your
flowers Ylidiz. Not much colour in the waxy
snowball but what a Wowzer of a shot.

That looks like something I have in the front
garden Greg, minus those lovely ferns. That is
a fine display.

[Birma]

Thanks for the comments on the snowy seed heads. The thaw has set in so the lovely crispness has sadly gone here.

Great zingy colours Yildiz in the Camelia, Bougainvillea and Quince and a super performance from the 'phone' again . Could the snowy wax ball be a type of Viburnum? We have a lot in our garden but it is suffering from the snow cover at the moment.

Like the flower from your sister's garden Greg and I like the background of those huge fearns. Like DA, we have one in our garden, but it never gets to that lovely warm orange colour - probably never sunny enough here .

[aster]

Thank you for identifying my waxy white snowball of a flower, Birma.

Indeed, that is Viburnum!

I'm trying to get more images here before 2010 says bye bye and December although very rainy at the moment, permits some good growth of the flowers still.

Yildiz

ps. I find the flower of this shrub very interesting; it has a red bulb-like growth among its white lacey blossoms... Any idea what it is?

Shot witht cell phone again, since I had bags of shopping bags that yielded quite a load which made the Alpha impossible to carry around as an extra.


A kind of interesting flower..

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Solitary Red Rose

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Camellia Under Rain

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[Birma]

Hi Yildiz, some lovely December colour . I especially like the Camellia. I'm glad you have your camera phone so we don't miss these delights when you're out with shopping bags etc.

No idea a about the strange flower I'm afraid. The only thing I can think of that looks similar is honey suckle.

[aster]

Thank you, Birma.

It's alright , sooner or later I'll find out what that shrub's name is... : )


Yildiz

[Greg Beetham]

Hi Yildiz, Birma
Interesting flower that one Yildiz, I went on a bit of a search yesterday but no luck, I ended up getting a bit sidetracked looking for it, fancy that, ME getting sidetracked
I even joined a flower forum and left a question and a link to your photo to see if anyone knows what it might be http://www.flowersforums.com/unknown-pr ... 39539.html
Greg

ps. Yes Birma it's an odd flower that spiky orange thing in my sisters garden, when I didn't have my camera an Olive Backed Sunbird landed on it and jumped all over sucking nectar, it was about 10 feet away, I knew if I moved it would zoom off...so no photo.

[aster]

Hi Greg,

Thank you very much for going to all that trouble. I found out what it is.

Birma is partially right about it being a type of honeysuckle since it does grow very similar flowers like summer honeysuckle.

This is known as the shrubby type that only flowers and fruits in winter months and that's why it's called "WinterBeauty" honeysuckle. And the bulbous growth is its fruit.

---------------------------------------------------

Lonicera x purpusii 'Winter Beauty"
Genus: Lonicera

Variety or cultivar: 'Winter Beauty' _ 'Winter Beauty' is a strong-growing, rounded, mid-sized deciduous shrub with ovate light-green leaves. In winter and early spring it bears small, sweetly scented, cream flowers on its bare branches. These are occasionally followed by red berries in summer.

Lonicera x purpusii 'Winter Beauty' is: Deciduous

Flower: Cream in Spring; Cream in Winter

Foliage: Light green in Spring; Light green in Summer

Fruit: Red in Summer; Red in Autumn

Fragrance: Flowers are sweetly scented.

Habit: Bushy, Rounded
----------------------------------------------------


Thanks all,

Yildiz

[Greg Beetham]

Ah that's good, the mystery is solved, some more photos here. http://images.google.com/images?sourcei ... 2&bih=1015
Greg