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“Tiny hints of purple between the undergrowth draw me in. Wild geraniums are beginning to bloom as the forest darkens under a thickening canopy of leaves.” – Ed Lehming I still recall vividly the first time I discovered these beautiful little blooms along a forest trail. At first, easy to overlook, but once you see them they seem to be in every nook and cranny. Not knowing what they were, I took… Read More
“For about a week in June, my world is filled with wonderful seas of purple.” – Ed Lehming Dames Rocket (Hesperis matronalis) has always been a late spring favourite of mine, even before I knew what it was called. I fondly recall drives into the country with my parents and seeing fields of purple, pink, and white along the roadside. “Rockets” form dense patches in fields and meadows for about a week… Read More
“The whites, yellows, and pale purples of early spring begin to fade, yet purple holds on, larger and more brilliant than before.” – Ed Lehming We have spent the past two weekends starting a fairly significant garden. As we worked, tilled, and planted a scene that we simply could not ignore was the profusion of deep purple Dame’s Rockets. The literally surround the one-acre garden plot (we did not plant the whole… Read More
“It was such a pleasure to sink one’s hands into the warm earth, to feel at one’s fingertips the possibilities of the new season.”― Kate Morton Now that the garden is starting to fill in, I find myself spending more time enjoying some of the simple blossoms that I often take for granted. Some of these, like the tiny lobelia often go unnoticed because they are so tiny, yet they add some beautiful… Read More
“Alien yet familiar, careful observation shows us things we had not expected.” – Ed Lehming Blue Cohosh is one of the first wildflowers that made me begin to better understand the natural environment around me. When I started spending more deliberate time in the forest, starting to see it as a participant rather than a casual observer, I could not help but notice this purple-blue plants that emerge with the rest of… Read More
“Barely visible on first glance, it’s alien form surprises the first time viewer” – Ed Lehming It is so nice to finally make images with no snow. The past few weeks have been cool, wet, and miserable, with more rain than I care for. But, the rain melted the snow and ice away and provided lots of moisture to promote plant growth. Over the past few days, the sun has been out… Read More
“There is no greatness where there is not simplicity, goodness, and truth.” ― Leo Tolstoy As the world becomes more complex, on a seemingly daily basis, I find myself drawn to simplicity. Even the title of the image, while quite simple, suffices. This is a single blossom from a larger bouquet and a found myself liking the isolated flower more than the whole arrangement I enjoy spending time with the subjects of my… Read More
“The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien I’ve always loved this Tolkien quote, and I’ve now found an image to pair it with. Given all the dark news we hear about in our world, the brightness and beauty… Read More
“There are times to stay put, and what you want will come to you, and there are times to go out into the world and find such a thing for yourself.” ― Lemony Snicket For the past several days, I’ve watched one or two monarch butterflies on my purple coneflowers (Echinacea purpura) and I have not had my camera handy. By the time I gathered my camera and got outside, it seems the butterflies… Read More
“When one with honeyed words but evil mind Persuades the mob, great woes befall the state.” ― Euripides Continuing on my “purple phase” theme, here’s a beautiful invader. Though a beautiful flowering plant, in Ontario and other areas where it was introduced as a garden flower, this garden escapee soon established itself in meadows and wetlands, crowding out native plants. It spreads through rapidly spreading rhizomes and seeds. Each plant can produce over… Read More
“Stretching his hand up to reach the stars, too often man forgets the flowers at his feet.” – Jeremy Bentham What looked like delicate thistles from a distance turned out to be Knapweed. The dunes and roadside around Sauble Beach were filled with them. It’s yet another flowering plant that I seem to have overlooked in the past. I suppose it’s because I am deliberately looking for new wildflowers to photograph and… Read More
“In every outthrust headland, in every curving beach, in every grain of sand there is the story of the earth.” ― Rachel Carson I get great enjoyment photographing plants and animals in areas away from home and the sand dunes of Sauble Beach are no exception. I came across many plants which survive well in the dry sand dunes which bound the back of the beach. Many still need to be looked up… Read More
“If you want the beautiful moments to shine, you have to contrast that with dark and gruesome moments. That’s the way life is.” – Tony DiTerlizzi One of the many common blossom in this ‘purple phase’ of summer blooms is, of course, the Bull Thistle. Though, it could almost make it for the ‘pink phase’ as well. During my drives north, I have seen many Bull Thistles blooming and wondered what was… Read More
“When you see how fragile and delicate life can be, all else fades into the background.” – Jenna Morasca Here’s yet another purple, mid-summer blossom. I recall very well when I first saw one, blooming at the edge of a swampy area near my home. It was the first time I had ever seen this lovely, delicate species and it took me a while to figure out what it was called. Swamp… Read More
“Little things seem nothing, but they give peace, like those meadow flowers which individually seem odorless but all together perfume the air.” – Georges Bernanos Have you noticed the summer shift to purple and yellow? The pattern repeats. There is a gradual shift from pinks to purples and yellows. Thistles, bergamot, vervain for purples, yellow coneflower, sunflower, wood sorrel, and sunflower for yellow. It’s a definite shift in colours and the pollinators,… Read More
“With caps of regal purple, the delicate blossoms gently sway, on the tide of warm a summer breeze. The sweet aroma of nectar, wafts in the air, an elixir for butterflies, wasps, and bees.” – Ed Lehming In the meadow just up the street from my home, there is a patch of beautiful purple Culver’s Root (Veronicastrum sibericum), a hybrid of native wildflower, more common in warmer climes. However, I have the… Read More
We have to know our place in the ecosystem of which we are a part, and this means living ‘consciously’: being aware of nature and how it affects us and how we, in turn, affect nature.” ― Sebastian Pole I am so pleased lately to see so many bees. For the past few years they have been scarce, especially honeybees. There are many pollinators out there, but honeybees have been exceptionally rare around… Read More
“If it comes, let it come. If it goes, it’s ok, let it go. Let things come and go. Don’t let anything disturb your peace. Stay calm and carry on.” ― Germany Kent “Nodding in the Garden” Here is my entry for Del Monte Y Mar’s Tuesdays of Texture Challenge Week 30 of 2017 I had no particular reason for making this image, other than it was peaceful. That’s often the way of it; I have… Read More
“Peculiar I say, how so often the smallest, most seemingly insignificant details later unveil their faces as vital means for progression.” ― Criss Jami What struck me about this image of a stem of hosta blossoms was the progression of the flowers along the stem. The bottom three are spent flowers from the previous day, the next two above are in full bloom, and above, new blossoms are forming. I’ve considered photographing them… Read More
“The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery.” ― Anaïs Nin An unknown butterfly on an unknown flower. It really bothers me not to be able to identify the subject matter of my photos, but I can’t figure out what either is. The purple flowers grow in a small cluster in a single location. I’m wondering if it’s an escapee from somebody’s garden…. Read More
“Red Clover Detail” Here is my entry for Del Monte Y Mar’s Tuesdays of Texture Challenge Week 29 of 2017 It’s been many weeks since I posted a texture image but thought that this close up of a clover blossom was a good candidate. What looks like a single pink-purple flower from a distance is in fact a series of delicate striped flowers. Even the leaves have fine hairs adding another bonus texture. Nikon D800… Read More
“Scars are not signs of weakness, they are signs of survival and endurance.” ― Rodney A. Winters As a continuation to yesterday’s post “Beginnings“, here’s a mature coneflower blossom. I struggled for a title for this and fell back to just the name of the plant. The intent was to come up with a name for the image that reflected the character of the plant. As those who follow my blog regularly would… Read More
“Maybe I don’t have enough beginnings in my life because I fought against the endings that were about to birth those beginnings.” ― Craig D. Lounsbrough As I surveyed my gardens this morning, I noticed that several of my purple cone flowers were already in full bloom, a nice change from last year when heat and drought caused them to put out very small, underdeveloped flowers, just big enough to produce some scant… Read More
“I am so grateful to be here on this awesome planet with it’s diverse life – everything we need to not just survive but to thrive. I am excited to continually learn more about it, and always curious to see what is going to come up next.” ― Jay Woodman What better image to post for Canada’s 150th Birthday? I have several, but this Canada Thistle seemed quite appropriate. Despite its name,… Read More
“As I leave the garden I take with me a renewed view, And a quiet soul.” ― Jessica Coupe This lovely purple flowered plant was given to me by my grandmother many years ago and is well established in the garden. For years I called it Bee-Balm, being uncertain of what it really was. It always reminded me a bit of nettle or overgrown Creeping Charley. One of the joys of photography,… Read More
“Was it the case that colours dimmed as the eye grew elderly? Or was it rather that in youth your excitement about the world transferred itself onto everything you saw and made it brighter?” ― Julian Barnes This blossom seems so appropriate as the late spring colour transition continues, with pinks becoming more purple and the introduction of oranges and reds. I had photographed this blossom a few days ago and set… Read More
“A man must dream a long time in order to act with grandeur, and dreaming is nursed in darkness.” ― Jean Genet I decided to return to this dark purple crocus blossom once more. In my earlier post, I noted that it proved a bit of a challenge to photograph in this style because it is so dark. Yet, that darkness is also what created such beautiful lighting. The only thing I… Read More
“Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.” ― Anne Frank A few days a ago I went to a large grove of these early spring bloomers for a few more shots of the unusual tiny purple flowers. This particular grove contains thousands of these plants and the forest floor almost looks burnt with the density of Cohosh growing here, interspersed with freshly emerging trillium and wild leeks…. Read More
“Because you don’t notice the light without a bit of shadow. Everything has both dark and light. You have to play with it till you get it exactly right.” ― Libba Bray A few days ago, I posted an image of grape hyacinth with a white background, something a bit new to me, since I really enjoy the dramatic look of the black background. At the time, I also offered to publish… Read More
“There are just two directions in life, the one which is safe but boring, and the other which is delicate but exciting. Now ask yourself, which path will you go?” ― Joe Mari Fadrigalan I’m toying with the white background this week but not sure how much I like it. It’s a bit of a creative risk, as I have been enjoying the black background photographs I’ve been doing so much. I… Read More
Ed Lehming Photography 
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