by hankinslawrenceimages | May 10, 2018 | Boraginaceae Family
While photographing at the Historic Old City Cemetery in Sacramento, I saw some spectacular large blue shrubs – and I had no clue what they were. As I got closer, and started photographing them, I realized I’d photographed something similar – all I had to do was remember what! And then it struck me – the plants I was photographing reminded me of the echium I’ve photographed at Longwood Gardens. What had confused me was the size and shape of the plants. These were clearly much older plants that hadn’t been shaped and trained the way the ones at Longwood were. Once I got back to my hotel and did some research – I realized that these were what echiums looked like when they’re allowed to grow naturally. Since I was photographing with my Lensbaby Velvet 56 lens, I was focused up close on the flowers, the shapes and the layers I was seeing. I hope you enjoy seeing my echium photos.
Echium (c) 2018 Patty Hankins
Echium (c) 2018 Patty Hankins
Echium (c) 2018 Patty Hankins
Echium (c) 2018 Patty Hankins
Echium (c) 2018 Patty Hankins
by hankinslawrenceimages | May 2, 2016 | Boraginaceae Family, Flowers, Liliaceae Family, Papaveraceae Family
In early April I was able to return to a couple of my favorite local spots to photograph wildflowers. We’d had some pretty bad weather – cold, rain, wind and even a few snow squalls – so I wasn’t sure what I’d fine. I was really happy to see the even with all the challenging weather – the wildflowers were blooming – and looking absolutely wonderful.
Here are a few more photos from Bull Run Regional Park in Virginia and the C&O Canal National Park in Maryland.
Virginia Bluebells – mertensia virginica
Virginia Bluebells – mertensia virginica © 2016 Patty Hankins
Virginia Bluebells – mertensia virginica © 2016 Patty Hankins
Virginia Bluebells – mertensia virginica © 2016 Patty Hankins
Dutchman’s Breeches – dicentra cucullaria
Dutchman’s Breeches – dicentra cucullaria © 2016 Patty Hankins
Dutchman’s Breeches – dicentra cucullaria © 2016 Patty Hankins
Trout Lily –
Trout Lily – erythronium americanum © 2016 Patty Hankins
Trout Lily – erythronium americanum © 2016 Patty Hankins
Toadshade Trillium – trillium sessile
Toadshade Trillium – trillium sessile © 2016 Patty Hankins
Toadshade Trillium – trillium sessile © 2016 Patty Hankins
Toadshade Trillium – trillium sessile © 2016 Patty Hankins
by hankinslawrenceimages | Apr 13, 2016 | Boraginaceae Family, Flowers, Portulacaceae, Wildflowers
One of the sure signs of spring in the DC area is the blooming of the cherry trees around the Tidal Basin. And for wildflowers lovers – we know that about 10 days after the cherry blossoms bloom – it’s time to start looking for the Virginia Bluebells at Bull Run Regional Park.
I recently spent an amazing morning photographing the bluebells (mertensia virginica) at Bull Run Park. Once again, I got to enjoy (and photograph) the amazing sights of a forest literally carpeted with wildflowers.
Virginia Bluebells – mertensia virginica © 2016 Patty Hankins
Virginia Bluebells – mertensia virginica © 2016 Patty Hankins
Virginia Bluebells – mertensia virginica © 2016 Patty Hankins
Virginia Bluebells – mertensia virginica © 2016 Patty Hankins
Virginia Bluebells – mertensia virginica © 2016 Patty Hankins
I also saw large patches of Spring Beauty (claytonia virginica) – another of my favorite spring wildflowers.
Spring Beauty – claytonia virginica © 2016 Patty Hankins
by hankinslawrenceimages | Jan 27, 2016 | Boraginaceae Family, Colorado, Flowers, Tennessee, Virginia, Wildflowers
Continuing with my efforts to edit and share some of the photos in the backlog on my hard drive – I thought I’d share some photos of native plants that are members of the Boraginaceae (Borage or Forget Me Not) family. Members of the borage family are known for their alternating leaves, many of which are hairy. The flowers usually have five lobes and are tubular shape.
Virginia Bluebells (mertensia virginica) are the member of this family that I photograph most frequently. I know several places here in the DC area where they bloom each spring. Last year, I found some wonderful Virginia Bluebells at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond to photograph.
Virginia Bluebells – mertensia virginica © 2016 Patty Hankins
Virginia Bluebells – mertensia virginica © 2016 Patty Hankins
Virginia Bluebells – mertensia virginica © 2016 Patty Hankins
Virginia Bluebells – mertensia virginica © 2016 Patty Hankins
Virginia Bluebells – mertensia virginica © 2016 Patty Hankins
Purple Phacelia (phacelia bipinnatifida) is one of the wildflowers I see every spring in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. If you’re in the park at the right time of year it can seem as if the roadways are lined with purple phacelia.
Purple Phacelia – phacelia bipinnatifida © 2016 Patty Hankins
Purple Phacelia – phacelia bipinnatifida © 2016 Patty Hankins
Purple Phacelia – phacelia bipinnatifida © 2016 Patty Hankins
Purple Phacelia – phacelia bipinnatifida © 2016 Patty Hankins
I photographed some Tall Fringed Bluebells (mertensia ciliata) in the Gunnison National Forest in Colorado a few years ago. When I spotted them I knew they were a type of bluebell since they looked so similar to the Virginia Bluebells – just wasn’t sure what type.
Tall Fringed Bluebells – mertensia ciliata © 2016 Patty Hankins
Tall Fringed Bluebells – mertensia ciliata © 2016 Patty Hankins
That same afternoon in the Gunnison National Forest, I found a single False Forget Me Not (hackelia floribunda) plant with a few blossoms.
False Forget Me Not – hackelia floribunda © 2016 Patty Hankins
I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing some of my photos of members of borage family. I’m always on the lookout for new-to-me wildflowers – who knows – perhaps I’ll find another member of the borage family this year.
by hankinslawrenceimages | Mar 23, 2015 | Boraginaceae Family, Flowers, New Photos
Tower of Jewels Echium © 2015 Patty Hankins
I’ve recently added a new photo – Tower of Jewels Echium – to my BeautifulFlowerPictures.com website.
My new Tower of Jewels Echium photo is actually a re-edit and re-crop of a photo I took in 2009. When I first photographed the Tower of Jewels Echium I loved the combination of the red flowers and the long curly green leaves – but I just couldn’t find the photograph I wanted to present in the images I captured. For some reason, I went back to the photos this winter – and suddenly saw a square crop of the photo that I hadn’t seen before. The new crop emphasized the contrasts between not only the red and green, but also the contrast between the curves of the leaves and the white points of the flowers. This is one of those hidden gems of a photo in a photo that it just took me a while to find. 🙂
Tower of Jewels Echium is available as a matted print on my website.
by hankinslawrenceimages | Nov 28, 2014 | Boraginaceae Family, Flowers, New Photos, Wildflowers
Virginia Bluebells © 2014 Patty Hankins
I’ve recently added a new photo – Virginia Bluebells II – to my BeautifulFlowerPictures.com website.
One of the sure signs of spring here in the Washington DC area is when the Virginia Bluebells (mertensia virginica) bloom in the woods. One of my favorite places to photograph the bluebells and other spring wildflowers is along the C&O Canal in Maryland. It’s one of the spots where I can find any number of wildflowers blooming on any given day – toothwort, spring beauty, dutchman’s breeches, squirrel corn – and of course – Virginia bluebells. What attracted me to this particular plant was the pattern of the three clusters of blossoms and the mix of pinks and blues in the clusters. To me, it just said SPRING IS HERE!!!!
And as we head into winter here in the DC area – I’m already looking forward to photographing the Virginia Bluebells next spring 🙂
This photograph is available as a matted print in two sizes. You can order Virginia Bluebells II from my website.
