by hankinslawrenceimages | Dec 14, 2009 | Flowers, Wildflowers
One of my favorite summer wildflowers is the Cardinal flower (lobelia cardinalis). I just love the bright red flowers. They add a great splash of color in late summer and early fall.
This year, I photographed Cardinal flowers in two locations. The first was a single cardinal flower along the Little Brier Gap Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in late July. This was the only Cardinal flower I saw on my summer trip along the Blue Ridge Parkway and in the Smokies.
(c) 2009 Patty Hankins
(c) 2009 Patty Hankins
A few weeks later, I found one more Cardinal flower at the Wild Gardens of Acadia in Maine’s Acadia National Park.
(c) 2009 Patty Hankins
(c) 2009 Patty Hankins
(c) 2009 Patty Hankins
I’m hoping that next summer I’ll be able to find a group of Cardinal flowers growing together. I suspect that would make a fantastic photograph.
by hankinslawrenceimages | Nov 25, 2009 | Flowers, Wildflowers
This past summer while Bill and I were exploring Acadia National Park in Maine, I spotted a wildflower I’d never seen before. It had clusters of tightly packed white and yellow flowers. I had no idea what it was. I eventually discovered that it was Pearly Everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea), a native plant and member of the aster family. Later in the week, I was able to photograph a lovely group of Pearly Everlasting ath the Wild Gardens of Acadia – a great location for learning about the plants and ecosystems at Acadia National Park.
Here are some of my photos of Pearly Everlasting from Acadia National Park.
A view of the entire group of flowers
(c) 2009 Patty Hankins
A little closer in view that gives a great sense of the texture of the unopened flowers.
(c)2009 Patty Hankins
And finally two side views of the flowers with different depths of field. I’m still trying to decide which of these two photos I like better.
(c) 2009 Patty Hankins
(c) 2009 Patty Hankins
I really enjoyed photographing the Pearly Everlasting at the Wild Gardens of Acadia. Next summer, I’ll definitely look for more Pearly Everlasting, I’d like to photograph some with the flowers fully open.
