autofantasia's photos with the keyword: floral

A little bit of artistic fun to brighten up these short winter days. Two images of mine combined and sent to the 'processing room' ... and no, not really shot in Amsterdam, but RHS Harlow Carr on the outskirts of Harrogate. Also for Sight and Sound ... the late, great Max Bygraves with the memorable "Tulips From Amsterdam" - enjoy: youtu.be/ors-eZeeJ0U youtu.be/qPsq6flck2A

Such crazy weather we get. Yesterday, the last of the autumn flowers, like this one here, were encrusted with frost and yet today it's grey and sodden. And no, this isn't SOOC, but I think it still works ... at least it does for me.

For this week's Sunday Challenge , for which the subject was art and we were asked to show our "arty side". So I took a shot I'd taken of some blossom which had fallen onto the top of a clipped box hedge. Then I set the sliders to maximum and gave it a good going over with the brushes before adding some home made 'swirliness'. A copy of the original image can be found in the Notes. Also for Sight and Sound : Heart with "(up On) Cherry Blossom Road"... youtu.be/INnNEw0C8hI youtu.be/_lwTyStbwOw youtu.be/GZKsaI8cHVM

For this week's Sunday Challenge , which had the theme of heat . Taken in our back garden earlier this week on one of the rare occasions that we enjoyed some warm sunshine, something that is essential if your are to see these lovely flowers open up fully. Osteospermums are in fact relatively new to most gardeners, and were almost unheard of 25 years ago. They have risen in popularity in the last decade as they have become more commercially available seeing more and more people use them as summer bedding plants, either to put in the border or into pots. As I said earlier, Osteospermums require full sun for the flowers to fully open, although while half-closed it is still possible to appreciate the different colours on the underside of the petals. The name Osteospermum is derived from the Greek osteon ( bone ) and Latin spermum ( seed ). They belong to the daisy family ( Compositae/Asteraceae), hence their common names: African Daisy or South African Daisy; Cape Daisy; and of course Blue-eyed Daisy. If you want to know more about them please follow the link below to a great little website that I've just discovered. There you can learn more about the propagation, botany and plant care of this beautiful daisy plant: www.osteospermum.com Also for Sight and Sound , what else but Morecambe & Wise with "Bring Me Sunshine" ... youtu.be/qfXjDELeW5M youtu.be/toqxJ4jbXaM

Taken for this week's Sunday Challenge for which we were told: "an easy one ... do what you like this week as long as there is a fence in your shot". Mine was taken whilst out cycling around town, something I try to do at least 3 times a week, and is of some clematis I spotted spilling over and growing through someone's back fence. I did also look out a few from the archives that I've never got around to uploading, but in the end this one won me over. Hit z to view large and see if it wins you over too! In a month there will be purple stars on the clematis, and year after year the green night of its leaves will hold its purple stars. But we never get back our youth. Oscar Wilde: The Picture of Dorian Gray

Another in my series of abstracts. As usual, you can see the original shot upon which this abstract is based in the Notes.