Life cycle of a waterlily

All of these photographs were taken at Perry's Water Garden in North Carolina.

They were all taken July 4, 2008,

I have just been very slow at getting back to seeing what I captured that day.

And the cycle begins again.

Hope everybody has enjoyed a touch of July this cold December day.

Zinnia Collages in different stages

Have so many photographs of zinnia blooms decided to make collages of them.

Now we will have to wait until 2009 for more blooms. Tomorrow I will be back to winter scenes.

The life of zinnia

The zinnia buds are so unusual. That black just looks out of place. I love it, so I just keep taking photographs of the buds. Probably have another post with just the buds. Side view with the zinnia middle trying to pop right through.
So many different colors out of one package of seeds. Although I cannot guarantee that since I plant several packages of zinnia. I want to attract the butterflies.

Attract is putting it mildly. Most of my butterfly photographs are at the zinnia blooms.

Then they begin to fade.

This is what they look like at the end, when the wind is sending seeds everywhere for next year.

I am tired of the cold, just had to remind myself what to expect when the cold is gone again.

Sunflower's Life cycle

The Sunflower requires a person to start with the macro. The bud is just so awesome.

These were freebies, one plant in 2007.
20 plants in 2008.
The Goldfinch did a good job on these, I just didn't do a good job of photographing them at it.

Then to the burn pile.