Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Cosmos

My daughter and I had a such a great day on 5 September 2017. She had a free day, so we decided to drive north-east of the city and visit the Pioneer Acres Museum. The day started off with seeing three perched Swainson's Hawks, which were a bonus. We had passed the colourful old truck and tractor displayed on tall posts, to indicate Pioneer Acres, on various occasions and this time, we actually went to the museum. What an amazing collection of old farming equipment, some standing outdoors and many others in large sheds. Have to say that I am always attracted to old, rusty things, and there was no shortage of these, either. "Pioneer Acres is operated by a team of volunteer members who, in many cases, have extended their golden years of retirement, performing the duties necessary to meet the club's objectives. These include work to collect, restore, maintain and demonstrate the artifacts which were used by the pioneers of early Alberta. The end result is that present and future generations have the opportunity to glimpse into our pioneering past through the artifacts on display and demonstrated. Younger members of the club also learn the care, maintenance and operation of these living artifacts." From link below. www.pioneeracres.ab.ca/member.aspx While we were walking round the grounds, visiting each massive shed in turn, my daughter spotted a Plains Garter Snake, and waved me over to see it. She also saw several birds running round behind one of the sheds, and when I went to check, I found there were four Gray Partridge running off in the distance. A distant Jackrabbit completed our wildlife sightings, first noticed when it was standing tall and upright on its back legs in 'freeze mode'. My mind wandered to Alice in Wonderland : ) Though we did not do a tour of the inside of the "Long" House, we found it an impressive building, complete with a few Sunflowers, Hollyhock and other flowers in the garden, and a tall, metal windmill. "The "Long" House was built in 1914 by John Thomas on a farm just northwest of Irricana, Alberta. It has been lived in by three generations of the Long Family since 1914. The house was donated to Pioneer Acres, moved to our location, and restored to 1929 status." From the Pioneer Acres website. There is also an old schoolhouse on the Museum site. "The Crown School, built in 1905, was located west of Three Hills on Highway 583. It closed in 1953 and was bought by the district of Allingham for use as a community league. In 1996, the building was relocated to Pioneer Aces of Alberta Museum." From the Alberta Teachers' Association website. After spending a long time walking round the grounds, we decided to drive through Irricana itself in order to get back to the highway. I had seen photos on the Internet of three murals there - sunflowers, crayons, and a view of the old grain elevators that had once stood nearby - and I wanted to go and see them. All near each other, as this town only has a few streets. I had never been to Irricana before and I was impressed with what a delightful place it is, full of brightly coloured murals, and well kept. One of the outer roads had many flower beds along the edge, watered with well water, looking most attractive. I had asked my daughter if she was interested in calling in at the Silver Springs Botanical Gardens in NW Calgary, if there was time after our drive east. I had planned the drive ahead of time, partly because I had also seen a photo somewhere on the Internet of a rather nice old barn that I really wanted to see. We were not disappointed, though it was a shame to see that the cupola had fallen from the roof since that photo was taken. I had never driven through the town of Airdrie before, but did the "drive" on Google Earth the night before and it looked straightforward enough. Returning to the city via Cochrane, my daughter told me how to get to Silver Springs. I had never driven there before, but I had been there with a friend last year, I think on 1 October, and thoroughly enjoyed these meticulously kept gardens. We were just too hot and tired to see every inch of the garden, but finished off with photographing sunflowers and enjoying the American Goldfinches that were feeding on them, before we continued on our way. A great day, despite the heat and smoke from the B.C. and Alberta wildfires (distant low visibility, too). Thanks so much, Rachel - hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. We drove 256 km (used about half a tank of gas, or less). I was absolutely tired out from the heat and driving unfamiliar roads.

The gardens at the Silver Springs Botanical Garden are divided into various areas, such as the Oval Garden, the Shakespeare Garden, the Rose Garden, and the Wall Garden. This photo shows just one very tiny section of the very long Wall Garden, where such a wonderful variety of garden plants can be found. With most of our autumn colour gone, it feels good to be able to look back to photos from 1 October 2016. On that day, I finally had my very first visit to the Silver Springs Botanical Gardens, thanks to friend, Sandy. I first heard about this beautiful place from my daughter, but I had never been, because it is way out of my city driving comfort zone. In the morning, it was raining, at least in my part of the city, and I wondered if going would turn out to be a big mistake. However, the rain stopped and stayed away while we were there and, though the sky was overcast, I was still able to photograph to my heart's content. I was surprised at how many flowers were still in bloom on the first day of October and I was extremely impressed with how meticulously these gardens are kept - every inch of them. So many different kinds of trees and plants, and it was very obvious that each area had been planted with so much thought and care. Amazing that dedicated volunteers have been, and continue to be, the ones to thank for these gardens. Thanks so much, Sandy, for giving me the chance to spend an afternoon in such beauty and peace! We all knew that snow wasn't far away and about a week after this visit, Calgary had its first snowfall of the season, for the whole of the Thanksgiving weekend. At least I now have some bright, colourful photos that I will be able to post in between all the coming white, snowy images that will be taken during the seven, long months of winter. "The Botanical Gardens of Silver Springs is without doubt one of the Seven Wonders of Calgary, Alberta. It boasts 1350 square meters (14 600 square feet) of gardens which includes a spectacular Wall Garden that runs an uninterrupted 1300 feet. In the gardens you will find an endless variety of annuals and perennials ranging from artemisias to zinnias. Here indeed is a place to stop and smell the roses and the peonies and the delphiniums and the chrysanthemums and the … What makes these gardens so very special is that they were created and continue to be maintained by a band of green-thumbed enthusiastic volunteers. These hale and hearty diggers, planters, seeders, weeders, mowers, waterers, pruners and community builders work two to three mornings a week to keep the gardens in primrose shape and their efforts are truly appreciated by the many walkers, joggers, and cyclists. On any given day, hundreds of people walk the wall garden with their families, friends and out-of-town visitors. It has become a treasured destination site for many. For anyone who has spent time in the gardens, it is hard to believe that they have only been here since 2006 when a humble ornamental garden (400 square feet) was developed within the existing BirthPlace Forest tree beds. The BPF, by the way, saw 7000 trees planted in the area. The project was accomplished through a partnership of BP Energy, Calgary Parks, Regional Health and Golden Acres." From the gardens' website. www.botanicalgardensofsilversprings.ca/

I often tend to post a photo of a vibrant flower when our weather is overcast and grim. Today's (9 March 2016) forecast is for a mainly sunny day, though it is fairly overcast so far. The next few days should be between +10C and +14C, so our spring-like weather will continue. It is so dry here - not good for farmers, of course, with so little moisture during the winter months. Also not good as far as forest and bush fires are concerned, with everywhere being so very dry. I always enjoy seeing Cosmos flowers - these were growing at the Reader Rock Garden on 24 June 2015. I liked the colour combination of these three flowers. "Cosmos is a genus, with the same common name of Cosmos, consisting of flowering plants in the sunflower family. It is native to scrub and meadowland in Mexico where most of the species occur, as well as the United States, as far north as the Olympic Pennsula in Washington, Central America, and to South America as far south as Paraguay. The genus includes several ornamental plants popular in gardens." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmos_ (plant)

On 16 September 2015, I called in at the Reader Rock Garden after my volunteer shift. There seemed to be more flowers in bloom than on my previous visit, including a couple of these Cosmos flowers. Also quite a few distant small birds flitting from tree to tree at one point They were impossible to see well enough to get photos or IDs, though, except for a beautiful little Hermit Thrush. I had noticed a Jack Rabbit in the garden and then, when I drove through the adjoining cemetery, it or another one was running in among the gravestones. When it saw my car coming, it froze and waited till I had moved on. "Cosmos is a genus, with the same common name of Cosmos, consisting of flowering plants in the sunflower family. It is native to scrub and meadowland in Mexico where most of the species occur, as well as the United States, as far north as the Olympic Pennsula in Washington, Central America, and to South America as far south as Paraguay. The genus includes several ornamental plants popular in gardens." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmos_ (plant)

I always enjoy seeing Cosmos flowers - these were growing at the Reader Rock Garden on 17 May 2015. I've just checked my photostream to see what I did that day and discovered that this is the very first photo I've posted from the whole file of flower photos taken on 17 May. Love it when that happens, as I then know that I will have some bright, colourful photos to post when winter really arrives, to break the monotony of white and blue images for months on end. "Cosmos is a genus, with the same common name of Cosmos, consisting of flowering plants in the sunflower family. It is native to scrub and meadowland in Mexico where most of the species occur, as well as the United States, as far north as the Olympic Pennsula in Washington, Central America, and to South America as far south as Paraguay. The genus includes several ornamental plants popular in gardens." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmos_ (plant)

I always love seeing Cosmos flowers if I happen to be visiting some kind of garden, such as the Reader Rock Garden or the Calgary Zoo gardens. This beautiful one was found at the Reader Rock Garden on 10 September 2013.

A splash of colour to break the monotony of the winter scenery I keep posting : ) I always enjoy seeing Cosmos flowers - this pink one was growing at the Reader Rock Garden on 4 September 2013.

I had a quick look for a bright, colourful flower to upload, to add some colour to my photostream. However, I came across this one and decided to crop and post. Taken on 4 September 2013 at the Reader Rock Garden in Calgary. I love seeing Cosmos flowers, whether white or pink. www.flickr.com/photos/annkelliott/9952096584

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.

The sun is shining today, but the windchill was -28C. Made myself go for a walk this morning - thanks, Dorothy, your e-mail worked, as I took your advice : ) I was desperately feeling the need to get out of the house after the last two months. Hadn't planned on finally falling into bed around 4:30 this morning, though, thanks to a Microsoft Error! This was after I had installed a Service Pack (on instruction from Dell), which took about three hours to see to. And then when I was more than ready to turn off my computer, I got that message that tells you not to turn off the computer, that it will turn itself off after (8!) updates! I don't know if some of these 8 were the same updates I had just spent hours installing, but I thought I'd better go ahead and let them install anyway, so another couple of hours of waiting. What a pain, ha! This is a lovely Cosmos flower that I photographed at the Calgary Zoo on August 26th.

Happy birthday to my brother, John, in England! I love Cosmos flowers and always take a few photos when I come across some, usually at the Calgary Zoo. Thought the colour of this one was so beautiful and vibrant. Warm to look at on a winter's day - though today is sunny with blue skies. The temperature is supposed to reach a high of 2C today, so we can't complain, but colder tomorrow. Suffering after-Christmas lethargy!

Such a pretty Cosmos, kissed by the sun, in the gardens at the Calgary Zoo. Need to dash and have breakfast and get myself ready, as I want to drive out west just into the mountains, especially as I really want to check on a certain location where the Indian Paintbrush plants seem to be "different". For any of you who are interested in this species of plant, Mark Egger (here on Flickr) is a true, dedicated expert. He has seen a few photos of this particular Paintbrush that I uploaded to Flickr and is rather puzzled by it, so I want to go and take a few further photos of it - IF it is growing there again this summer! To quote from Mark's profile: "I started this Flickr page to share some of the 15,000+ images I've taken over the last 26 years of the vascular plant genus Castilleja or Indian Paintbrush. I've traveled over much of North, Central and South America in search of these plants and have photographed over 90% of the approximately 200 known species and varieties, as well as publishing five species new to science."

There is something so beautiful about a Cosmos flower - just love their colours and their wrinkled petals. This beauty was growing in the gardens at the Calgary Zoo on 14th September last year.

A bright, cheery Cosmos flower in full bloom in the garden at the Calgary Zoo, mid-September. I think our temperature is around 7C today (like yesterday), which is SO welcome after a bitterly cold winter so far. The fairly strong wind is pretty cool, but the sun is shining and ones lips can actually move and form words, unlike on those days of -20C and -30C, LOL. On our walk this morning, we saw 5 Bald Eagles, a Northern Goshawk and a Merlin, as well as all the usual birds, such as Nuthatches and Chickadees. No sign of the elusive Snow Goose today, though.

I think this is a double Cosmos flower. It was growing near a bed full of single Cosmos flowers in the Dorothy Harvie Gardens at the Calgary Zoo a week ago. So many of my photos seem to be very dark/with black backgrounds recently. Once the snow flies, I guess my photos will lighten : )

I believe I'm right in saying that this is a Cosmos flower. It was one of the flower photos I managed to get at Reader Rock Garden yesterday, a very windy day : ) The background is a garden bench, which I couldn't avoid. The flower season is rapidly winding down here. (Just can't concentrate on anything today. My daughter in Vancouver let me know, and has sent articles, about a body that was found yesterday at the east end of Fish Creek Park, in Calgary. Article said it is being treated as a homicide. This is one of my local haunts and I know so many people who go walking there. Won't be able to focus until I hear more detailed information. Even then, it will not be a good feeling to be down in that area, or anywhere else, at least for a while!

I thought these Cosmos flowers at the Cascade Gardens in Banff were so pretty : ) Yesterday, I spent the day in Banff with a friend, following part of the Fen Trail through the forest and walking the short distance to Vermillion Lakes. In the afternoon, we visited the Cascade Gardens at the far end of Banff's main street. I don't usually get a chance to go to Banff, in the Rocky Mountains, so this was a wonderful treat, thanks to my friend! The total driving distance from Calgary to Banff is 126 kms. A road trip from Calgary to Banff takes about 1 hour 37 mins. Weather was perfect - not too warm, and sunny. Just looked at this photo again, and wonder if perhaps I should brighten it a little. The angle of sunlight in my computer room is making it a bit hard to tell how dark or bright my photos are.