Delicate, dainty Cornflower, aka Chickory, aka weed. One of my favorite weeds with it’s sky blue flowers. Copyright 2018 Pamela Breitberg
This weed is appreciated by a neighborhood spider. Copyright 2018 Pamela Breitberg
Just after a summer shower. Copyright 2018 Pamela Breitberg
Equisite Day Lily (Hermocallis) in bloom outside a Chicago condominium. What stopped me in my walk was the proliferation of blooms. Copyright 2018 Pamela Breitberg
Daylilies come in numerous colors and shades. Years ago I added some prized Daylilies to my garden only to have them devoured by local Deer. They like their taste better than their beauty. Copyright 2018 Pamela Breitberg
Brilliant in colors and size. Copyright 2018 Pamela Breitberg
Nature’s bouquet of abundance. Copyright 2018 Pamela Breitberg
This Hydrangae bloom, seemingly escaping it’s fenced confines caught my attention each time I’d walk past. Couldn’t resist creating a couple images. Hydrangae are traditional garden perennials in the Midwest. In this ever changing time it’s always comforting to see it’s pervasive presence. Copyright 2018 Pamela Breitberg
Beginning to bloom; so I’ll be able to enjoy it at least 3 weeks. Usually the drying blooms are equally enjoyable. This small Bee seems happy too; but that’s totally my assumption. Copyright 2018 Pamela Breitberg.
Prolific flowering per bunch with a prolific number of clusters per shrub. Copyright 2018 Pamela Breitberg
These were another favorite in my garden; now I enjoy them during my walks in Lincoln Park, Chicago.
Macro photograph of the delicate, small, Cranesbill flowers and buds. Copyright 2018 Pamela Breitberg
Wild Geranium (Cransebill) is late spring/early summer perennial native to the Chicago area. Copyright 2018 Pamela Breitberg.
These delicate spring blooms are the only Columbine native to Illinois: Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis). These blooms were prolific today in Lincoln Park’s best kept secret, Alfred Caldwell Lily Pond.
Abundant spring Wild Columbine brighten the shady Caldwell Lily Pond. Copyright 2018 Pamela Breitberg
Close up image of one of the Wild Columbine flowers. These flowers are visited by insects but avoided by larger animals who find them poisonous. Copyright 2018 Pamela Breitberg
Restorative scene with Wild Columbine inviting one’s restful enjoyment. Copyright 2018 Pamela Breitberg
For more information on this Illinois native CLICK the image above. Copyright 2018 Pamela Breitberg
Japanese Anemone. I make NO claim on being a master artist who is able to capture the full wonders of this flower. Copyright 2018 Pamela
Enclosed courtyard at the Bonnet House, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. In the far right you can see the area set aside for art classes. Copyright 2018 Pamela Breitberg
For some this seems very hoaky I’m sure. But yesterday I spent six and a half hours at the Bonnet House’s lovely enclosed courtyard working on my second painting. I chose, as my subject, a photograph I took a few years back of one of my garden Japanese Anemones. I can easily say I was exhausted when I got home; my brain was worn out.
I literally spent the day thinking, studying this tiny flower. Every petal, every shadow, every curve and curl was studied and mentally dissected for detail. The leaves in the background were studied just as intently for color and light/shadow. My teacher showed me how to make the other buds and blooms fade out of focus. Hours were spent on each petals. The flower showed pollen spilling onto the pedals; it would soon be time for it to enter it’s next stage of life as a seedhead.
As I spent this time I appreciated the beauty, the gracefulness of this creation. It is one of the last of season’s blooms in Chicago along with the Asters. The Japanese Anemone is an agressive plant requiring me to tame it’s appearance in my garden to places of my design. Over the years I removed many “volunteers” that tried entering other areas of the garden. But the quiet beauty, the graceful elegance of the flowers always overcame any bad aspects of the plants.
I no longer have a private garden; we downsized to a lovely condominium. Fortunately Chicago’s Lincoln Park includes Japanese Anemone in it’s mix of perennials.
While I sit here in Florida gazing at this Japanese Anemone I still a drawn to it’s subtle, simple, design. Evidence of one more miracle. The painting has elements of being done by a beginner. For me the joy was the process of creation, trying to capture it’s natural beauty and specialness.
A blessed Passover and Easter to all.
Soft red, fuzzy Chenille Plant (Plumbago auriculata) blooms are all male. The female blooms are inconspicuous. Perhaps more interesting, the male blooms have no petals! So to be pollinated the plant uses male attractiveness to spread pollen while the female does the work of seed production. This seems more like birds and other animal kingdom members than plants’ design.
Chenille is a favorite material for warm winter robes and these plants’ blooms do resemble it’s namesake.
Aptly named Chenille Plant commanded my attention as well as pollenators. I am constantly amazed by nature’s multitude of design choices; each a little (or big) miracle. Copyright 2018 Pamela Breitberg
Image showing details of another of God’s wondrous designs. Copyright 2018 Pamela Breitberg
Ixora Nora Grant (Ixora coccinea) is one of the most popular shrubs in southern Florida. These balls remind me of the northern Snowball bush; but this plant’s balls burst out in bright tropical color. Copyright 2018 Pamela Breitberg
Compact, dense blooms found at the Morikami Japanese Garden, but prominent all over Southern Florida.. Copyright 2018 Pamela Breitberg
My southern sisters are proud of their Naked Ladies (Amaryllis Belladonna), while here in Chicago the Autumn Crocus (Colchicum autumnale) is our “Naked Lady”. Both gained their nickname because when the flowers are in bloom their leaves already have become dormant, so are no longer present. These bulb beauties were at Lincoln Park Zoo several weeks ago and drew attention from the Lion Den.
Close up of sunlit petals. Copyright 2017 Pamela Breitberg
Vibrant autumn color. Copyright 2017 Pamela Breitberg
Prolific blooms. Copyright 2017 Pamela Breitberg
Garden bouquet of flowering fall bulbs. Copyright 2017 Pamela Breitberg
Still lovely, as it’s freshly fallen off the stem. Copyright 2017 Pamela Breitberg
Multiple stages of life appear on this perennial. Flowering averages three weeks on summer perennials. Copyright 2017, Pamela Breitberg
Today there was an abundance of fallen flowers. What surprised me was the falling of complete flowers; usually petals fall one at a time. Copyright 2017 Pamela Breitberg