Saturday, July 14, 2007

Garden Blogger Bloom Day

I wasn't sure if I'd have anything blooming or not with our lack of rain. I have been trying to keep things watered and so far most things are doing pretty well considering. Here are a few pictures of what's blooming around Robin's Nesting Place.
Purple cone flower

Larkspur Delphinium Elatum 'Aurora Deep Purple'

Gerbera DaisiesLiatris

Lantana
Lucky Yellow Lantana

Pink and white impatiens



Geranium

Hosta
New Guinea Impatiens

Rondo Bearded Tongue


Zinnia
Salvia

Raspberry Surprise Dianthus



Russian Sage

Purple Fountain Grass
Here's my garden bloom list:
Purple Wave Petunias
New Guinea Impatiens
Impatiens
Hosta
Liatris
Purple Cone Flower
Spirea
Salvia 'Purple Rain' and Red
East Freeland Sage
Coleus
Superbells
Portulaca (I didn't plant this)
Verbena (pink and purple)
Lantana (four assorted varieties)
African Daisy (sad little blooms)
Dianthus Raspberry Surprise
Zinnia
Roses
Larkspur 'Aurora Deep Purple'
Balloon Flower
Geranium (pink and red)
Butterfly Bush
Perennial Viola
Violas (assorted colors still going)
Gerbera Daisies
Russian Sage
Veronica Speedwell
Anise Hyssop 'Golden Jubilee'
Purple Fountain Grass

Thank you Carol for hosting another Garden Blogger Bloom Day. I look forward to seeing what's blooming in every one's garden.





23 comments:

Anonymous said...

You take great pictures, what kind of camera do you use?

Carol Michel said...

I was thinking the same thing as Vonlafin, great pictures! Your flowers all look bright and cheery and don't seem to be suffering from lack of rain at all.

Does your delphinium come back each year? I've had trouble in the past getting them to return reliably, so gave up on them.

Thanks for participating in Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!

Carol at May Dreams Gardens

Robin's Nesting Place said...

Vonlafin, thank you. I have several cameras but my favorite most reliable one is an older Sony F717. I love it.

Carol, I hope the delphinium will come back, I just planted it this spring. It's looking kind of bad right now with the lack of rain, the flowers look pretty but the leaves are brown.

Robin's Nesting Place said...

Vonlafin, another thing I do to the pictures is I pretty much always use Photoshop Elements to enhance them. I sharpen the focus, crop, and adjust the color a bit if I need to. It's time consuming to do it, but it is a fun hobby and it does help the pictures a lot.

Alyssa said...

Very pretty pictures - they look so professional and you do have a lot blooming. Some people never notice how really pretty hosta flowers are. Your dog and kitty are precious. Your previous post with the kitty bouquet was very entertaining. I'll bet she keeps you on your toes! I was glad to see a zucchini recipe - a friend just gave me two giants!

Thanks,
Alyssa

Sweet Home and Garden Carolina said...

Robin,

Your photos are incredible and your garden flowers very pretty. I hope your delphiniums return next year. I never had luck with them but then my neighbor does.

Unknown said...

Awesome hot colours, Robin. do you find it challenging getting red flowers to show their true colours via digital? I finally went to my camera shop guru who told me it wasn't something I was doing, just the way digital sensors are. I'm going to try shooting in RAW format.

I hope your delphinium come back for you, Robin. Here they are pretty reliably perennial--I have white with green flecks that have been here since before we bought the place 8 years ago, and most of the other clumps I've planted have also established. They fall over in our frequent gales of wind off the Fundy, but we don't mind.

Robin's Nesting Place said...

Alyssa, I used to cut the hosta blooms off because I didn't like them either. It wasn't until I captured them with the camera that I saw their beauty. The kitty is such a sweetie and is a perfect pet other than her obsession with my flowers.

Carolyn Gail, if you and Carol can't grow them I'm sure mine won't come back either. I've never had them before. I'll have to do some research to see how I can help them along.

Jodi, reds are very hard to capture. I take so many pictures of red flowers that are horible. I love the pink ones they are so easy. I'll have to try shooting raw too maybe that will help.

Anonymous said...

Your photos are beautiful, as always. I find it interesting that you tinker with the colors digitally. While I crop my photos religiously, I've never tried adjusting the colors or sharpening the focus (I didn't even know that was possible). What kind of results do you get? Can you show us a "before" and "after"?

Bev said...

Robin, what gorgeous photos and blooms. I can see that your Photoshop efforts are well worth the time. Award winners for sure! Love the colors on the Rondo. And thanks for identifying the butterfly on my blog.

Christa said...

Robin,
What type of zinnia is that? It's really neat looking! Great color combo.

Robin's Nesting Place said...

Christa, I looked through all of my tags and I didn't see one for the zinnia. I'm sorry. I think I picked it up at one of the big box stores. I hope I can find it next year, I've enjoyed it immensely.

Bev, thank you and you're welcome :)

Charley "Apple" Grabowski said...

Wow! You have lots blooming. Your pictures are great. I love the coneflower picture, the beetles are eating mine as they bloom. Mostly I ignore hosta blooms but your picture makes me think I should pay more attention. I believe the zinnia is a Swizzle.

Unknown said...

Great photos- thanks for sharing the photography tips. I thought your tip about time of day was so good to know. I often get out there in mid day heat and the colors look washed out. I'll try to manage it better to get photos in the morning.

Annie in Austin said...

Hi Robin,
Your photo techniques started quite a conversation on Pam/Digging's blog - and reading the original post and comments makes it all even better, and more clear.

It's fun to see how many of the garden bloggers grow the same thing - if we were in charge, purple coneflowers would be the National Flower!

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

Robin, what a lot you have in flower at the moment, I'm impressed!!!

Love the pics, especially the ones with the dewdrops on the petals.

If you want some rain I can send you some because here we have more than enough. We're right in the middle of a thunderstorm and it's raining buckets. Not good, my plants are drowning.

Connie said...

Beautiful blooms and fabulous photos! That zinnia is a real beauty.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful photos. I love taking pictures and I am seriously considering getting Photoshop. I assume that considering your results you consider it to be totally worth the money. How hard is it to learn to use?

Hope you have time to come visit my place and admire my blooms.

Robin's Nesting Place said...

healingmagichands, learning the quick fix basics of Photoshop Elements is easy, but there's so much I haven't figured out yet with the full edit feature. I'd like to take a class to learn more.

Robin's Nesting Place said...

Thank you all for visiting Robin's Nesting Place on Blogger Bloom Day and for your kind comments. Garden bloggers are the best!

Nan said...

Wow, what a picture of the coneflower! And isn't the daisy a cheerful flower? I love the dianthus. I really must look into growing them. Great photos.

Shirley said...

Hi Robin,

On reading through your comments I see I am not the only one who thinks your photos are stunning! Your garden must be like a sweet shop when choosing what to photograph.

What a great selection of plants for GBBD – I particularly liked your Purple cone flower and Liatris. Is your fountain grass hardy? It isn’t in Scotland so I don’t grow it in my garden.

Robin's Nesting Place said...

Shirl, the purple fountain grass is not hardy for my area. I plan to overwinter them in the garage and hope they survive. I've enjoyed them in my neighbors yard and just had to have them this year for my containers.