Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: pod

Growing poppies quickly became a mad love affair to me because they give so much and require so little in return. From happy seedling to freaky looking hairy bud, and then to breathtaking blossom and finally to their alien-like seed pods, these flowers are a feast to the eyes! I discovered the Poppy Game soon after they began blooming in my garden the first year, which is where you try to catch a poppy blossom opening up before the outer casing falls away. It happens fairly rapidly so you must be outside as the sun hits the flowers or you will likely find blossoms opening with the outer husk laying on the ground below. Sometimes the flowers seem to want to pose for me, and this particular June 1 morning in 2014, I managed to find an opening poppy with its casing AND a lovely poppy bud in the background fading into soft bokeh. :)

My front garden was where I first tried to grow poppies. I had a 5-year old packet of red poppies and thought, "These will NEVER sprout, but certainly not if I don't plant them!" So I walked outside and went to my small flower bed and promptly flung them all over the bed without care! I hoped that maybe a few would sprout. I was not prepared for what happened in the coming months. Instead of just a few, I think there must have been over 100 that sprouted and grew into a veritable WALL of red poppies!! Every morning I would come out and my jaw would drop at the incredible sight before me as new poppies opened! It was incredible. I fell madly in love with these flowers and watered them every day through our hot and unforgiving summer, and all the way until the first frost of winter killed the last of them. What a show! What a gift of beauty that continued month after month. If that weren't enough, the next spring, without any input by me, these flowers had reseeded themselves and put on ANOTHER show!! I added a mixture of poppies that year and soon the red ones were joined by a rainbow of lovely blossoms of different types of poppies. Even without care, they put on another show last year. Not a speck of water from me and still, these prolific flowers greeted me with another glorious springtime show! They didn't last as long, but still, I was happy to see them blooming until June! This picture is from May 2014, the year I had my raised bed garden, and here in my front garden I had irises and hyacinths and different kinds of allium (onion ), and others too. Seeing the poppies as the sun peeked over the hillside was a sight I relished, and I would be there with my camera to see the first rays of warm light shine through the crepe-like petals of these flowers I so adore.

(1 picture above in a note, and a link to others) Steve and I went on an photo outing a year ago that took us to a trail that meanders along the beautiful Rogue River. I was delighted to find Campion flowers there, because they are such wonderful subjects to photograph. In the past I have only studied the blossoms, but it was later in the year and the flowers were all going to seed. In the late afternoon, I turned to see this pod glowing with the sun's last rays of the day.

Poppy blossoms grow inside an alien-looking pod that's covered with coarse hairs. As morning begins to stir and the sun's rays begin to shine across the land, mature pods crack open and soon fall away as the petals inside expand with the increasing warmth. Catching this event can be quite a challenge, but it's much easier when you have a garden overflowing with hundreds of flowers! I would leap out of bed each morning and stalk my flowerbeds, hunting for pods that were opening. Here is one that I captured in July 2013! Explored on January 25, 2014. Highest placement, #11.

A few months ago, Steve and I went to visit a friend our ours who lives on a lovely piece of property on the edge of Oregon and California. She and her husband have an amazing garden and landscaping, and I have had the opportunity to spend two afternoons taking pictures there. Down by one of their Koi ponds are a few of these interesting trees which are simply COVERED with seed pods. I was fascinated by their shape and awesome textures, and wondered if I would be able to capture the glow of one with the sun's rays shining through it. To my immense delight, I was successful, and in fact, its possible to see the seeds inside!!

... To create grand visual moments out of small and simple things, and to infuse big and complicated subjects with unpretentious elegance. She respects classic disciplines, while at the same time insists on being fast, modern and wild." ~ Amyn Nasser (My apologies, the entire quote doesn't fit but it was fitting, so I decided it would be ok to break it.) 1 more picture in the notes above! This morning I was looking at my little garden and at one point I turned my head towards the sun...and my breath was taken away from me! A lemon tarweed plant was glowing warmly in the sunlight and I just stared in awe. Its flowers were long gone and was now covered with husks full of seeds. Every seed head shimmered as the light hit the tiny, sticky resin balls that covered this plant, and caused it to glow. I spent the next 10 minutes taking pictures, so overjoyed that the day had finally come to give this plant a place in my 365 project! :) Amyn Nasser, from Zanzibar is a self-taught visualist, shooting fashion, beauty, celebrities, advertising, nudes and fine art since 1981. Through the years Amyn's camera has taken memorable pictures of beautiful women, celebrities and personalities, including high political figures, athletes and movie stars. Fine Art America: Amyn Nasser Explored on June 30, 2013. Highest position, page 2 (#37).

This image was taken during the Rogue Valley Photography hike to Mt. Ashland on August 7, 2011

There's nothing so irresistable as sun shining through just about anything...that glow is so wonderful. Here we have the empty seed heads of a Henderson's Shooting Star, glowing in afternoon beams of sunshine. This is also a great example to show that even after a flower has died long ago, its seed pod can be lovely too!

Oh, it's been another one of those crazy days!! Steve hosted another Sunday Lunch Ride and I was in absolute HEAVEN, riding in gorgeous Rogue River! So wonderful to be home! Got to take hundreds of pictures with my beloved Mark II, so happy to have it with me once again! Once we got home, there wasn't much time to look at my pictures before I was working on an important project that could not wait. I've only stopped long enough to finish this picture and put it up on my stream! I hope that things will calm down soon, as I am missing your photostreams and want to catch up with all of you!!! This picture was taken at the Palmerton Arboretum in Rogue River, and I think these look like alien pods from outer space!! :D I wish I had more time to put up some more pictures, I got zillions of wonderful images to share! Hopefully I can slip them in during the week! :) Ellen Lee DeGeneres (born January 26, 1958) is an American stand-up comedian, television host and actress. She has hosted the syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show since 2003. Wikipedia: Ellen DeGeneres