A Few More Dogwoods

In addition to the flowering white dogwood (Cornus Florida) photos I posted recently, I have taken photos of some other types of flowering dogwood.

The first type of dogwoods I photographed in addition to the white dogwoods are some wonderful pink dogwoods. Pink Dogwood (Cornus Florida Rubra) is also native to North America – it grows in many of the same areas as Cornus Florida.

A branch of pink dogwood blossoms against a wonderful green lawn

Pink Dogwood I (c) 2009 Patty Hankins

A pair of beautiful pink blossoms

Pink Dogwood II (c) 2009 Patty Hankins

Japanese Dogwoods (Cornus Kousa) are native to Asia. They tend to be shorter than most dogwoods native to the US and bloom about a month later. I love the way the blossoms overlap on the Japanese dogwoods – it makes for a spectacular look when the trees are in full bloom.

I photographed this wonderful Japanese Dogwood at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

I haven’t been able to identify what variety the final dogwood I photographed is. It was photographed earlier this month at the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville, North Carolina. By any chance – does anyone recognize this type of dogwood? If you do – can you let me know what it is? Thanks

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

Links – May 28, 2010

June Allison Water Lily (c) 2009 Patty Hankins

Here are some links I found interesting this week – hope you find them useful

Photography and Art Links

The Copyright Zone has No Dear Watson, not the butler . . . the Hard Drive Did The Deed

PhotoAttorney has Defining Non-Commerical Use

Flower, Gardening and Plant Links

Maine PBN has First Blight-Resistant Chestnut Tress Planted in Maine

National Park & National Wildlife Refuge Links

National Parks Traveler has NPS Calls for Additional Bridges Along Tamiami Trail to Help Everglades, Civil War Flag, Dress Coat and Sash Go On Display at Gettysburg NMP,  If You Enter the River, You Will Die and Underwater Archeology Projects in Outer Banks Address Intriguing Questions

Refuge Watch has Pelican Island Birds on the Rebound

National Park Service has information about Invasive Plants at Yosemite National Park

The Onion has National Parks Closed for Annual Remajestification

Wildlife Links

The Guardian has Indonesian Rangers Catch Notorious Poacher Who Killed 100 Tigers

National Parks Traveler has The Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle Faces an Uncertain Future

BBC has Urban Trees Help Migrating Birds and Polar Bears Face Tipping Point Due to Climate Change

Washington Post has Oil Spill’s Animal Victims Stuggle as Experts Fear a Mounting Toll

NY Times has Deal Puts Yellowstone Bison on Ted Turner’s Range

Environmental Issues Links

Solve Climate has Maryland County Carbon Tax Law Could Set Example for Rest of Country

Oilmageddon in the Gulf has  realtime counter for the Oil Spill

New Photo: Cloud 9 Dogwoods

Cloud 9 Dogwood (c) 2010 Patty Hankins

I’ve just added a new photo – Cloud 9 Dogwood – to my Beautifulflowerpictures.com website.

I’ve been trying for a couple of years to capture  just the right image of dogwood blossoms in the woods. I love the way the white dogwood blossoms add a spectacular splash of color amongst the browns and greens of the woods. This spring, I photographed dogwoods in several locations – but it wasn’t until I found this branch of Cloud Nine Dogwood blossoms at Brookside Gardens was I able to create the panoramic photograph I’d been picturing in my mind. I hope you enjoy this photo as much as I do.

This photograph is available as either an 8 X 18″ or a 14 X 30″   gallery-wrapped canvas.  You can order  Cloud 9 Dogwood from my website and I will have it available at shows this year.

New Photo: Tour de France Iris

Tour de France Bearded Iris (c) 2010 Patty Hankins

I’ve just added a new photo – Tour de France Bearded Iris – to my Beautifulflowerpictures.com website.

I just photographed this iris a week ago at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Maryland. I loved the contrast of the bright white and bold gold of the petals against the dark greens and reds of the leaves of other plants in the garden. It is one of the most spectacular irises I’ve ever seen. The iris was named after the Tour de France and the gold of the petals honors the yellow jersey worn by the leaders during the race.

This photograph is available as either a 10X10″  gallery-wrapped canvas.  You can order  Tour de France Bearded Iris from my website and I will have it available at shows this year.

Patriot News Artsfest – Harrisburg PA – May 29 – 31

UPDATE: I’m in booth 324 this weekend – my booth number changed again

I will be at the at the Patriot News Artsfest in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania this weekend. I will have several new flower photos with me that I have not shown before in the Harrisburg area. Three  photos –  Cloud 9 Dogwood, Tour de France Iris, and Kindergarten Daffodils -  will be available for the first time this weekend in Harrisburg.   You can see my most recent flower photographs on my BeautifulFlowerPictures.com website.

I’m offering a special offer this weekend – available only at Artsfest in Harrisburg.  For each $50 of photography you purchase from me, take $10 off your total purchase. So you can take $ 10 off a purchase of $ 50 or more, $20 off a purchase of $ 100 or more, etc. This offer cannot be combined with any other special offers.

Show hours are Friday May 29  10 am – 7 pm, Saturday May 30  12 pm – 7 pm and Sunday May 31 10 am – 5 pm. I’ll be in booth 324 this weekend.

Directions to  Artsfest,  and additional information is available on the show website.

I hope to see you in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania this weekend.

New Photo – Kindergarten Daffodils

Kindergarten Daffodils (c) 2010 Patty Hankins

I’ve just added a new photo – Kindergarten Daffodils– to my Beautifulflowerpictures.com website.

Every spring I spend a few mornings photographing daffodils at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Maryland. They’ve planted hundreds of daffodils of many varieties. So for a few weeks it seems that everywhere you look is another wonderful daffodil to discover. This year, one of my favorites was the Kindergarten Daffodils. They are a small cupped hybrid daffodil with white petals and a yellow and orange cup. I photographed this set along the edge of the woods, with sunlight streaming through the flower backlighting the petals. I hope you enjoy this photo as much as I do – it just says spring to me.

This photograph is available as either an 8 X 18″ or a 14 X 30″   gallery-wrapped canvas.  You can order  Kindergarten Daffodils from my website and I will have it available at shows this year.

Daffodils 2010

Every spring I love seeing all the daffodils bloom. They really are one of the first flowers to bloom in large patches here in the DC area – they really signal that spring is finally here. And after this winter, they were a very welcome site.

Here are some of my favorite daffodil photos from the spring of 2010.

The first three photos were taken at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Maryland

I’m not sure what variety this first set of daffodils are – but they are an early blooming variety. They were the first set I photographed outdoors this year.

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

Next is a pair of Orange Sherbert Daffodils. These are a large cupped hybrid daffodil.

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

The final set from Brookside Gardens is some Kindergarten Daffodils. A small cupped hybrid, I just loved the way the light was streaming through the petals of these daffodils when I photographed them

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

And finally a set of daffodils photographed at Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria, Virginia. These are another set of early blooming daffodils – I photographed them in mid-March.

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

If you like daffodils – you might enjoy some of my older posts including

• Happy Spring – Time for Daffodils
• Crocuses, Daffodils and Hyacinths
• Tazetta Narcissus

Links – May 21, 2010

Day Breaker Roses (c) 2009 Patty Hankins

Here are some links I found interesting this week – hope you find them useful

Photography and Art Links

Stacy Caldwell has the Top Five Things I Learned at the Alyson Stanfield Workshop

Copyright Law and Copyright Information has What is Your Copyright Worth if it’s not Registered Prior to Someone Stealing Your Work?

ProNature Photographer has Copying Other Photographers Images: Good, Bad, Legal?

Marie Brophy has Is Your Art an Influence or a Knock Off?

Ask Harriete has Pricing Work – The Three Most Common Mistakes Made by Artists

Virtual Photography Studio has What to Do With Clients that Want Your Photography for Free

Social Photo Talk has Facebook vs. Flickr: Where to Share?

Black Star Rising has It’s Time to Set a Price Floor for Right’s Managed Photography

ArtBizBlog has Opportunities You Should Turn Down

WV Public Broadcasting has Morgantown Newspaper Removes Three Legislators from Front Page Photo

Gary Crabbe has Paranoia will Destroy Ya

Flower, Gardening and Plant Links

Garden Variety has Tomato Blight Prevention Tips and Late Blight Found in Maryland

BBC has Invasive Plant Increases Ozone Pollution and Waterlily Saved from Extinction

Invasive Notes has Invasive Issues and Complicated Species

Natural Capital has What’s Your Favorite Spot for Mountain Laurel

National Park & National Wildlife Refuge Links

National Parks Traveler has

• National Trails Day is Right Around the Corner Check Out A National Park Trail
• Yosemite NP to Install Large Solar Energy Complex at El Portal
• By the Numbers, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
• New Website Makes It Easy To Follow and Explore National Trails System

Wildlife Links

National Parks Traveler has

• Bad News for Wild Condor Chick at Pinnacles National Monument
• Cape Hatteras NS Dispute puts Birds, Turtles and Humans on Small Strip of Land
• On Endangered Species Day, Recognizing the Cost of Oil Spills

The Denver Post has Colorado, New Mexico Governors Tout Interstate Wildlife Corridors

Oregon Live has Fast Growing Invasive Species Discovered Along Oregon’s Coast

Science Daily has Are Invasive Species Bad? Not Always Say Researchers

Flowering Dogwood – Cornus Florida

One of my favorite spring flowering trees is dogwoods. I love the way the beautiful white blossoms dance in the wind. Often times, I’m able to photograph them against dark backgrounds of other trees or the ground which really help set off the flowers. In golden early morning light they can be spectacular.

Flowering Dogwoods (Cornus Florida) are a flowering tree native to North America. They can be found from Maine to Florida, from Ontario to Texas. There are even some that are native to Texas. The hard dense wood from the dogwood trees has been used to make everything from golf club heads to butcher blocks. A tea made from the root and bark was used as an early treatment for malaria, while twigs were used as chewing sticks to clean teeth and freshen breath.

Supposed historic uses of dogwoods includes being used to build the Trojan Horse and as the Crucifixion tree (the tree on which Christ was crucified) even though dogwoods are not found in the Middle East. Over time, the blossoms have also come to symbolize the Christian Cross and Good Friday.

These are some of my favorite dogwood photos I’ve taken in the past couple of years.

Blossoms dancing in the wind at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

A single blossom in the morning light at the Bog Garden in Greensboro, North Carolina

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

A pair of blossoms at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Maryland

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

A branch of blossoms, also at Brookside Gardens

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

Cloud 9 Flowering Dogwood at Brookside Gardens

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

And a pair of blossoms at the Botanical Garden in Asheville, North Carolina

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

Tazetta Narcissus

This spring I found several sets of Tazetta Narcissus blossoms to photograph. I really liked the small petals and delicate nature of these flowers.

The Tazetta Narcissus is one of the oldest cultivated narcissus varieties. Native to the Mediterranean through Asia, Narcissus Tazetta were grown in ancient Egypt and Greece. They were cultivated in England as early as 1597. Tazetta Narcissus are usually hardy to at least zone 8 (some varieties are hardy to zone 4) and grow 12-15″ tall. Many varieties are among the earliest blooming members of the Narcissus family – so are a welcome sign that spring is coming.

The first set of Tazetta Narcissus I photographed this year was at Longwood Gardens. Like most Tazetta Narcissus – the Geranium variety has white petals with yellow/orange cups.

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

At the Philadelphia Flower Show, I photographed a set of Grand Soleil D’or Tazetta Narcissus. Unlike most other tazetta narcissus varieties, the Grand Soleil D’or have yellow petals and cups.

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

And then at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Maryland I photographed two Narcissus Tazetta hybrids.

The first is the Laurens Koster Tazetta Narcissus. Introduced in 1906, this hybrid is named after Laurens Janszoon Koster, a Dutchman said to have invented book printing.

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

And finally, the Mot Mot Tazetta Narcissus.  Like the Grand Soleil D’or narcissus, the Mot Mot variety also has yellow petals and cup.

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

Just a note of caution – some sources note that Daffodils and Narcissus are poisonous to both humans and household pets. Though rare, poisonings tend to occur when the narcissus bulbs are mistaken for onions.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my photos of the various Tazetta Narcissuses I’ve photographed this spring. Which one is your favorite? Or is there another variety that you are particularly fond of?