It was a lazy summer afternoon and a few rather large bees buzzed around a group of Trumpet Vine trumpets. They enter the blossoms head first…
… then awkwardly back out.
Lift off to the next flower.
This one appeared to pause for a moment on the flower ruffle.
Pollen sacks loaded but they kept working, this time with a sideways maneuver into the blossom.
A saw a wide range of colorful blooms in a walk around Magnolia Gardens last week.
A single Morning Glory blossom had opened for the sun pushing a strand of spider web.
The Black-eyed Susans were looking a bit bedraggled from the previous afternoon’s pounding rain.
Texas Star Hibiscus shouts out for attention wherever it blooms.
This stem of delicate orange blossoms in the shade hadn’t quite dried off. I haven’t noticed it before but sure will look again when I return.
There is a small patch of Canna Lilies at the edge of the big field at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. It’s a wet spot and the lilies and cattails seem pretty happy there.
This dragonfly found an unfurled blossom a nice place to perch on a hot day. True to form he lifted off just as I was ready to shoot then returned to the exact same spot,
The orange and yellow combination of the flowers is quite attractive, shouting out “summer!”
Wild flowers have been allowed to grow unmolested by the lawnmower at Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston and this morning there were more types than I ever remember seeing there. A nice patch of these pink beauties, perhaps some kind of mallow, caught my eye.
A single bloom off on its own shows delicate pink shades.
The ground was dry and after scanning for snakes, ants and other creatures I got down on the ground for a few images
Click any image for a larger view.
I cannot resist these beautiful blooms.
Nature at her finest.
When I first saw these flashes of white from the road I thought they were birds. It was a nice treat to find water lilies, even though I couldn’t get very close.
There was a small grouping of lilies closer to the dike that runs along the side of the pond.
A stiff breeze was flapping the lily pads out of the water in an open area where a single Cormorant was fishing.
A planting of red tulips along a fountain edge provided a show and a multitude of focus options.
Yellow Snapdragons on my side of the water added another layer of color.
A higher shutter speed captured the details of the brick wall beyond as well as the water and flowers.
Click on any photo for a larger view.
Or perhaps “Saucer Magnolia” depending on where you look. Google quickly overwhelmed me with information in my search for how many varieties there might be. I’ll just say this particular tree has huge blossoms, 8 to 10 inches (20-25 cm) across, and they have a more delicate coloring than those in my post Tulip Magnolias in Bloom.
These blossoms didn’t seem to have the outer fuzzy covering as other tulip magnolias I have seen.
The blossoms emitted a sweet, but not overwhelming, fragrance. Some other varieties I have encountered could almost be said to stink.
Many Azaleas are also in bloom in this area and these made a nice backdrop to another unopened bloom.
Taken March 13, 2019.
Pause on way to swamp
for purple iris standing
in sun dappled woods
