Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Coneflower

Just adding one photo this morning, after posting 13 extra photos last night! I wasn't going to post any, but after looking at the endless, colourless "winter" images I've been uploading, colour was something that was definitely needed. Yesterday and overnight, we had more snow and this morning we have freezing fog. Our temperature is -3C (windchill -9C). The norm for now is a balmy PLUS 14C. Wednesday 17 October is forecast to reach PLUS 15C! Yay! My thoughts are with the millions of people living down in the SE of the US, about to face the extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane, Michael. Things like snow and cold are absolutely nothing compared to what so many people have to deal with! My rough plans for 29 September 2018 changed when I saw the weather forecast. I ended up visiting the Reader Rock Garden instead of driving to a different garden. As usual when I go there, it was a bit windy, which always makes photographing flowers, especially ones on long stems, more difficult. It was also overcast and I was hoping that it wouldn't rain. Instead, I found myself standing at the highest point of the garden, with very light snow falling for just a few minutes. There were still quite a few flowers in bloom, though many were already past their prime. I was glad to find this Echinacea flower stilll looking reasonably good. A touch of filter was added in post-processing to add a bit of sharpness.

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 : )

This was a popular flower with a bee (wasp, hoverfly?), a moth (?) and a tiny green Aphid. Taken on 27 August 2013, when I was at Pearce Estate (near Inglewood Bird Sanctuary). Came across the image when I was looking late last night for something cheery to post, lol. It snowed again all yesterday, giving us maybe another three inches. Gone is the wonderful, sunny, comparatively mild weather, which was appreciated so much, and in its place we have an overcast sky that looks like it might bring more snow. It's -15C, windchill -24C and it looks from the forecast like we should be getting about nine days with some sun, and then days of snow - again! This golden flower is for anyone who has had enough of winter already and we are still barely more than mid-way! Definitely a winter to remember!

A few of these Rudbeckia triloba flowers were growing in the garden close to the house on a huge acreage south of the city. Also called Brown-Eyed Susans, these plants belong to the Aster family (Asteraceae). It wasn't until I downloaded my images to my computer that I realized the colours look like those of fall.

Rudbeckias are one of my favourite garden flowers to photograph, and I look forward to seeing them each year in the gardens at the Calgary Zoo. This photo was from my archives, taken on 8 September 2011. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudbeckia ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We do get these beautiful Coneflowers growing in the wild, but I saw and photographed this particular one growing at the Reader Rock Garden on 10 August 2011. I'm doing well with grainy shots this morning, lol (i.e. see the Bald Eagle image I posted just before this one)!

After endless days of dreariness - can't remember when we last saw the sun, apart from when it came out for five or ten minutes late yesterday - I decided last night that I needed colour, bright colour! Of course, I wake up this morning to a bright, sunny day out there : ) (Later afternoon - well it was nice while it lasted, ha). Photographed at the Calgary Zoo on 25 September 2012.

Rudbeckias are one of my favourite garden flowers - so vibrant and glowing. Should have held on to this image for when our temperatures plunge in a few weeks' time : ) This joyful mass of colour was photographed at the Calgary Zoo back on August 23rd. "Rudbeckia is a plant genus of 23 species in the family Asteraceae. The species are commonly called coneflowers and black-eyed-susans; all are native to North America and many species are cultivated in gardens for their showy yellow or gold flower heads." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudbeckia My brother's house in England is having to be auctioned on September 15th. I would SO appreciate your good luck vibes! This has been a real roller-coaster ride, especially with the buyer who backed out after a few months - the Sold sign was already in the front garden! Houses just aren't selling in England, but I am really, really hoping that someone comes forward either at the auction or before. It would be such an enormous relief to have this off my shoulders : )