Lupine Abstract © 2010 Bo Mackison
While looking through my files for a few photographs to print for my upcoming art show, I accidentally popped open the catalogue of the photos from the Pacific Northwest trip I took earlier this summer, and this abstract of a blue lupine opened on my screen. I was rather taken with the deep purple and blue botanical abstract on the green background.
It seems like only a few weeks ago I was knee deep in bright blues and greens, and now, suddenly, the world is shifting, taking on different shades – more muted, warmer colors — yellows and oranges — replacing the brightness of summer’s peak. So I wanted to share a reminder with you of this past early summer as we pitch headlong into autumn.
Blue lupine photographed on the side of the road in North Cascades National Park, Washington. Mid-June, 2010.
Desaturated Coneflowers © 2010 Bo Mackison
A pair of purple coneflowers, photographed at Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison Wisconsin. I often see personification in my botanical photographs. To me, it looks like the two flowers are holding hands, you know, the way you might casually intertwine fingers with your lover or child as you stroll along…
Sunny Delight © 2010 Bo Mackison
Took a walk through a prairie near Madison yesterday. Only had about 20 minutes before the clouds started getting dark and I could hear thunder in the background. I managed about 30 shots, mostly of the sunflowers and compass plants before I decided to make it a short session.
To soothe my minor disappointment, I stopped at a nearby McDonald’s for a caramel frappe. Yeah, I know, I know. But once in awhile, I just can’t stop myself. So yummy and cooling. And it was hot and muggy outside. Wouldn’t want to get dehydrated, right?
Hmm. I do like to photograph sunny-dispositioned sunflowers when it’s overcast, not so much sunflowers in thunderstorms however.
Pale Purple Coneflowers © 2010 Bo Mackison
My first wander through the Wisconsin prairies this summer – a feast of color. The pale purple coneflowers were in full bloom and danced merrily with huge stands of orange milkweed. There were a few tall yellow compass plants, towering a good five or six feet high and bright orange wood lilies, too. Plus the waving grasses.
I so love the prairie in bloom.
Crowning Glory © 2010 Bo Mackison
This lovely yellow flower has one of the most spectacular crowns I’ve ever seen. Photographed at the University of British Columbia Arboretum in Vancouver.
Blue Lupine in the Cascades © 2010 Bo Mackison
Mother Nature makes it really hard to drive on the back roads of Washington state. Every few yards along the sides of the roads are massive spreads of blue and purple lupine. When she wants to make it especially difficult to concentrate, she adds a few white or pink lupine into the mix. Occasionally there are yellow ones, too.
I finally pulled off the road to get my photography fix for the morning. We were driving from Seattle to Vancouver — shouldn’t have been all that difficult, seeing as it is only a two hour drive. But we were already a day behind our plans, since we had taken the turn off I-5 the morning before for a spontaneous detour through the North Cascades. But even being off schedule wasn’t a good enough reason to not stop. So stop we did.
The lupine were definitely worth the delay.
Downy Pagoda Plant © 2010 Bo Mackison
Another wildflower that I photographed on my brief foray to Missouri. This is Blephilia ciliata, commonly known by a variety of names — Ohio horsemint, Downy Pagoda Plant, Downy Woodmint. It is a Missouri native perennial which grows in dry open woods and thickets, clearings, fields and roadsides in the eastern two thirds of the State.
It is a member of the mint family, and while aromatic, it is not as strong as most mints I’ve come across in the more northern climes. It appears to be attractive to butterflies and bees, at least it was in the wildflower garden at Shaw Nature Reserve.
The flowers are blue to purple and bloom from May through September. The plant grow in a circular column, sometimes having as many as six or seven pagodas full of flowers. The larger ones seem to outgrow themselves, and a few were tipped over with the weight of the hundreds of blossoms.
Pinkroot © 2010 Bo Mackison
While we were in the St. Louis area, we took a morning off from the graduation festivities, and visited the Shaw Nature Reserve, an extension of the Missouri Botanical Garden. It is located south of St. Louis in Chesterton, Missouri, and spans 2500 acres of natural Ozark landscape. We spent most of our limited time wandering the wildflower garden.
I’ve spent much of my adult life identifying wildflowers, but never in Missouri. I came across flower upon flower that I’d never seen before, rather a nice experience to see flowers through fresh, unknowing eyes. But once I returned home, I had to go to my ID books.
I loved this red wildflower with an eye catching yellow star, certainly a showy specimen from the Show Me State! Formally it is known as spigelia mariclandica, but it has nearly a dozen common names, including Pinkroot, Indian Pink, Woodland Pinkroot and Worm Grass. It is found in the southeastern United States, extending as far north as Virginia, Kentucky, southern Indiana, southern Illinois and Missouri, and as far west as Texas.
On Sunday, it was windy, and even after I’d put up a temporary windbreak, I still had to patiently wait while hoping the breezes would settle. As hot as it was – the high reached 96˚F and the humidity was high – the breeze felt fine to me, but played havoc with most of my attempts to photograph the many wildflowers on display.
Wild Columbine © 2010 Bo Mackison
A wild columbine seen on a hike through the Owen Conservation Park’s wooded area. Not quite open, its petals have not yet separated and flipped outward. The columbine is quite unlike any other flower even though it is related to the buttercups, anemones, and marsh marigold. It blooms in southern Wisconsin from May through July. My favorite woodland wildflower.
Together © 2010 Bo Mackison
Detail shot of two yellow tulips, drooping towards the earth.
