Tulips and Iris

When the flower is down close to the ground, what is the best way to photograph it? There are a variety of ways. Below is a shot that is taken up close looking directly down into the flower.

Here are the iris that were blooming near the chapel. Since they were down near the water, it was more of a challenge to get to them. I tried to get down at their level. I always like to include the buds and even the spent blooms as they have an interesting shape.

Below, I wanted to show the huge hyacinths that were blooming. They were so big that many of them were falling over.

Here is a group of tulips shot from directly above.

Sometimes you just have to get bite the bullet and get down on your knees (I know, it is a pain, especially with two cameras around your neck as well as a camera bag!). Set some of your stuff on the ground. Then there is the issue of getting up! This is one place that the weight loss and exercise has really come in handy!

Joyce and I would take turns visiting the ladies room so one could watch the equipment as that is another place it is not fun to have a lot of equipment hanging around your neck! LOL! I know, tmi! Trials and tribulations of a photographer that you might not have thought of before!

I mentioned that white flowers are difficult and you can see below that detail is lost on the white centers of the flowers, but at least the fringed edges still show up.

It is not the walled tulip garden at Biltmore, but it will satisfy my tulip fix for this year!

Horticultural Center at Callaway

In addition to pollen being everywhere, there is also a lot of "springtime snow"....like these blossoms off the trees.

Here are some shots from around the Horticultural Center.

Above, you can se the swing with the wisteria.

The tulips in the flower beds were just beautiful. I will share some closeups of them in my next post.

Azalea Bowl

The azaleas in the azalea bowl were not at their peak but they were still pretty. Of course, it is a beautiful scene even without the azaleas blooming! In about a week, from when these were taken, this area will be awash with color, much as the azaleas you can see on the Masters coverage on TV.

There is a circle around the pond filled with azaleas. The first photos above were taken from the bridge that you can see in this photo. Pine trees and azaleas....you don't get much more southern than that!

Easter Topiaries

We were fortunate in that we were at the horticultural center while they were placing some topiaries that they had made. One year at Christmas time I showed you a train topiary, but here are their Easter ones.

Look at these darling chicks! I included a shot with the background (and people out by the flower beds) so you could get an idea of the scale of these.

Above, the working is placing an "egg" next to this bunny. You can see on the other bunny that the eggs are planted with something that will bloom in a beautiful pink. I think it would be such fun to work at a place like this.

I included a closeup of this bunny above, but I wanted to show you the scene. Perhaps you can see that he does have "whiskers". The plant for his chin and tummy are different to provide a contrast. This is the area below where they have the poinsettia tree in the winter.

Callaway Gardens Butterfly House

Joyce and I were able to go down to Callaway Gardens on Thursday. It is located near Pine Mountain and Warm Springs (where FDR had his little White House), just northeast of Columbus, GA. I visit the gardens each November and had been there twice in the spring, but it had been several years. I liked it so much on this visit, that I bought an annual pass, so expect more visits there. Joyce and I had a lovely day and shared many memories from last year's Thelma and Louise trip to the Rockies.

One of my favorite attractions at Callaway is the butterfly house. Whereas the on at the Huntsville Botanical Gardens does not have butterflies year round, the one at Callaway does.

One of my favorite butterflies that always are represented there is the blue morph. On the outside of their wings, they are brown with very pretty markings. When they fly or open their wings quickly while feeding, the most gorgeous blue lights up. It almost looks neon and is such a contrast to the outside of their wings. Below is one having breakfast. Morning is the best time to go to a butterfly house as the butterflies seem more active. They love to be in sunny areas. You also have a better chance to beat the tour groups and school buses (not a good sight to a photographer when you pull up and see those in the parking lot!)

So many beautiful butterflies to see! Then there were a lot of them emerging into their short lives.

The tulips in the gardens were so pretty, the azaleas were just beginning to open and the flame azaleas were beautiful. Many more photos to come.