Sunday, November 27, 2011
Hummingbird Sampling Nectar

Last weekend the Hummingbirds were very busy at the local nurseries. This girl (an Anna's Hummingbird) in particular was spending a lot of time at her favorite flowers. She was not particularly excited to have me there at first. But it was easy to see she really loved these flowers, some kind of South African Lily I believe. So all I had to do was get a step closer each time she came by, and she eventually was pretty comfortable with me.

Sunday, April 17, 2011
Agapanthus in the Morning Rain

Friends and family who live in a "less temperate" climate make fun of me when I mention the different seasons here, but I do love the change in our seasons. This is a fun early spring shot. The Agapanthus are just starting to bloom in our yard, and on this day an early morning rainstorm had just subsided to let the sunlight through. This combination of weather and sunlight can capture my attention for hours without even leaving my front yard. I actually had to tiptoe through the wet flowers to frame up the second blossom (or inflorescence), out of focus in the background.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Canna in the Afternoon Light

This is one of my friends in the back yard. If you've been around the site for a while you have seen him before. My Mom sent me a bag of about three rhizomes over ten years ago and they (or their descendants) are still going strong. I've seen a lot of other Cannas, but this one is not so common. It's always been my favorite. When the sun is low in the afternoon it has to get through the rest of our jungle, so the lighting gets mottled and really interesting. The only problem is it moves fast and what is a great shot when we are out watering the plants, is gone once I get back out with my camera. Which, of course, leads to the dangerous practice of watering the plants while I'm holding the camera. This, like chasing bees, has worked out well for me so far but may come too an abrupt end one day.

Monday, August 20, 2007
Lily of the Rain

The yard is a completely different place in the rain. Unfortunately for my camera I love the look of the flowers when it's raining. It's not just the drops of water. If it was I could just spray them. The soft lighting from the clouds changes the feel of the photo completely.

Saturday, June 9, 2007
Calla Drops

The sun was in and out of the clouds when I took this shot. I only had about 30 seconds while the light was interesting.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Blooming Tiger

It was another good weekend to take pictures. But, as usual it was just too short. Fortunately I had enough time to get a shot of this cool Tiger Lily. This is actually a native Santa Barbara plant.

Sunday, May 6, 2007
Lily in the Shadows

I thought this photo went nicely with yesterday's cactus. Nice and shadowy.

Friday, May 4, 2007
Lilies in the Corner

Another shot of the Calla Lilies in the corner of our yard (cactus corner). As you can tell I have not got out of the back yard with my camera lately. Of course, there are enough beautiful things there to keep me busy for years.

Monday, April 30, 2007
Friends

When the Epiphyllum get going they really go wild. This blossom (the red one) is from the beautiful cactus that got us kicked out of our last apartment. Well, maybe not that dramatic, but I sure was not going to trim the cactus like the land lord wanted!

The lilies lived here when we moved in. They are actually in the ground in what we now call "Cactus Corner". They have had to stretch a little taller to see the sun. But they make an amazing contrast with the cactus and they always seem to be intertwined, I like to think they are friends.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Lotus & Lily Pads

Seems like a fitting image. As I upload this it is raining like crazy.

I love the way the water beads on the lily pads, and the ruffled edges of the pads themselves.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Calla Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day!

I was trolling the logs and it looks like there have been quite a few people looking for Calla Lily photos lately. (as well as Valentine's flowers) This was the scene a couple of days ago in the back yard, and I thought the shape of the flower was particularly fitting for the day.

Have a wonderful valentines day!

Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Yellow Canna Bract

This is another Canna that my mom sent me as a bulb about 10 years ago. It has bloomed a couple of times each year for the last few years but it never had such a cool leaf or bract around the flowers like this. Even in the back yard there are always new surprises.

Friday, November 24, 2006
Backlit Calla

I particularly like the glowing edge of this lily on the left. The curves that you can follow in the shadows are interesting too.

Thursday, November 16, 2006
Flaming Boquet

I recently took a similar photo of this Canna. But, this time the light was just a little bit different. I can only assume that these guys are called Lucifer Cannas because they look like fire when they bloom. And the evening sun only enhanced the effect!

Thursday, October 5, 2006
Backyard Blossoms

This is a plant that my mom sent me many years ago ('bout 9) as just a root in a package. It has survived the heat of the desert in Palm Springs and living for five years on a small patio. It is finally really happy. It has a spot that it loves and an automated dripper. And every time it explodes like this I think of my mom!

This photo looks a bit like a watercolor to me. Especially the out of focus plants in the background.

Monday, July 24, 2006
Lotus Pads

Lily pads from yesterday's Lotus blossom. I particularly like the little rings of ripples at the top of the image.

Sunday, July 23, 2006
Purple, Blue & Yellow Water Lily

The Santa Barbara Cemetery recently planted new lilies in it's fountain. They are beautiful!

This flower has a lot of names including Blue Lotus, Egyptian Lotus and most impressive... "Sacred Narcotic Lily of the Nile"

Thursday, June 8, 2006
Agapanthus Buds

Another of my rare morning shots. The light is nice in the morning, and I really try to take advantage of it when I am conscious. But that is a rather rare occurrence in the morning.

Monday, May 22, 2006
Agapanthus in the Rain

It rained heavily last night, and this morning we got to see the SUN! It has been gray for so long I did not know how to act!

Yeah I did, I grabbed my camera!

I was up uncharacteristically early waiting for a ride, but as a reward I got to enjoy the morning sunlight in my front yard.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Birthday Turtle

I took the day off today and wandered around taking pictures. This was my wife's pick, she really likes turtles.

We watched this guy slip off of the lily pad slowly and then climb back up.

Sunday, April 23, 2006
Colorful Calla

It looks like I was walking through some deep jungle to find this one. Actually it was the Home Depot jungle. They had an amazing display of Calla Lilies! So many I could not decide which to bring home. But I think I am going to go back and see if this one is still there.

Wednesday, April 5, 2006
The Agapanthus are Coming!

There are a lot of Agapanthus around our home and they are looking like they are about to burst! I took this one today on a walk with The Hound.

My botanist tells me that Agapanthus is derived from the Greek word "agapé" meaning love and "anthos" meaning flower.

And for those really interested in the botany, the group of flowers all radiating from the center with equal length "pedicles" (or individual flower stalks) is called an "umbel." An umbel is a kind of "inflorescence," which is a botanical term referring to a group or cluster of flowers and specifically the structure of that group. Ahhh the Internet, what can\'t it teach you?

Sunday, April 2, 2006
Alien Flowerscape

This looks to me like rolling hills on a strange landscape. And, I guess from the fly's point of view it is.

Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Backlit Lily

Well there have been quite a few Calla Lilies on the photo of the day lately. But thats because they are going wild around here!

This one is a little different than my usual razor sharp feel, but I like the painting feel of it especially the leaves in the background.