Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: near Nanton

I LOVE Poppies and Poppy seedpods! This photo was taken last weekend, during a visit south of Calgary to the wonderful homestead near Nanton, belonging to Jim Coutts. He is gradually returning his land to it's original prairie grassland, but he has stunning gardens surrounding his home. Poppies add brilliant red and orange to these areas and I was happy to take endless photos, so that I could enjoy the colours any time I want.

Two days ago, a group of us went south of Calgary to near Nanton, to visit the old homestead belonging to Jim Coutts. He is trying to convert his land back to its original, natural grassland, almost literally one little grass "plug" at a time. He has the most amazing garden, including brilliantly coloured flowersbeds and an area that grows a lot of different native grasses. Glorious red Poppies are growing everywhere in these garden areas. I would LOVE a garden like this!

We saw this little beetle yesterday, south of Calgary, near Nanton, southern Alberta. It looked just like a Ladybug, but a bit larger and fatter, and no spots on the red. I looked at hundreds of Ladybug photos on Google last night, but couldn't find anything like this one. Maybe it's not a Ladybug after all?! Later: many thanks to Doug for the ID, Large Orange Ladybug (Anatis lecontei).

Couldn't resist a close shot of this Sunflower that was growing in Jim Coutts' homestead garden. A group of us went south of Calgary to visit this amazing garden on Sunday. Jim is in the long-term process of changing his land back into its original, native grassland, but he also has spectacular gardens around his homestead home.

These Poppies have puzzled me for a long time, as the seedpods have these growths around them. Does anyone happen to know what kind of Poppy this is? There was just one small patch of them, and they were much taller than the other kinds of Poppy. Taken when a group of us was lucky enough to visit the wonderful homestead gardens belonging to Jim Coutts, just NE of Nanton, south of Calgary. I absolutely love Jim's Poppy garden. Photographed on 27 August 2010. These seed pods look as good in the garden as they do in floral arrangements. The larger center pod is surrounded by chicks, or smaller pods, that develop around the larger pod. The seeds inside of these pods are edible. This plant is illegal to grow in some states because opium can be derived from this particular species. Later: I think these are called Hens & Chicks Poppies. Read more: Tips on Growing Hens & Chicks Poppies | eHow.com www.ehow.com/info_8367387_tips-growing-hens-chicks-poppie...

Not the kind of photo I would love to have got of this beautiful Old World Swallowtail, but I was lucky to get even this, LOL! We saw it fluttering by while we were on a botanizing hike south of Calgary, in the Nanton area. It landed for a second or two and I was able to quickly grab a couple of shots for ID purposes. I so rarely see these.

This was taken yesterday, on the Nanton Christmas Bird Count, south of Calgary. Three of us covered Cayley (about half way between High River and Nanton) and the area south from Cayley. Our area was flat farmland, like the band that cuts across the midle of this photo. As you can see, the main roads were clear and the weather was gorgeous! This is a zoomed in photo, so the mountains appear closer than they really were. Needed a "lazy" day (i.e. a day at home, working on my computer) today, ready for another long Bird Count day tomorrow.

The ground was covered with similar mushrooms, in every direction, and though every single one was old and withered, I thought they had a strange kind of beauty. What a sight it must have been when they were all fresh! Seen in a small area of mixed trees in Jim Coutts' homestead garden, south of the city, near Nanton, on 5th September.

This was one of the gorgeous Hollyhock flowers growing in the amazing homestead gardens belonging to Jim Coutts. Jim lives in southern Alberta, near Nanton. A few of us were lucky enough to go and be shown around his gardens yesterday morning, including a display area of native grassses. After lunch, we all went for a hike in the rolling hills west of Nanton, to botanize the area. I'm trying to give my very painful arms and shoulders a bit of a break, being careful not to spend too much time on the computer. Thanks for your patience and understanding : )

But not MY garden path, LOL! This is just one tiny area of Jim Coutts' amazing homestead garden, near Nanton, southern Alberta, visited last August. Jim is trying to convert this land back to natural prairie and he grows small plugs of many plants and grasses to use for this enormous task. My favourite part of his gardens is the Poppy area - I'm in seventh heaven when I am there : )

I was playing around with this photo just now, wondering if there was anything I could do about the completely blown out sky. I accidentally pushed the hue level too far, but then decided that if I couldn't have blue sky, then I would at least add some colour to the roof (which in reality was a mustard colour)! Just noticed the tiny patch of glorious Cone Flowers down in the lower right corner : ) This image was taken in August last year, on a day's trip south of the city to Nanton, to the amazing homestead belonging to Jim Coutts. This photogenic, old shed is on his land.

A whole row of these gorgeous, tall Sunflowers was growing in the wonderful homestead garden owned by Jim Coutts. We were lucky enough to have the chance to visit this place, south of the city near Nanton, last August. So many amazing plants - my favourites are always the Poppies.

I've always loved cow skulls, and this one was hanging on a shed (?) on Jim Coutts' homestead, south of the city, near Nanton.

This is a reminder of a most enjoyable day on a homestead south of the city, near Nanton. It belongs to Jim Coutts, and he has wonderful gardens around his home. The areas of Poppies are always my favourite.

Just had to dig a little way into my archives to find something bright for today. These poppies were growing in the amazingly beautiful gardens around Jim Coutts' homestead, south of the city, near Nanton. It is a dull, overcast, cold, messy and miserable day today, after a night of snow. I very rarely miss my walks, but today I simply chickened out, LOL. The low light would have meant no photos worth keeping, so I stayed home in the warm and thoroughly enjoyed a mug of hot, steaming cappucino (from a packet). Hope this cheers up anyone else who has been going through a similar day : ). May the sun shine brightly tomorrow ....

Yesterday, a group of us went south of Calgary to near Nanton, to visit the old homestead belonging to Jim Coutts. He is trying to convert his land back to its original, natural grassland, almost literally one little grass "plug" at a time. He has the most amazing garden, including brilliantly coloured flowersbeds and an area that grows a lot of different native grasses. This is Jim's cat, who came over to check us out and that's my reflection in his/her eyes : ). I didn't notice the brown, wiggly line pattern around the eyes until I downloaded my photos to my computer. I wonder if lots of cats have this pattern or maybe just this individual.

Yesterday, a group of us went south of Calgary to near Nanton, to visit the old homestead belonging to Jim Coutts. He is trying to convert his land back to its original, natural grassland, almost literally one little grass "plug" at a time. He has the most amazing garden, including brilliantly coloured flowersbeds and an area that grows a lot of different native grasses. This is just one tiny area of his garden, looking out towards the distant Rocky Mountains. I LOVE Poppies, so I was in seventh heaven!

Yesterday, a group of us went south of Calgary to near Nanton, to visit the old homestead belonging to Jim Coutts. He is trying to convert his land back to its original, natural grassland, almost literally one little grass "plug" at a time. He has the most amazing garden, including brilliantly coloured flowersbeds and an area that grows a lot of different native grasses. This one flower caught my attention, contrasting beautifully with the background colour.