Handle With Care

 When I saw, from a distance, the new shoots of the flowers in the first two pictures I thought they were crocus coming through however as I approached I realised they were not crocus but more like a variety of Iris. I was a little taken aback though because the irises that I am familiar with are tall and showy but these were small and rather understated.

As I walked around the garden I found other varieties too but in larger numbers (especially the yellow variety) and where they were planted together they were definitely more showy, like their taller cousins.

The first variety (pics 1-3) is Iris reticulata "Sheila Ann Germaney", the second variety (the yellow) is Iris reticulata "Katharine's Gold" and the third variety (the purple as if you needed that spelling out) is Iris histrioides "George".

These are not native to the UK but you can buy the bulbs to plant them in your own garden should you wish. A word of warning though, as hinted at in the title of today's post these plants come with a health warning. If ingested they may cause severe discomfort and it is advisable to wear gloves and "other protective equipment" when handling them. Who'd have thought eh?

Roses Are Red pt1

Of course roses are not always red, they come in all sorts of colours and varieties and the vibrant colours combined with a luxurious perfume make these really wonderful flowers.

My favourite from this selection is the fourth one which I recall had a sweet but delicate scent and I really like the colour and the arrangement of the petals. I also like the central whorl on the third image.

I took these pictures in the Rose Garden at Leif Erikson park in Duluth. I had read about this as being one of the things to see in Duluth and I was surprised to see so many varieties out on display. It was cold and windy so looking through my shots I was not surprised to see that many of the flowers were a little blurry around the edges but that being said I think I still managed to get a few decent ones worth sharing. There will be more for another day but for today please enjoy these. 

The Odd One Out

A few days ago I shared a few pictures of Fungi from my first hike in Sleeping Giant Provincial Park and for today I have selected some more fungi, this time from a hike along one of the trails in the Pigeon River Provincial Park. Most of these were along the boardwalk but there are some from the Finger point walk too and in time there will be lots more to come. 

Of course unless you have been there none of the walks I mention will mean anything but that really isn't important, it's the fungi that really matter and these are fabulous specimens.

The odd one out of course is the lichen in the fourth image which is really tiny and easily overlooked but in its own way it is as spectacular as the larger and more fleshy fungi. 

It really is amazing how many different varieties there are in so many different colours, shapes and sizes

Here's Looking At You

Today I have gone back to the pictures of deer at Dunham Massey rather than the buildings and reflections that I shared over the past two days.

These three deer are all Fallow Deer but these shots perfectly show some of the different colourings that are quite common from the fairly even brown tones of the stag in the first picture to the almost black backed doe in the second shot and then at the most extreme end the white in the third shot. This is not an albino deer but a genuine white variety. A fourth variety is almost totally black but I haven't got a shot of one to share today.

It didn't matter how quietly I approached the deer they were always on the alert and while they didn't all run off they kept a watchful eye on me. 

It is always a privilege to be able to get close to animals in the wild and I love to share the pictures I capture.

Back at the Bird Zoo...

As promised yesterday I have posted a few more pictures of wildfowl from Martin Mere.  We get used to seeing the same species of ducks and geese but as these pictures show there is a huge variety of different species, I won't even begin to pretend I know what they are but they are in my opinion really beautiful creatures. I love the different colours and and various shapes and sizes which best equip them for their specific environment.

We are lucky to have places like Martin Mere which allow us to get up close to so many species such as these.  Why not plan a day at your nearest WWT site, go with friends, take a picnic and of course take a camera... you know I will.