Little flowers give me big smile
>> Wednesday, May 11, 2011 –
flowers,
macro,
ninebark,
sempervivum
I wanted to take some more photos of my sempervivum flowers before they all faded, to show the variety in the blooms. After a few shots though, I realized their differences were subtle.
Perhaps too subtle to monopolize a post, so I found several other small blooms around my garden and included those too. Very few words today.
As noted, these are various sempervivum flowers. I wonder if they will produce viable seed?
Not like I need more semps, but it would be interesting to grow them from seed to see what sort of hybrids I may have created.
Tiny henbit flowers. I've never looked at them this closely before. Yes, I should have pulled these weeds already, but I don't know if I can now -- it looks like a seahorse king sitting on his undersea throne!
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| Henbit flowers, although it might be a sea monkey king instead! |
The ninebark is flowering now, which is always a wonderful sight:
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| Is this an assassin bug nymph? |
Did you know chive flowers are edible? Sort of sweet and potently oniony. These tiny beetles know they're edible and love eating them apparently:
Not strictly a tiny flower, but this 'Morden Sunrise' rose is so nice:
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| It's impossible to get the color of this right. It's not this yellow. |
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| And it's not really this orange either. |
A few miscellaneous blooms, now that I'm looking for them...
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| Nepeta 'Walker's Low' -- catmint. One of hundreds of tiny flowers. |
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| A volunteer pea, growing nowhere near my veggie bed. |
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| The uncropped version of this image will burn your retinas. |
I love getting close looks at tiny flowers. It lets me see them in ways that I normally wouldn't. Their beautiful and delicate structures and tiny details are not intended for human eyes. You need to get up close, like an insect, to really appreciate them fully.
And I do appreciate them, I really do.
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Sempervivums do produce viable seed, but the seeds are tiny, and they do germinate after being planted for about a week, at least with the giant species I already have.
And the tiny details so often show us that other layer of life. Spiders and beetles.
Getting the camera and the human eye to agree about the colour of that flower, is a mission I frequently despair of. Feel like telling the camera, yes, that flower, you've got the shape right, now, about the colour ...
Alan, these are absolutely stunning photographs. Most people probably don't realize a) how small these flowers are, and b) how extremely difficult it is to take macro photos of this quality.
:: Bamboo and More ::
Thanks Gerhard!
I appreciate them too. Love the images of your flowers and bugs. I'm still keeping my macros of tiny flowers. Like you, I also have thoughts that they should not monopolize a post. Need to look for more...
Great images! A telephoto lens certainly helps me appreciate the intricate beauty of small flowers.
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