[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 9 February 2024].
post-floral
blood red
Two of my self-portraits - one from my wallflowers series, the other from my plush series - are included in Issue #123: Color 2024 of F-Stop Magazine, and both feature floral motifs: the wallpaper in one and my dress in the other.
This photograph, which I took in my parents' garden in Redland Bay in 2009, of a Cordyline fruticosa (commonly known as a ti plant) doesn't include a floral motif. But the leaves are so vibrant with the backlighting that they fit the colour theme I submitted to.
Since I've already shared the two photographs included in F-Stop Magazine, I thought I'd share this one alongside the news.
granny's nightcap
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 26 January 2024].
An Aquilegia vulgaris (also known as common columbine, granny's nightcap and granny's bonnet) I photographed in Jo and Becky's backyard in Cotton End while sitting Meg and Mog in August 2022.
stinking willie
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 21 January 2024].
A Jacobaea vulgaris (also known as ragwort, common ragwort and stinking willie) I photographed in Jo and Becky's backyard in Cotton End while sitting Meg and Mog in August 2022.
a nice pear
disappearing further into obscurity
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 7 January 2024].
laxton's epicure
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 6 January 2024].
5 weeks
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 28 December 2023].
stale wolf-fart
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 15 December 2023].
I took this photo of a puffed-out Lycoperdon last month in London Road Cemetery, Bromley.
The origin of the scientific name did give me a giggle.
From Wikipedia: The scientific name has been created with Greek words (lycos meaning wolf and perdon meaning to fart) and based on several European dialects in which the mushroom name sounds like wolf-farts.
I'm not sure this sounds appetising to the vegetarian palate: Most species are edible, ranging from mild to tasting distinctly of shrimp.
The puff holes remind me of cigarette burns.
off-duty umbrellas
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 12 December 2023].
fly agaric
of red bows and holly
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 7 December 2023].
santa's potting shed
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 5 December 2023].
still life with dustpan
Week one of the December project I'm doing with friends, Phil, Christina and Charlotte.
No theme, just a photo a week of whatever catches our eye.
all that glitters is not gold
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 1 December 2023].
never a dull moment
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 27 November 2023].
firethorn
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 26 November 2023].
I'm mixing things up a bit with a new Friday* series, fruitful, a series of photographs I've taken of fruit that complement two of my other series: a floral tribute and the fungus among us.
These berries are on the Pyracantha plant, commonly known as firethorn, and I photographed them overhanging the back fence of a home that backed onto Pondwicks Meadow in Amersham Old Town.
According to Wikipedia, the English have used firethorn to cover unsightly walls since the late 18th century.
Its thorns also make it an attractive and organic form of home security.
*I try to share photos from these series on Fridays, but sometimes they're belated. But I usually share them on social media the following Friday as part of #FloralFriday or #FungiFriday. This new series will fit the #FruityFriday theme.
a bird in the hand
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 21 November 2023].
granny-pop-out-of-bed
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 17 November 2023].
This post isn't the first time I've shared a photograph of hedge bindweed for my series, a floral tribute. And I'm sure this won't be the last.
Despite being considered a noxious weed in the US and being able to overwhelm and pull down cultivated plants, including shrubs and small trees, and potentially toxic to humans and animals, I think the flowers are beautiful. I tend to photograph them in most places I find them.
In particular, because they're often found in the least beautiful places: by railway lines where people have tossed their trash, growing by or over derelict structures, in the overgrown perimeters of parks and other tended spaces (often alongside brambles and, in this case, stinging nettles).
Reading more about them, they seem like something out of a horror film: they can self-seed, and their seeds can remain viable for as long as 30 years. And whole plants can regrow from discarded roots. Apply those concepts to "dead" humans, and you have the storyline of many of my favourite horror films and novels.