Today's selection are all from the walled garden at Royden Park its such a lovely peaceful place with a real mix of plants and flowers, many of which I have posted over the past few days.
A main feature of the garden is the Laburnum Arch which has come into blossom in the past week and as you can see is quite spectacular. Another feature is the Wisteria on the wall which is really beautiful.
"Wow!"
That's what I hope you thought when you saw these pictures. I love the beauty of these flowers and the way the colours come to life in these shots.
Today's pictures relate to the shots I shared yesterday, all except one that is. Can you spot the odd one out and tell me which one it is, also one from yesterday is missing here, so again can you tell me which one is missing?
And one final question, if you looked at yesterday's blog did you know that the third picture was the flower of a stinging nettle? As you can see above in the fourth picture that is exactly what it is. I love the fine detail, don't you?
Here is another selection of close ups of flowers. The first one isn't as sharp as I would have liked it to be, it was handheld and the flowers were being blown about by the wind, it is also a very tiny flower too so this is quite a significant enlargement which means some of the detail is lost. The others however are pretty good.
As with the last couple of days I will post pictures of the actual plants in full tomorrow so make sure you come back then. Also why not leave a comment below to let me knwo what you think of these pictures
So following on from yesterday's pictures (if you didn't see them you definitely need to take a look) I have posted shots of the whole flower relating to those close up images. I really like the bright and vivid colours, I also love the variety of shapes and the detail. I hope you like these pictures as much as yesterday's and if so come back tomorrow for another selection from the same shoot.
I love these pictures, the detail is incredible and without the benefit of a macro lens it would be difficult to get such a close up image as these.
Tomorrow I will post pictures of the flowers these are from. In the meantime if you feel like trying to guess what the flowers are please feel free. or if you have any other comments please share them below, I love getting feedback.
So there is a watery theme to today's pictures, that and woodland of course. All of the pictures were taken this past weekend at Mere Sands Wood in Lancashire and it is a favourite place of mine. It is really peaceful and on a day like Saturday it was especially nice to be there. Walking around listening to the sound of birds in the trees and the chatter of newly hatched chicks in the many bird boxes scattered throughout the woods was just wonderful.
It is predominately a nature reserve and there are a number of hides from which it is possible to observe the wildlife and although I didn't take any pictures of the birds on Saturday it was nice just taking some quiet moments, it was what I needed.
I hope you like the pictures I have chosen, the small pond was so peaceful and calm, if you enlarge the first image you will be able to make out some of the many fish that were basking in the afternoon sun. The final two images are similar but of different stretches of woodland stream. I love the colour of the trees and undergrowth in the sunlight and the reflection in the still water.
The Clematis in the pictures above is currently in full bloom in my back garden. I have taken a series of pictures getting progressively closer and revealing more detail of the flowers. When looking at the mass of flowers which form the backdrop to the garden it is easy to miss the intricate detail, so I hope that you like the view I have given you today.
The final picture is of course not Clematis at all, but is a variety of Lavender.
Over the next few days I will be showing some more pictures of flowers and plants so come back for some more colour and fine detail...
Recently a good friend told me how much they liked my photos of flowers and since I aim to please I deliberately set out yesterday to take some new pictures of plants and flowers.
The first picture today (if my research is correct) is a male red campion. It was growing in shaded woodland, I have some growing in my garden, courtesy of a wildflower seed giveaway by BBC's Countryfile.
The flower head is the size of an English penny (U.S cent).
The fly which was feeding on one of the flowers (I haven't tried to identify what it is) was about the size of a grain of rice. The next three pictures (all different, not just crops of the same image) were taken, handheld, with my 100mm Macro lens. The lighting is all natural from the sun and it shows the shiny carapace and makes it possible to pick out some of the detailin the eyes.
Whether you are a fan of bugs or not I hope you will agree these are quite good pictures...
These are my last few pictures from my recent visit to Malham and the limestone pavement above the cove. It's such a fantastic place I just had to share these pictures which I am sure you will agree are really quite nice...
Today's pictures show the impressive limestone terrace above Malham Cove looking across the dales into the distance.
The pennine way crosses this area and in any weather walking across the limestone pavement is difficult but it is well worth the effort as the views are fantastic and its quite an experience. I hope that you will agree.
I've called today's post Rocky Smile because of the first picture which is of the face of Malham Cove. If its a rock face then it can have a smile and that is what I have tried to show in that photo.
The second picture is of the steps leading from the cove to the limestone terrace above. It is part of the Pennine Way long distance path. I had walked this path once before, in December 2012, when there was snow and ice on the ground making the path and the limestone at the top quite treacherous.
The next two images are landscape views, the first from the top of the cove and the second back down at the riverside. My favourite image is the final one, I like the little grassy mounds in the foreground and the distant barn framed by the trees in the centre. I also like the sky which was starting to brighten up after a storm had been threatening to develop but fortunately didn't materialise.
Yesterday i posted some pictures of a couple of bridges across the river Aire at Malham. Today here are a few more pictures of the river. The first was taken along a woodland walk, I loved the way the light filtered through the trees and that with the sound of the river flowing by made it a really lovely walk.
In the second picture I like the grassy islands in the middle of the river and I like the way the wall follows the course of the river around the bend and into the distance,
The final picture was right up at Malham Cove it was broad and very shallow picking its way along between the rocks and pebbles after it bubbled up from the base of the rock cliffs. I was intrigued by the stile on the far side of the river I guess that originally there was a path there but apart from the stile there is no other evidence of that.
I feel like this is a bit of a lazy post today, I had limited time to choose my pictures in the time between getting home from work and having to go out again so I haven't really put a lot of thought into it. However that being said I do like these pictures which are of two bridges across the river Aire. The first in the village of Malham and the other footbridge just a stone's throw from Malham Cove. (I'm not saying I could throw a stone that far but I expect there's someone put there who could).
Anyway lazy or not I hope you like what you see today.
