Garden Flowers 3

i love Poppies in all their different stages. Photographed this one at Reader Rock Garden on July 6th.

One of my favourite garden flowers. This one was photographed at the Reader Rock Garden on September 7th. The only white I can see this morning are the 5" or so of fresh snow that fell overnight : ) The temperature is -10C (13F) this afternoon, so it could be a whole lot worse than it is.

This small flower was maybe just over an inch across. I needed this bright, warm colour before I have to go out this morning on a three-hour walk in one of our main natural areas - have been getting out less than once a week doing this, so really need the fresh air. Wish there weren't 5" of snow and ice to clear off my car first.

This Dendrobium Orchid flower was growing on a stem that had a number of flowers growing closely together. I had been waiting for a day with sunshine, so that there was enough light to take photos in my kitchen. What often tends to happen is that as soon as I buy a bunch of flowers, we get a string of gloomy, overcast days - by the time I can take photos, the flowers are way past their prime. For some strange reason, I just couldn't get a decent shot of this flower, but decided I would post the best I could find : ) "Dendrobium is a huge genus of orchids. It was established by Olof Swartz in 1799 and today contains about 1,200 species. The genus occurs in diverse habitats throughout much of south, east and southeast Asia, including the Philippines, Borneo, Australia, New Guinea, Solomon Islands and New Zealand. The name is from the Greek dendron ("tree") and bios ("life"); it means "one who lives on trees", or, essentially, "epiphyte"." From Wikipedia.

Taken at the Calgary Zoo on 11th October 2010.

Needed a splash of warm colour this morning. It's the Calgary Christmas Bird Count next Sunday, and today it's the scouting trip for it. It's supposed to be cloudy all day and it's already snowing, so probably won't be a day for any photos. Later: it has been snowing all day today. Two groups of us spent 4+ hours walking for the scouting of next Sunday's Calgary Bird Count. Very overcast, so it was pretty much useless as far as photos are concerned, but really quite pleasant. Not sure yet exactly how many species my group saw - around 15, which wasn't too bad. These included a Bald Eagle, Merlin, Red Crossbill, Redpolls, one Wood Duck, and all the usual Chickadees, Nuthatches, Mallards, Canada Geese, etc.. "The first count, in 1900, was started as a revolt to the traditional "Side Hunt" held on Boxing Day, wherein groups of gunners went afield to shoot and kill as much wildlife as possible. Presumably the team that killed the most species was declared the winner. Already by that time the Labrador Duck, Great Auk, Heath Hen, Passenger Pigeon and Carolina Parakeet were extinct or so reduced in numbers in the wild that they were close to it. As a result, in many ways, we have all been the losers. Fortunately the idea of the CBC has caught on and the Side Hunt became so repugnant that it disappeared. Today, there are over 2000 CBCs conducted in USA, Canada, West Indies, Mexico, Central and increasingly South America, with thousands of participants. The information so garnered in this voluntary citizen-science project is invaluable for many scientific studies."

It's my youngest daughter's birthday today, so Happy Birthday, Rachel! Thought she would enjoy a summery photo when our city is covered in quite a few inches of freshly fallen snow. Rachel (Silver Pomegranate on Flickr) was born in Muscat, Oman, Middle East (where we lived for six years due to work) and really does not enjoy the cold weather here in Calgary. We can't complain, though, as our temperatures have been quite mild so far, compared to what they might have been.

A closer look at one of the flowers I bought from Safeway recently, photographed on December 1st. I think it was a small Chrysanthemum. Posted, as usual, to add colour to my photostream during the winter months : )

These small, tropical flowers are only around three-quarters of an inch across and grow in clusters. Photographed in the ENMAX Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo, during Butterfly season there. Argh! Hold your clicks a moment (10:30 a,m,)!