Friday, May 04, 2007

Foliage

Spring and summer arrived all at once here in the UK with unseasonably warm temperatures and sunny days. When I was sat at my desk revising, everytime I looked out of my window, I could see the garden growing and getting more jungle-like, as my hectic schedule of work and study have left little time for the art of gardening.

So I ventured out into my garden the other day, hoping that some wild beast or carniverous plant wasn't lurking and ready to pounce from the camouflage of the foliage when it occurred to me that my garden may look a bit unruly en masse, but that everywhere I looked I saw natural beauty.

Of course, I immediately rushed into the house and grabbed my camera and started snapping away and experimenting with my zoom lens. These photos are the result. The first photo is of Bamboo, the second is a Date Palm, the third is an Acer Palmetum (Japanese Maple) and the last photo is of my huge Phormium (Nea Zealand Flax). I love how sculptural these plants are, from the zagged spikes of the Phormium and Palm to the delicate leaves of the Acer. The colours too are magnificent from deep reds to variagated and lush greens. I hope you like them too.

24 comments:

Jean-Luc Picard said...

It's greener than average at this time of year in Britain.

Michele sent me here.

craziequeen said...

ooh!! Love that Japanese Maple....promising myself one of those when MB gets around to moving the shed....

Michele sent me to say hi before toddling off to Caerphilly this afternoon :-)

cq

kenju said...

I have always wanted Japanese maples in my yard! Too bad I didn't buy some years ago.

Anonymous said...

Great looking photos. You captured spring quite well with these great colors.
Visiting from Michele's.....

Paul Nichols said...

By the way, I really enjoyed those castle pictures. Thanks.

longspider said...

Beautiful! I love how everyone's posting gorgeous pics of spring in motion... Michele says hi!

Anonymous said...

I love this close-ups. They give me a visceral reaction.

I think mote should be spelled moat in my last comment??

~Alexandra's Friend~ said...

Stopping by from Michele's to say 'Hi'!
Your pictures are wonderful, very calming and inspirational. What do you like photographing the most?

carmilevy said...

You're making me really covet that macro lens for my camera. Oooh, if only money weren't such an all-encompassing entity!

I'm heading to China tomorrow morning, so I thought I'd drop by my favorite bloggers and say hi/bye. I'm not sure how much connectivity I'll have over the next week, so I don't want anyone to think I've abandoned blogdom.

Have a wonderful week - and please keep shooting if it means we get to see more beauty like this. Thanks for the inspiration.

JAM said...

Wow, I really love the shot of the Japanes maple. I love the backlit bamboo too. Sometimes I look outside and see the quality of the light, grab my camera and mosey around the yard, many times taking photos of things I've already photographed, but having fun just the same.

Anonymous said...

Wow! Those photographs are really beautiful. It's approaching winter here and I have an enormous Liquid Amber that's raining autumn colours all over my yard. Thank you so much for sharing those pictures.

Here via Michele today.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful pictures. I specially like the Japanese maple one.

OldLady Of The Hills said...

Oh my dear Bob-Kat...I not only like them...I LOVE THEM!!!! That picture of The Japanese Maple tree leaves...GORGEOUS...All the photographs are just perfection! You are doing fabulously with your lens...Don't you just love taking pictures, BK? It is such a satisfying art-form...! More, More, More! Please, my dear...!

Roxie, Sammy, Andy and Shermie said...

Lovely, lovely photographs. It is always a breath of fresh air to visit you.

Roxie, Sammy & Andy

Anonymous said...

Oh! I love Japanese maples! Some day...some day, when I have a house, I will put one in the yard, and it will be lovely.

Hello from Michele's!

MorahMommy said...

Love the pictures! I love this time of year when you look at the trees and you see nothing and then I swear it's the very next day and you can see the green buds on the branches..I just makes me feel happy.

Thanks for sharing the pictures!

Michele sent me over today!

Niall young said...

Your photography is good..your eye (as I've said before) (I think?!)..is good..your framing is very satisfying. Yeah..warm weather!!!..it's now Bank Holiday time and therefore you know what that means?...

If you're ever up here in Derbyshire let me know..you can come round for tea!..my family are 'Mostly harmless' and my children are housetrained....just!

Diane said...

Your photos are amazing! I enjoy my garden here in Southern California too!

Here from Michele's

Shephard said...

Love Japanese Maple. :)
Lovely photos.
~S

Anonymous said...

Beautiful Bobkat.

I haven't got the talent to capture such images but I certainly have the ability to appreciate them.

Hope all is well in your busy world.

Preeti Shenoy said...

Lovely Bob-kat.Simply marvellous pictures.I especially like the last one.Those shades of green really appeal to me.

Melody said...

Gorgeous photos...simply stunning.

David Edward said...

love the plants, still waiting to be able to plant outdoors, here. starting seeds inside.
God bless you

srp said...

The Norfolk Botanical Gardens has some superb examples of the Japanese maple.... I went snap happy there when we went.