Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: opening

On 29 September 2015, I had set my alarm clock for 6:30 am so that I could go on a birding walk with friends. Unfortunately, I didn't read the e-mail carefully enough, so hadn't seen that the meeting place was not where I thought. Of course, no one else showed up where I was, so I took myself off to the Calgary Zoo instead. I had planned on going there after the walk, anyway. This may have been the last time I go to the Zoo until next spring, as they have closed "my" parking lot at the west entrance till April next year. The north entrance is way out of my driving comfort zone, especially the drive back home. One of my favourite things at the Zoo is the butterfly room, but the season is over till around next April. I was surprised to see a few Poppies still in bloom - I always love these flowers at every stage, including the hairy buds showing just a glimpse of the beauty within. This morning, 6 December 2015, it is 0C (windchill -3C), supposed to get up to 7C this afternoon. Yet another overcast, dreary morning, though the forecast does say sun for this afternoon. Unless the forecast changes, we should be getting snow on three days of this coming week.

On 29 September 2015, I had set my alarm clock for 6:30 am so that I could go on a birding walk with friends. Unfortunately, I didn't read the e-mail carefully enough, so hadn't seen that the meeting place was not where I thought. Of course, no one else showed up where I was, so I took myself off to the Calgary Zoo instead. I had planned on going there after the walk, anyway. This may have been the last time I go to the Zoo until next spring, as they have closed "my" parking lot at the west entrance till April next year. The north entrance is way out of my driving comfort zone, especially the drive back home. One of my favourite things at the Zoo is the butterfly room, but the season is over till around next April. I was surprised to see a few Poppies still in bloom - always love the hairy buds showing just a glimpse of the beauty within. And this morning, I overslept again! Will have to finish the descriptions, tags, etc. for the remaining two of my "daily three" later today : (

Quite a few years ago, I took a photo of a much more closed, hairy bud and found it fascinating and beautiful. I looked through my plant books but just could not find any photo that looked like mine. It was several years later that I discovered that it was a Gaillardia bud. Love these flowers in all their stages. Taken on 20 June 2012, when I was on a walk on Nose Hill, in NW Calgary. "Gaillardia /ɡeɪˈlɑrdiə/, the blanket flowers, is a genus of flowering plants in the sunflower family, Asteraceae, native to North and South America. It was named after an M. Gaillard de Merentonneau or perhaps Charentonneau, an 18th-century French magistrate who was a patron of botany. The common name may refer to the resemblance of the inflorescence to the brightly patterned blankets made by Native Americans, or to the ability of wild taxa to blanket the ground with colonies. Many cultivars have been bred for ornamental use." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaillardia

I can never resist photographing an Echinacea flower, whether in bud, fully open, or withered and brown. This flower was growing at the Reader Rock Garden on August 11th.

Thought this Hollyhock flower was interesting, the way it was opening.

I liked the colours and design of the opening of this teepee (tipi, tepee). Seen on one of the brightly coloured teepees in the Indian Village down at the Stampede Grounds, when I went with my youngest daughter on July 12th. The annual Calgary Stampede came to an end yesterday, so the city can now return to normal, lol. What a crazy 10 days, though my visit to the Grounds with my daughter was the only thing I went to. For visitors to the city, this 10-day event is amazing!

Photographed (macro) this beautiful, small Fleabane on Plateau Mountain on July 17th. Maybe around an inch across at this stage, if I remember correctly. Such a gorgeous colour and it was so beautiful in the sunlight.

Echinacea flowers are one of my favourite garden flowers, but it was the bokeh in this image that caught my eye. Photographed at Reader Rock Garden on August 11th.

I wanted a bit of bright colour for my photostream - it's all too easy to post too many images with the limited winter colour that surrounds us for the next few months : ) Took this opening Poppy bud at Reader Rock Garden on October 13th. I'm just not getting my Christmas letters done! I'm going to have to try and make time for them as soon as possible, as they should already have been mailed overseas ... sigh.

A bright Tulip that was growing at the Reader Rock Garden on 19th May. I don't usually see Tulips when they are just beginning to unfurl their petals. Just needed a splash of bright colour to add amongst so many "green" photos I've been posting recently.

I always love to see Poppy buds with the gorgeous, crumpled petals just starting to emerge. This orange Oriental Poppy was growing at the Reader Rock Garden a few days ago. Don't you just love it when a photo turns out with a black or very dark background? Must check and see if I used flash for this one - no, I didn't, so it was just one of those lucky shots : ).

A Sunflower bud just beginning to open, in a friend's garden.

Happened to notice this small Gaillardia flower just beginning to open, when I was on a three-hour walk in a local park yesterday morning. It was on the edge of the creek bank, overlooking the water. I like these flowers at all stages of their life : ) Thanks, Rebecca, I meant to say that I was posting early today because I have a long, afternoon walk and then, if it doesn't rain, I might drive a few of the gravel roads south of the city this evening. Later: no, I just collapsed at home for the day, after all.