There are so many types of Aloe plants.
I have four or five different varieties.
Many of mine have bloomed this year.
I love succulents.
Aloe Bloom
Rainy day mushrooms
When it rains we always get lots of mushrooms growing in the yard and the pasture.
We had a fairy ring of a bunch of mushrooms in the pasture and some scattered mushrooms in the yard and pasture.
Mushrooms come in all shapes and sizes and some have more texture than others.
I find them intriguing to get pictures of because you really want to show off the definition of them to capture their true beauty.
Mushrooms can be quite photogenic if given the chance.
Crossvine is blooming
We have this same variety of crossvine in several different locations in our yard and this year it is blooming like crazy.
The hummingbirds love this vine and you will see them often getting nectar from the flowers.
The paperwhites, wisteria, azaleas, and now the crossvine have all bloomed this year. I honestly thought the freeze would stop everything from blooming. It just goes to show you never doubt mother nature.
Flowers come in every color and shape plant different varieties and colors so you will always get to see something new.
Kalanchoe
I love Kalanchoe and currently have 4 colors of it planted in a large container.
There is a red, dark pink, pastel yellow and a yellow orange color. I think there are about 12 plants total.
These are from last spring they need to be cut back after blooming this year because they are somewhat leggy. You can take the cuttings and root new plants.
Kalanchoe is a thick leaf succulent that can be grown indoors or outdoors. This time of year it is easy to find them at the garden centers.
The perspective of pictures
A picture of a flower can look totally different by the way you frame it.
Try moving to the left or the right or shooting from above to see how you can change up the look.
Leaving negative space in the picture below allows for an interesting perspective.
Cropping the picture much closer changes the look of the image.
In this case I prefer the one with the negative space because I feel like it draws me into the picture. For some reason I like the negative space on the left hand side I have no idea why.
This flower is the Agapanthus ( Lily of the Nile). These were beautiful this year and they were clearance flowers from Lowes.
Creativity is in the eye of the beholder.
Cotton Candy Pink
These Crepe Myrtles always remind me of pink cotton candy.
The trees turn bright pink and they bloom for about 1 1/2 months.
We have 13 scattered among the two acres. They are pink, white, red and purple. The red one has dark purple leaves on the tree. We did not plant all of these the birds planted some of them.
Surround yourself with beautiful flowers and your life will be much brighter.
The beauty of purple
Last year I found these flowers on clearance at Lowes.
They never died back but instead grew bigger and better.
The tag was not on the pot at the time but I think they are in the Sage family.
Clearance plants can always give you a good bang for your buck. These were 1.00 and I bought three pots of them.
Splashes of purple in the landscape add color and beauty for the eyes to see.
Tiny Lizard
I was watering plants on Friday when I saw this tiny anole lizard.
At one point he jumped on my hand this baby had no fear. He seemed in no hurry to leave as he posed for my camera.
It’s very hard for me to show the size of this tiny baby so my guess would be he was about 1 1/2″ – 2″ from head to toe. The steel rod he is on is only 1/4″ round.
I love taking pictures of the little critters in the great outdoors.
Nature allows her beauty to surround us each and every day we just have to take the time and notice what is right in front of us.
Variegated Shell Ginger
Variegated Shell Ginger is one of my favorite plants.
We have them planted in the shade accented by sword fern they are under two very large 40 year old oak trees.
Since there were no freezes in the past few winters they are thriving. Currently, they are about 5 foot + tall and 8 foot wide or more in all four directions. Needless to say, they multiply like crazy and then you can share with your friends.
If it freezes they die back and they will not bloom the next spring. They will come back but it will take them some time to get full again.
The blooms start out as a pod looking thing then all the white blooms start showing and those open up to yellow flowers. They are quite striking.
We started out with a one-gallon container of the ginger and now I could give 10 people all a gallon and it would never look like I touched it.
My husband thinks we should sell these plants so he has about 20 in quart containers and another 10 + in gallon containers.
When you landscape your yard research your plants and always buy stuff that multiplies then you can move it to several different locations. Make sure you pay attention to the sun requirements.
A beautiful well-manicured yard shows off the time and love you have put into it.
Macro of a Rose
I love photographing flowers with a macro lens and it is all the better when there is moisture on the flowers from recent rain.
This is a knockout rose in our backyard.
Flowers can brighten our days and give us great joy.
Sonya Lira Photography 