Category Archives: Macro

The Magnolias Are In Bloom

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“Magnolia Stellata”
Heatherwood Spring

Our Star Magnolia (Magnolia stellata) is the fourth major tree/shrub to bloom in our Heatherwood garden. The stellata follows our witch hazels, the cornelian cherry dogwood, and the forsythia in our late winter/early spring blooming cycle. Its sensitive blossoms are subject to evening freezes, the wind, and rain. Some years the bloom remains crisp for only a day or two. This year we have had very mild spring temperatures and no rain. The wind has been moderate. We have been blessed with blossoms that have lasted several days now. It is shaping up to be a beautiful spring!

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Early Morning Sunshine

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“Cornelian Cherry Dogwood”
Heatherwood Spring

Early morning sunshine backlit this emerging Cornelian Cherry dogwood blossom. The bright yellow color burst immediately caught my eye as I was taking an early morning stroll with my camera. It started my day with a flash!

The Cornelian Cherry dogwood is the first tree to bloom in our Heatherwood garden. Soon our flowering pear, cherries, and crabapples will be blooming along with other dogwoods and redbuds. This will be the first year that several of our new trees will be in bloom. I will try to keep a record of the sequence that each species bloom.

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Spring is Here!

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“Siberian Iris”
Heatherwood Spring

This little Siberian iris greets the first day of spring. They are sprouting and breaking out in bloom in our Heatherwood dogwood-redbud grove and along the front of the pond. To get a good eye to eye look, I had to lay down on my belly make the image.

Looking down from the top, the little iris has an interesting triangular form.

Each spring day brings new discoveries in the garden. Some new bud is flowering, leaves are opening up, perennials are starting to emerge. What will tomorrow bring? I’ll just have to wait.

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Spring Is Coming

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Purple & White Crocuses
Heatherwood

Tomorrow is the first day of spring. Signs of spring are popping up all over our Heatherwood garden. The first crocuses that bloomed were white, the second were purple, and now the third are our purple and white variety. Looking out over our garden I see little flashes of color around most of our rocks scattered around the landscape. These little “jewels” are a clear sign that spring is here!

Spring Jewels

Purple, white, and a flash of yellow
Spring up all about,
Warming the land and our hearts.

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Hana Matoi #3

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Hana Matoi Late Fall Growth
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

A few red and green leaves of late autumn growth contrast against the dried brown leaves of the spent leaves. Ice plants in their red and yellow winter color on the hillside frame the new leaves.

Below, the fragile disectum leaves of the Hana Matoi shade the spreading blue purplish green thyme below.

This concludes my Hana Matoi mini-project. Or does it? These six images in the last 3 posts were all taken on an overcast day. Early morning light and late afternoon light provide many additional perspectives. Different seasons display different colors. Snow, ice, rain, and dew create magical views. And there are always an abundance of opportunities for abstracts. An infinite number of images are yet to be discovered.

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Never Give Up!

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Spent Echinacea
Heatherwood Meadow

In its summer glory, this echinacea graced the Heatherwood meadow with its beautiful white bloom. Now at the beginning of winter, its glory still hangs on providing a striking contrast to the ground cover and dead leaves below. As snow falls it will continue to stand out as the white crystals collect on the seed head. It will never give up providing interest to the garden.

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Creative or Crazy?

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Ground Cover Abstract
Heatherwood, Winter

Sometimes it feels good to get away from reality and let the imagination flow. Looking through some macro images I took yesterday I wondered what would happen if I would put a couple of ground cover photos together. I picked a close-up of a clump of blue fescue and a red-colored ice plant. One had a fine texture, one a smooth course texture. One was blue, one was red. I made a multi-image composite in Photoshop and was pleased with the results. I still felt playful and decided to add an impressionistic overlay patterned after Georgia O’Keefe … voila, the above image appeared. Am I creative or crazy? Maybe a little of both?

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How Many Colors Can a Leaf Have?

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“Multi-colored Leaf”
Heatherwood, Fall

Magenta, green, orange, yellow, red and green … How many colors can a leaf have? Patterns and lines grace the leaf in random fashions. What factors determine the design of an autumn leaf? Like a snowflake, no two are the same. The wonder of nature has many stories to tell.

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Buttery

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“November Rose”
Heatherwood, Fall

The buttery yellow of a November rose brings a little sunshine to our rose garden. Most of the garden’s roses are spent and hanging down. Just a few of our yellow floribunda remain. Even these are on their last hurrah. Leaves are wilting and falling off. Rose hips are forming. It is time for the roses to go to sleep for the winter and get their rest for a bright June bloom.

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A Little Brightness for the Day

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Yellow Rose
Heatherwood Rose Garden

Our rose garden is still full of color. However, most of the blooms are past their prime and are a little tattered. It is hard to find a full crisp fresh rose without a few defects in the petals. So with my macros, my focus is on color, shape, and lines. I am continuing to work with creating “softness” with some of my rose images. I combined two images, one in focus, and one out of focus and blended them together to achieve the above result.

So here’s a little brightness for your day! There is always something in the world to celebrate.

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