Pollination

 If you look closely at these images of a Honeybee and the Meadow Cranesbill you will see how important the bee is to pollinating the plants and flowers. You can see the tiny grains of pollen dusting the back of the bee, clinging to its hairs and also on the petals and the stamen of the flower.

The other thing I want to comment on in the first picture is the bees wings, they are shiny and clear but in some of the "panes" there is a small pattern. I call them "panes" because the wings look like stained glass or leaded  windows. So delicate and beautiful.

That's Just Dandy

Whenever I post pictures of Dandelions I ask myself the question "are these weeds of wildflowers?"  

Looking at these beautiful images the answer is clear, to me at least.

Delicate Tendrils

I love the different shades of purple in this beautiful clematis which was also tempting for the tiny little beetle which in the first shot is climbing up one of the tendrils and then in the second shot is walking away from the centre. 

I hope you love it too.

Summer is Coming

From fireworks back to flowers but there is something of the fireworks in these pictures with explosion of colours and the tendrils of the stamen stretching out.

My clear favourite today is the first picture and I almost posted it on its own because I like it so much. I love the way the petals arch backwards pushing the stamen forwards and the little coils tempting bees to come and collect the pollen. It is such a beautiful flower.

It's A Cornflower...

Today sees the start of a run of colour as I post pictures of some of the flowers I saw at Towneley Hall and gardens in Burnley on a recent visit.  I had a recommendation to visit and at first it seemed a long way to go but it was well worth it. The gardens overall were quite quiet, even though it was the start of a bank holiday weekend and there were ots of different flowers to see, and a nice lawn to sit and relax on for a while doing some people watching.

So for today I have chosen a selection of pictures of Cornflowers. I love the vibrant blue and deep purple and I love the bud with serrated leaves that fold away to expose the beautiful flower. I'm sure you will agree it's a beauty...

Purple Alium

Today is my 250th blog.  I'm surprised in some ways that I have kept it going all this time and that I have had so many pictures to post over that time but it has been very rewarding for me and I enjoy sharing pictures from my various trips.

Today's pictures are all of Purple Alium from Bodnant.  The first picture is a crop from the second picture showing the fine detail of the tiny flowers that make up each head.  The wind made it difficult to get these shots but patience has paid off.  

A Bugs Life

Having posted some pictures of bees yesterday I had a look through my folders and found these shots of bugs feeding on pollen in the gardens at Powys Castle.

These pictures were taken using the macro feature on a Tamron 70mm - 300mm lens, They were handheld and so not as sharp as I would have liked and I imagine that had I had my Canon 100mm macro lens I may have got some better shots.  All the same I'm sure you will agree they're not too bad.  

Coniston

Canon EOS6D EF 24-105mm f/4L @ 24mm f5 ISO 100 1/400s

Just one picture for today, this was taken one day in June 2013 and was one of the first pictures taken with my full frame DSLR.  I had gone up to the Lake District looking for a campsite and I had just checked out Coniston Hall Campsite which is right on the shore of the lake.  It was a bit too busy for me so I decided not to stay there but the views of Coniston Old Man were really good so I thought I would share one today, I like the wide open meadow with summer flowers in the foreground.

Why did I pick this picture for today?  Well at the weekend I ordered a favourite album on vinyl and it arrived today it is pressed on cream vinyl with aqua blue and bronze splatters, it looks amazing and as I listened to one of my favourite tracks I thought I would link it with my blog.  The song is called If I Sit Still, Maybe I'll Get Out Of Here.  I thought of where I would go and as I love the Lake District I thought this picture fit the bill.