New Photo: Columbine & Lupine

Columbine & Lupine (c) 2011 Patty Hankins

I’ve recently added a new photo –  Columbine & Lupine – to my Beautifulflowerpictures.com website.

Colorado Blue Columbine (Aquilegia caerulea) and Silvery Lupine (Lupinus argentus) quickly became favorite wildflowers of mine on my trip to Colorado last summer. Let’s face it – I love purple – so discovering new wildflowers in wonderful shades of purple was wonderful. Late one morning I was driving along one of the roads in the Gunnison National Forest and I spotted some a group of Columbines and Lupines growing right next to each other. So of course – I had to stop and set up  my tripod on the side of the road. I did get a few strange looks from people driving by – they couldn’t figure out why I stopped at that particular location – and pointed my camera where it was pointed (there were some beautiful trees just across the street). But I’m glad I did stop – I really like this combination of the Colorado Blue Columbine and Silverly Lupine. I hope you enjoy it as well.

This photograph is available as either a 12X15 or 20X26 ″ gallery-wrapped canvas.  You can order Columbine & Lupine from my website and I will have it available at shows.

New Photo: Slipper Orchid

Slipper Orchid (c) 2011 Patty Hankins

I’ve recently added a new photo –   Slipper Orchid – to my Beautifulflowerpictures.com website.

The more time I spend photographing orchids – the more fascinated by them I become. Each variety is so different from every other one. I usually am able to identify the flowers that I photograph – either because they had identification signs at the garden where I photographed them – or because I can find them in one of my flower identification books. This is one the ones that I can’t identify – all I know is that is it some variety of slipper orchid. There are several types of slipper orchids – each of which has many many different varieties. So instead of worrying because I couldn’t figure it out – or not printing it because I didn’t know what it is – I decided to simply title the photo – Slipper Orchid. And if anyone knows what variety orchid this is – I’d love it if you could let me know!

This photograph is available as either a 10 X 10 or 20 X 20 ″ gallery-wrapped canvas.  You can order Slipper Orchid from my website and I will have it available at shows.

New Photo: Coral Reef Chrysanthemum

Coral Reef Chrysanthemum (c) 2011 Patty Hankins

I’ve recently added a new photo –   Coral Reef Chrysanthemum – to my Beautifulflowerpictures.com website.

Chrysanthemums are some of my favorite fall flowers. They come in so many shapes and varieties that they can add an incredible splash of color and texture to any garden. Coral Reef Chrysanthemums are one of the most spectacular chrysanthemum’s I’ve ever seen and photographed. Like most spider mums, Coral Reef has many long narrow petals that curve at the end. In the center are shorter curlier petals. And then there are the colors of the Coral Reef Chrysanthemum – amazing shades of yellow, orange and red. In this photo, I concentrated on the shorter petals at the center while including enough of the longer petals to give a sense of the textures of the flower.

This photograph is available as either a 18X12 or 30X20 ″ gallery-wrapped canvas.  You can order Coral Reef Chrysanthemum from my website and I will have it available at shows.

New Photo: Shooting Stars

Shooting Stars (c) 2011 Patty Hankins

I’ve recently added a new photo –   Shooting Stars – to my Beautifulflowerpictures.com website.

Shooting Stars (Dodecatheon meadia) are a beautiful spring wildflower native to much of the United States. It got it’s common name from it’s resemblance to celestial shooting stars. It’s botanical name is derived from the Greek dodeca (twelve) and theos (god) – referring to the primrose family’s traditionally association with and protection by twelve superior gods – a relationship first defined by Pliny. Other common names for Shooting Stars include Pride of Ohio, American Cowslip and Johnny Jump.

This photograph is available as either a 10 X 10 or 20 X 20 ″ gallery-wrapped canvas.  You can order Shooting Stars from my website and I will have it available at shows.

Links – February 18, 2011

Snowdrops (c) 2010 Patty Hankins

Here are some sites I found interesting recently. Hope you find some of them interesting

Photography and Art Links

Peter Cox at Luminous Landscape has Planning a Shoot

A Photo Editor has Recent Facebook Changes Are Bad For Professional Photographers

TipSquirrel has  Ten Things Beginners Should Know in Lightroom

Photo Business News & Forum has Copyright – Enforce it Whenever Possible

Flowers, Plants & Gardening Links

MyDesert.com has  Variety of plants are spreading, invading space of native blooms

Invasive Notes has   The Wicked Inconvenience of Invasive Golden Bamboo

Mongabay has Vines Rising in the Amazon and other American Rainforests

DCist has  National Arboretum’s Azaleas: Saved!

Washington Post has  Arboretum reverses decision to destroy azalea display after public backlash

National Park and National Wildlife Refuge Links

DelawareOnline has  Delaware lawmakers proposes revised national park bill

National Parks Traveler has   Traveler’s View: The National Park Service Failed Its Mission With Plan For Addition Lands at Big Cypress National Preserve, Budgeting Woes Likely To Hit The National Park Service, Updated: National Park Service Budget Would Grow by $138 Million Under President’s FY12 Proposal

Refuge Watch has  Refuge System and Land Acquisition Funding Take a Hit in GOP Budget

Environmental News Network has   Climate change keenly felt in Alaska’s national parks

AL.com has Natural habitats at wildlife refuge getting gentler version of beach cleanup

President Obama has introduced new initiatives in the America’s Great Outdoors Program. Info is available at

• Washington Post -  Obama pushes effort to protect public lands
• America’s Great Outdoors website
• National Parks Conservation Association – America’s Great Outdoors Report Provides A Promising Vision for Connecting Americans to Our National Parks

 

 

Wildlife Links

BBC has  In pictures: Malaysian wildlife caught on camera

National Park Service has  Big Horn Sheep use U.S. 93 wildlife overcross

Mongabay has Rhino Horn Price Matches Cocaine

Environmental Issues Links

NYTimes has  Heavy Rains Linked to Humans,   Southwestern Water: Going, Going, Gone? and The Risk to Bristol Bay

Bishop’s Cap – Mitella diphylla

(c) 2011 Patty Hankins

“At Pentecost which brings The Spring, clothed like a bride, When nestling buds unfold their wings,
And Bishop’s Caps have golden rings – Musing upon many things, I sought the woodlands wide.”

- “Voices of the Night”  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

(c) 201 1 Patty Hankins

Bishop’s Caps (mitella diphylla) are beautiful snow-flake shaped wildflower that I’ve photographed several times in Tennessee. A member of the Saxifrage family, this delicate flower is also known as miterwort – both common names derive from the flower’s resemblance to the hats worn by bishops. The Latin name – mitella diphylla – refers to both a cap (mitella) and the plant’s two leaves (diphylla).

 

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

Native to most of the Eastern United States and Canada, Bishop’s Cap is an  spring blooming wildflower. It prefers to grow in rich moist woods and along stream banks. They grow up to 16″ tall with several small ( 1/8 inch across) flowers on each stalk. A pair of heart shaped, three-lobed leaves grows halfway up the stalk.

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

Native Americans found many uses for Bishop’s Cap. The Iroquois used a decoction of the  whole plants taken to vomit and as a wash counteract bad luck and an infusion of the plant as drops for sore eyes. The Menominee used the plant in sacred ceremonies.

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

All of these photos of Bishop’s Cap were taken in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

More information about Mitella diphylla is available online at

Connecticut Wildflowers

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Native American Ethnobotany

NC State University Wildflowers

Our Early Wild Flowers by Harriet Keeler

USDA Plant Profile

Brightly Colored Bromeliads

Bromeliads are an members of an incredible family of plants. With over 1300 species, most native to the tropics of the western hemisphere, you can find bromeliads in all colors and shapes. They have been used as a source of food, fibers for clothing and protection. Pineapples may be the best known members of the bromeliad family.

I’ve photographed a number of bromeliads over the years. Here are a few of my favorites.

Tillandsia dyeriana. Native to Ecuador, their habitat in tropical mangrove forests is threatened by over-development. I love the little white flowers on the bright red & yellow plants

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

 

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

Guzmania Kapoho Flame – a cultivated bromeliad developed by D. Shiigi. I couldn’t resist photographing the bright red & yellows of this one

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

And finally two varieties of Aechmea warasii – both in wonderful shades of red and purple – with little purple flowers.

Aechmea warasii var discolor

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

and Aechmea warasii var intermeda(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

New Photo: Lotus Blossom III

Lotus Blossom III (c) 2011 Patty Hankins

 

I’ve recently added a new photo –   Lotus Blossom III – to my Beautifulflowerpictures.com website.

Every summer I make sure to plan a few visits to Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens to photograph the lotus blossoms (Nelumbo nucifera). When I’m at a show in the DC area, I’m always amazed at how few people know about Kenilworth Gardens. It is a National Park in Washington, DC. They have about 20 sunken ponds full of lotuses and water lilies. If you like water flowers, you really should plan a visit to Kenilworth Gardens in the summer. It is always a wonderful place to visit.

This photograph is available as either a 10 X 10 or 20 X 20 ″ gallery-wrapped canvas.  You can order Lotus Blossom III from my website and I will have it available at shows.

Links – February 11, 2011

Cloud 9 Dogwood (c) 2010 Patty Hankins

 

Here are some sites I found interesting recently. Hope you find some of them interesting

Photography and Art Links

Plagiarism Today has Flickr Blunder Shows Problem with DMCA Counternotices

Harold Davis at Photo.net has Finding an Audience for Your Photos

PhotoAttorney has How to Provide a Photo License to a Friend

Flowers, Plants & Gardening Links

CSMonitor has Celebrating small flowers and Roses: New research raises questions about their history

National Park and National Wildlife Refuge Links

National Parks Traveler has  Updated: Regional Director Approves Management Plan For “Addition” Lands at Big Cypress National Preserve, Traveler Classic: Rare Motion Pictures Show Civil War Veterans at Gettysburg

Alaska’s U.S. Senators Want To Run Natural Gas Pipeline Through Denali National Park,  and New River Gorge National River Proposing Hiking, Biking Trail Improvements

Wildlife Links

National Parks Traveler has Wildlife Experts Joining Calls Of Alarm Over White-Nose Syndrome In Bats,  Bison, Pine Nuts, Trout and Grizzlies: Perfect Storm For Yellowstone National Park’s Wildlife Managers?

and Will This Be Remembered As Our Preamble To Losing The Wolverine?

BBC has Rare gorilla twins born in wild

Environmental Issues Links

NYTimes has Climate Change to Force Mass Migration, Study Warns

Washington Post has EPA reverses Bush-era water safety standards, will regulate contaminants

San Jose Mercury News has Fog burned off by climate change threatens to stunt Muir Woods’ majestic redwoods

Some Bright Yellow Asters

If you haven’t noticed – I’m ready to be done with winter and ready to be back out photographing wildflowers. Since nothing is blooming yet here in the DC area, I’m looking back over some of the wildflower photos I took last year. I decided it was time for a bunch of bright yellow flowers. All of these flowers are members of the Aster family and were photographed on my trip to Colorado last summer.

Yellow Salisfy (Tragopogon dubius). Native to Europe, Yellow Salisfy  is found throughout the United States except for Hawaii, Florida, South Carolina, Louisiana and Mississippi. It grows to about 4 feet tall along roadsides and in fields. It is also known as Goat’s Beard.

(c) 2011 Patty Hankins

Nodding Sunflower (Helianthella quinquenervis). Nodding sunflowers are native to much of the western United States. They generally have one flower – that appears to nod or bow it’s head. It has five prominent veins in the leaves – which the species name quenquenervis refers to.

(c) 2011 Patty Hankins

Arrowleaf Balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata). Arrowleaf Balsamroot is another bright yellow flower native to much of the Western United States and Canada where Native Americans used them for both food and medicine. The leaves of the Arrowleaf Balsamroot are arrowshaped – hence it’s name. It is not uncommon to see hundreds of Arrowleaf Balsamroot in a field.

(c) 2011 Patty Hankins

Orange Sneezeweed (Dugaldia Hoopesii). Also known as Owl’s Claws, Orange Sneezeweed is native to much of the western United States. The pollen of these plants can cause serious sinus problems for some people – thus the name sneezeweed. Sheep ranchers dislike the plant – it can cause spewing sickness in sheep when they eat it.

(c) 2011 Patty Hankins

(c) 2011 Patty Hankins

I hope this set of bright yellow wildflowers had helped brighten up your day.