Pink tiger lily

Unidentified insect inside a pink tiger lily; photographed at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens; it looks like he’s wearing a tuxedo!

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Daylily ‘Serena Dark Horse’

Daylily ‘Serena Dark Horse’, hybrid by Bernice Marshall, 1984; photographed at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

In my heaven…

One of my favorite Mary Chapin Carpenter songs is “In My Heaven.” When I’m photographing in a garden, I’m in MY heaven. This is a type of sunflower (don’t know the exact name). What attracted me to this shot was the juxtaposition of the flower stalk against the trees and the bright blue sky. A fairly wide aperture created the beautiful bokeh.

UPDATE: I think these just might be Jerusalem artichokes (Helianthus tuberosus).

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Daylily ‘Paprika Velvet’

Daylily (Hemerocallis) ‘Paprika Velvet’, hybrid by J. Hardy, 1969; photographed at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Daylily ‘Swallow Tail Kite’

Daylily (Hemerocallis) ‘Swallow Tail Kite’, 1998 hybrid by Curt Hanson; photographed at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Female Eastern Pondhawk dragonfly

Female Eastern Pondhawk dragonfly (Erythemis simplicicollis), photographed at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Daylily ‘Blueberry Breakfast’

Love the name of this daylily—-‘Blueberry Breakfast’, hybridized by Ron Rose, 1988; photographed at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens

Daylily ‘Ezekiel’

Daylily (Hemerocallis) ‘Ezekiel’, hybridized by David Talbott, 1991 (I’m marching right out to find this plant for my garden. It really does glow like this!) Photographed at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Daylily ‘Vera Biaglow’

It was a very fruitful photo excursion with my friends (and fellow photographers) Michael Powell and Heather Callin to Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna, VA this morning! This is an extreme closeup of the stamens of Daylily (Hemerocallis) ‘Vera Biaglow’, a hybrid by Steve Moldovan.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Rudbeckia

Rudbeckia, photographed at Green Spring Gardens

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

 

Rudbeckia

Rudbeckia, photographed at Green Spring Gardens

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

 

Co-exist

I shot this photo of a wasp and an ant at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas a few weeks ago. I was actually set up to photograph the wasp when the ant came running around the stalk. The wasp was actually startled by the little ant!

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Zinnia

Zinnia, photographed at Green Spring Gardens

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Yellow Toad Lily

Yellow Toad lily, photographed at Green Spring Gardens

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Sacred Lotus bud

Sacred Lotus bud, photographed at Green Spring Gardens this afternoon.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

 

Zinnia

Zinnia, photographed at Green Spring Gardens this afternoon.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Nursery web spider

Nursery web spider (Pisaurina mira), photographed at Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens on Sunday morning. Located in that darker blob area directly under the top curve of the leaf are her babies (some already moving around). What you might not notice directly below and left of the spider is the solitary wing of a damselfly, remnants of a past feast.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Sacred Lotus

Sacred Lotus, photographed at Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Sacred Lotus

Sacred Lotus, photographed at Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens in Washington, D.C. 

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Grasshopper

Gotta do some research to determine exactly what type of grasshopper this one is! Photographed this morning at Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens in Washington, D.C. I usually like to diffuse direct sunlight when I’m doing my macro shots, but I had to work quickly to get this shot when I first saw the insect. I also shot some diffused ones once I realized it would stay still for me, but the shots with direct sunlight have a certain “oomph” about them.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Black dragonfly

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Blue dasher dragonfly

Blue dasher dragonfly (Pachydiplax longipennis) on Sacred Lotus bud, photographed this morning at Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens in Washington, D.C.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Flame skimmer dragonfly

I think this is a Flame Skimmer dragonfly. Photographed at Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, TX

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Water lily

Water lily photographed at Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, TX

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.