lily of the valley

Like everything else this year the lily of the  valley are blooming early and they are almost done.  I have never been able to get a good photograph of the plant but that doesn’t mean I am going to give up.  I don’t usually publish my mistakes but I have to if I want to use a picture of lily of the valley.   The flowers are very small and white.  Maybe next year . .

bloodroot

I found the bloodroot in full bloom in battle creek regional park in Ramsey county MN.  They are almost a month ahead of last year.  These are usually the first flowers I see blooming.  They hang out in the woods in the near the trees.  I found these growing in big clumps on the side of a hill.

Flowers

I am not sure what these are but my camera liked them.

White Flower

I love to photograph flowers.  They are colorful and fun to photograph but I have never been able to get the white ones to turn out.  This one is close. In fact if I process it again I may be able to make the blown out part on the left disappear.   I used a speed light on this and set it at about 1/2 power.

Apple Blossom

If you don’t like photographs of flowers it might be best to stay away from my photo blog for the next week or so.  There are so many flowers blooming right now . .  I have always loved apple blossoms they just scream spring!

wood anemone

I got out on my bike on Friday and headed for the woods to hunt for wildflowers.  I found a few species blooming in  Battle Creek Regional Park.   The wood anemone likes to grow in clumps in wooded areas.  These were growing at the base of a tree.

Have a happy mothers day.

I did not notice it until a couple of days after I wrote this post but this plant it blood root not wood anemone.

White Asters

There are several varieties of wild asters that are in bloom right now.  They come in several colors and there are a at least three varieties of white asters that I have seen in local parks.  The plant in the picture is the most common variety of white aster  in the Twin Cities metro area.  They remind me of tiny daises and I have always enjoyed them.  The photo was taken near lake Como last weekend.  I know where to find some purple asters on the North end of the lake and will be hunting for them this week.

First Snow

By the time you see this post we may be under a few inches of snow.  Mostly the weather reporters are wrong and we get more of less than predicted.  It is getting cold though . . too bad they were right about that.