Photographing the Beauty Enfolded in Sprays of Petals

Several years ago when my husband and I moved to a house rimmed with brilliant dahlias, asian lilies and carpet phlox, I became captivated by a world of gardening that held so much to explore. The following spring I ripped out a few of the numerous hastas and relocated sedum and ornamental grasses to make room for dozens of varieties of plants. Flower beds turned into experimental plots and I became delighted with the delicate, vibrant photographic subjects that waited patiently outside my door ready to show off new blooms from spring through fall.

Some plants proved to be too much work for my taste and I found others to be quite appealing as they flourished with ease and produced fascinating flowers. I eventually gathered a list of flowers that became my favorites and list other plants that I recommend be grown sparingly or not at all, primarily because of their rigorous and sometimes invasive growth pattern. My experience with most of the plants has been in the Midwest where it is rated Zone 6 (lower Michigan).

I am gradually gaining experience with plants in Zone 5 along the Front Range of Colorado where xeriscape gardening is popular because of the dry high desert climate. Being new to hiking trails around Colorado Springs and Rocky Mountain National Park, it has been a delight to photograph wildflowers I have never seen before. I also note some popular Colorado wildflower spots and display a collection of many wildflower photos taken along Rock Island Trail , a bike path which cuts through the city of Colorado Springs. In addition, I illustrate the splendid variety of wildflowers found a few miles north of the city around Spruce Mountain.