Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: opening flower

Echinacea are one of my favourite flowers to photograph, whether a bud, partially open flower, fully open or in the final stage. Love the pattern of the green, hairy bracts (?). Took this photo on 26 August 2015 at the Reader Rock Garden. "Echinacea /ˌɛkɨˈneɪʃⁱə/ is a genus, or group of herbaceous flowering plants in the daisy family, Asteraceae. The nine species it contains are commonly called coneflowers. They are endemic to eastern and central North America, where they are found growing in moist to dry prairies and open wooded areas. They have large, showy heads of composite flowers, blooming from early to late summer. The generic name is derived from the Greek word ἐχῖνος (echino), meaning "sea urchin," due to the spiny central disk. Some species are used in herbal medicines and some are cultivated in gardens for their showy flowers. A few species are of conservation concern." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinacea

Note: this photo is my "main" (i.e. very last to be uploaded) photo out of the three I've posted this morning. I uploaded the other two first and then uploaded this main image separately, to see if that makes any difference. I did try doing it a couple of times this way weeks ago and seem to remember that there was something I didn't like with the result, but can't for the life of me remember what it was, ha. Hopefully, Flickr (or something else) won't change the order of the way you see my photos displayed! Happy 1st August, everyone! Here in Canada, it is a long weekend, as Monday is Heritage Day in Alberta, an occasion to celebrate the heritage of the peoples of the province. The origins of the holiday on the first Monday in August each year seem to go back to a “day of recreation” first organized by Toronto City Council in 1869. This photo was taken last Wednesday, 29 July 2015, when I called in at the Reader Rock Garden after a volunteer shift. Summer is flying by and I wanted to take a whole batch of bright, colourful flower photos ready to post during the seven or eight cold "winter" months. It was so disappointing to find very little still in bloom! Many plants had already finished and had been cut down and a lot of the flowers that were left were past their prime. However, I did still manage to get some photos, including of this opening Echinacea bud - love these flowers. It had rained during the afternoon and some of the pathways were quite slippery. Also, the powerful sprinklers were turned on when I was still there and I was rather wet by the time I reached the exit! The things we photographers go through to get some of our photos, lol! The forecast for this afternoon is 28C, a very slight improvement over yesterday, when it reached 31C. I was out all day yesterday, having a great day with friend, Darlene, going west of the city. We first called in at someone's private property to see if there was any sign of the Red-bellied Woodpecker that had been reported. No luck, but we did see many beautiful Evening Grosbeaks and even more Pine Siskins, plus a Hairy Woodpecker and several other birds. Also, we saw a different Grosbeak, either a female or a juvenile Rose-breasted Grosbeak or Black-headed Grosbeak. Didn't get a chance to look at my photos and crop to get a better look last night. Hopefully, someone will have been able to get the bird identified. After this visit, we drove to an area where I had been told that a Great Gray can be seen sometimes (no luck), and then along Elbow Falls Trail (Highway 66) as far as Maclean Pond, just in time to see an Osprey with a large fish in its talons. So few birds to be seen or heard - maybe it was just too hot for them, and by then it was the afternoon, which tends not to be the best time to see birds. We got separated for quite a long time, through miscommunication, probably because when I yelled through the forest "Are you still coming?", it had sounded to Darlene like "I'm coming"! So, she waited for me to reach her and I had assumed that she was following behind me, some distance back. Apparently, both of us called a number of times after that, but we were out of hearing distance. Not a good feeling, each of us concerned about the well-being of the other and each wondering if we were going to have to call in a search party. At 31C, it was feeling mighty hot the whole time, too! When we finally found each other, we knew what we needed after our "ordeal" - an ice-cream, back in Bragg Creek, lol! A great day, Darlene - thanks so much for driving and for all the fun : )

A photo from my archives, taken on 17 August 2011 at the Reader Rock Garden. Echinacea are one of my favourite flowers to photograph, whether a bud, partially open flower, fully open or in the final stage. Love the pattern of the green, hairy bracts (?). The weather forecast for today is 31C (feeling like 33C) this afternoon. It's already 26C this morning. I have a volunteer shift today, so at least I will have a few hours in air-conditioning (though not very efficient).

Just the tiniest opening bud, but absolutely gorgeous in my mind : ) Interesting to realize what plant it belonged to, when a fully open flower was found not too far away. Photographed (macro)in the meadows on Plateau Mountain, Kananaskis, on July 17th.