Vegetation Galleries

Peonies, or Paeonies if you prefer. : The peony plant belongs to the lone genus, Paeonia, of the family Paeoniaceae. Despite their lack of close relatives, peonies occupy a wide geographical range. Wikipedia says in that regard that "They are native to Asia, southern Europe and western North America." Native species number in the several dozens, but the popularity of the genus has lead to the development of a number of hybrids. There are early-blooming varieties (woody tree peonies), but most of the cultivated varieties (herbaceous) seen in U.S. gardens and arboretums bloom from late May through early June (or earlier if the weather is warmer, as it most definitely was in March 2012). Peonies are often classified by flower type (descriptive of petal number and arrangement). Wikipedia lists the following types. Refer to their article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paeonies) for examples of each type: (1) Single, (2) Japanese, (3) Anemone, (4) Semi-double, (5) Double, and (6) Bomb-Double. For a good illustrated discussion of the various types, see here: http://www.peonies.org/flower_types.html . I have no proficiency in discriminating among these types, and typically I won't attempt to ascribe a type to any of the flowers I photograph unless that information is available on a plant tag, or online for varieties that are named on plant tags. I've left pre-2012 photos of peonies in their original 'Garden Flowers' gallery and collected them to this gallery. Beginning with 2012 peony photos will be uploaded here, and a selection of them will be collected to the 'Garden Flowers' gallery.

Peonies, or Paeonies if you prefer.

The peony plant belongs to the lone genus, Paeonia, of the family Paeo ...

Updated: May 22, 2013 6:38am PST

2013 Gardens : Garden flowers and garden settings for the calendar year 2013, currently sorted in reverse order of date taken. These are pictures of flowers and foliage, gardens, and garden settings that enhance a visitors experience but aren't necessarily pictures primarily of flowers. I do my best to try to identify each flower or foliage plant that is shown in close-up. IHNC in a caption is a cry for help. It stands for "I have no clue!" To see pictures of the same subjects, taken in previous years, and sorted in ascending order of day index throughout the year, see here: http://arctangent.smugmug.com/Nature/Vegetation/Gardens-Flowers/5424407_6ZzrtC

2013 Gardens

Garden flowers and garden settings for the calendar year 2013, current ...

Updated: May 19, 2013 5:19am PST

Mosses and Ferns : In addition to pictures I took specifically to illustrate mosses and ferns, there are photos here, collected from other galleries, that show some of the charming or picturesque ways in which mosses in particular, 'invade' various environments.

Mosses and Ferns

In addition to pictures I took specifically to illustrate mosses and f ...

Updated: May 11, 2013 7:40pm PST

Fungi - Mushrooms, Toadstools, etc. : I know. Fungi aren't plants. They're a separate kingdom. But they're found on and around plants, and they team with algae to form lichens, so I've stuck this gallery in the Vegetation category. Don't expect informed identification of the various organisms depicted here. I'm not up to speed on fungi identification. The best I can hope for is an occasional generic term for broad types. I'll do my best to indicate type of substrate on or in which the different species are found, and the time of year. Feel free to jump in with your own ID's if you have them.

Fungi - Mushrooms, Toadstools, etc.

I know. Fungi aren't plants. They're a separate kingdom. But they'r ...

Updated: May 08, 2013 12:04am PST

Lichen : Wikipedia provides a good summary of the essential nature of this fascinating type of organism: "Lichens (play /ˈlaɪkən/,[1] sometimes /ˈlɪtʃən/)[2] are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic association of a fungus (the mycobiont) with a photosynthetic partner (the photobiont or phycobiont), usually either a green alga (commonly Trebouxia) or cyanobacterium (commonly Nostoc).[3] The morphology, physiology and biochemistry of lichens are very different from those of the isolated fungus and alga in culture. Lichens occur in some of the most extreme environments on Earth—arctic tundra, hot deserts, rocky coasts, and toxic slag heaps. However, they are also abundant as epiphytes on leaves and branches in rain forests and temperate woodland, on bare rock, including walls and gravestones, and on exposed soil surfaces (e.g., Collema) in otherwise mesic habitats." Most of my pictures of lichen show it growing on rocks, and many come from my travels to various places. For that reason, a large percentage of the pictures in the gallery have been collected from various travel-related galleries. I've included close-ups and more distant shots that give some context for the wide variety of environments that support the growth of lichens.

Lichen

Wikipedia provides a good summary of the essential nature of this fasc ...

Updated: Apr 30, 2013 9:16am PST

2013 Wildflowers of the USA : I have decided to keep a separate gallery of wildflowers for each current year. During that year the gallery will be sorted in reverse order of date taken so that the most recent pictures appear at the beginning of this gallery. At the end of each year I'll collect the pictures into the main wildflower gallery, which is sorted in ascending order of date taken. See that gallery here: http://arctangent.smugmug.com/Nature/Vegetation/Wildflowers-Past-Years/5424475_QmrpZJ. I'll also re-sort the year's gallery in ascending order. Included here are any flowers seen growing in wild or natural environments, as well as species known to occur in the wild but seen planted in various garden settings. Flowers might be native to North America, or alien imports, mainly from Europe.

2013 Wildflowers of the USA

I have decided to keep a separate gallery of wildflowers for each curr ...

Updated: Apr 29, 2013 7:32pm PST

Aquatic plants : Plants that grow either partially or fully submerged in water. These pictures will mostly be at fairly close range to illustrate the plants. Pictures that include aquatic plants, but in which the main focus of the picture is something other than those plants, will go into other galleries. Typically those would be scenes or landscapes, or pictures of specific places that have their own separate galleries.

Aquatic plants

Plants that grow either partially or fully submerged in water. These ...

Updated: Apr 08, 2013 12:57am PST

Wildflowers of No. America Past Years : This gallery contains photos from years previous to the current year. Each year I start a separate gallery for just that year, and merge the past year's images into this one. The gallery features wildflowers both in close-up and in their natural settings, For leaves and seed heads of wildflowers, see the 'Non-floral vegetation' gallery. I'm not a purist when it comes to photographing wildflowers. If native wildflowers are being cultivated in garden or arboretum settings, I'm delighted to have the opportunity to photograph them. If I suspect, or even better if I know, that the cultivated plants are modifications of the native plants, I'll indicate that. I'm not a trained botanist. Take any identification I make of particular flowers with a grain of salt. If you believe I have erred, by all means email me (2lightmywayj@gmail.com) or leave a comment. I have now added a line at the beginning of each caption that starts with the day index (1-365) for the entire year, followed by the year, and typically the name of the flower(s). The gallery is now sorted in ascending order by caption, meaning that the viewer sees the progression of blooms through the year. I think that it helps a person who is interested in learning more about wildflowers to know when each one is likely to be in bloom. For any given location, the bloom period depends in part of weather patterns. Since blooming seasons and hardiness also depend on location, terrain, exposure to sunlight, etc., I typically add at least a rough indication of locale. If no location information is supplied, assume the picture was taken somewhere in NW Ohio or SE Michigan.

Wildflowers of No. America Past Years

This gallery contains photos from years previous to the current year. ...

Updated: Apr 08, 2013 12:33am PST

Tulips Indoors and Out : This gallery celebrates one of the most photogenic of all flowers, the tulip. Where I live they are popular as forced blooms in the spring, and as outdoor plantings that succeed crocus, daffodils, and jonquils in bringing color to the previously dull landscapes of late winter. The most recently processed pictures of tulips will go here directly, while my older uploads will simply be collected here. I make no pretense of trying to identify individual varieties of tulips. I just enjoy them for their shapes and colors, and the satiny texture of their petals.

Tulips Indoors and Out

This gallery celebrates one of the most photogenic of all flowers, the ...

Updated: Mar 24, 2013 3:56am PST

Spring Forward - Blooms at the Conservatory : Rather than start a new gallery of spring blooms at the conservatories each year, I've decided just to add on 2012's lot to those from last year. I'm interested in seeing how the two sets of displays compare.

Spring Forward - Blooms at the Conservatory

Rather than start a new gallery of spring blooms at the conservatories ...

Updated: Mar 21, 2013 12:09am PST

2012 Wildflowers of No. America : I have decided to keep a separate gallery of wildflowers for each current year. During that year the gallery will be sorted in reverse order of date taken so that the most recent pictures appear at the beginning of this gallery. At the end of each year I'll collect the pictures into the main wildflower gallery, which is sorted in ascending order of date taken. See that gallery here: http://arctangent.smugmug.com/Nature/Vegetation/Wildflowers-Past-Years/5424475_QmrpZJ. I'll also re-sort the year's gallery in ascending order. Included here are any flowers seen growing in wild or natural environments, as well as species known to occur in the wild but seen planted in various garden settings. Flowers might be native to North America, or alien imports, mainly from Europe.

2012 Wildflowers of No. America

I have decided to keep a separate gallery of wildflowers for each curr ...

Updated: Mar 20, 2013 5:40am PST

Gardens & Flowers Past Years : Pictures for the year 2012 are here: http://arctangent.smugmug.com/Nature/Vegetation/2012-Gardens/23961658_HstTWN . . .They will be collected to this gallery at the end of the year. This gallery is for photos of flowers found in outdoor domestic or public gardens, and of the garden settings in which I found them. Pictures of botanical gardens that are place specific, landscape type pictures are in my 'Places - by type' category (http://arctangent.smugmug.com/Places-By-Type/Arboretums-and-Botanical ) Whenever I feel confident of the identify of a flower (as from an accompanying label in a botanical garden, etc.) I've included that information. If I'm clueless about the identify, I usually say so, and I solicit the viewers' help in correcting these deficiencies. As of now, lilies, dahlias, and peonies have separate galleries, as do orchids (in the Cyber Conservatory). For other flower pictures, please visit my other galleries, of which the following are a few examples: Wildflowers -http://arctangent.smugmug.com/Nature/Vegetation/Wildflowers/5424475_QmrpZJ Aquatic plants -http://arctangent.smugmug.com/Nature/Vegetation/Aquatic-plants/6743500_vkR3KP Hothouse plants - http://arctangent.smugmug.com/Nature/Vegetation/Hothouse-plants-and-flowers/7376154_D4X7VL

Gardens & Flowers Past Years

Pictures for the year 2012 are here: http://arctangent.smugmug.com/Na ...

Updated: Mar 12, 2013 6:03pm PST

Saguaro, a Special Kind of Cactus : The saguaro cactus, or giant saguaro, Carnegiea gigantea, is one of the iconic species of the Sonoran desert. They once grew in great forests throughout the region of southern Arizona and northern Mexico. Now they are found mainly in small pockets of preserved park lands and national forests, and as individual plants in people's yards, or in botanical gardens. In this gallery I'll try to illustrate as well as describe some of the unique features of this amazing plant.

Saguaro, a Special Kind of Cactus

The saguaro cactus, or giant saguaro, Carnegiea gigantea, is one of th ...

Updated: Jan 21, 2013 1:50pm PST

Desert plants : Cacti, succulents, trees, shrubs, wildflowers, garden structures of the desert. The first batch of photos date to a 2008 trip to Arizona and Uta. Many of these photos were taken at one of two places. First, the Desert Botanical Garden, located in Papago Park in the heart of Phoenix, AZ. Second, the Boyce-Thompson Arboretum State Park, on Hwy 60 east of Phoenix. Both offer outstanding collections of desert plants, both from the various types of desert found in Arizona, and from around the world. A second batch is taken from photos of a 2009 trip to southern California, which included visits to Anza-Borrego State Park and Joshua Tree National Park. Those deserts are part of the Colorado and Mohave desert eco-systems. A third batch derives from a trip to Tucson and its environs in December 2012, where the Sonoran desert eco-system prevails. I have decided, arbitrarily, to restrict this gallery to plants growing outside, either in the wild, or in various arboretums and gardens. The emphasis is on the plants themselves, and not their surroundings, though some 'context' photos are included. Pictures that show the use of desert plants in landscaped areas such as gardens, ramadas, courtyards, etc. and also included here. For pictures of desert plants that are growing indoors, in plant conservatories, hothouses, nurseries, etc., please see the various galleries in the newly created sub-category (within the Nature category) of 'Cyber Conservatory - personal' : http://arctangent.smugmug.com/Nature/Cyber-conservatory-personal

Desert plants

Cacti, succulents, trees, shrubs, wildflowers, garden structures of th ...

Updated: Jan 16, 2013 3:51am PST

Cholla Cactus, Cylindropuntia species : Cholla cacti which belong to the genus Cylindropuntia as a group are wicked looking, and wickedly dangerous in actuality. They are all covered with spines that bear small barbs at the tips which embed themselves in anything that brushes against them. There are several other chollas, classed as club chollas, in a different genus, which are not yet represented here.

Cholla Cactus, Cylindropuntia species

Cholla cacti which belong to the genus Cylindropuntia as a group are w ...

Updated: Jan 16, 2013 3:33am PST

Fruits and Vegetables - Ornamental and Edible : From late summer through mid-autumn, plantings of a variety of ornamental vegetables, using the term 'vegetable' loosely and inexactly, add color and texture to gardens. Cabbages, chili peppers, and squashes or gourds are the most popular examples. I'm hoping to be able to expand this gallery to include more exotic examples.

Fruits and Vegetables - Ornamental and Edible

From late summer through mid-autumn, plantings of a variety of ornamen ...

Updated: Dec 18, 2012 4:34am PST

2012 Gardens : Garden flowers and garden settings for the calendar year 2012, now sorted in order of date taken. I have also collected the majority of these images to the master 'Gardens' gallery (see link below). Time to start a new gallery for 2013 Gardens! I do my best to try to identify each flower or foliage plant that is shown in close-up. IHNC in a caption is a cry for help. It stands for "I have no clue!" To see pictures of the same subjects, taken in previous years, and sorted in ascending order of day index throughout the year, see here: http://arctangent.smugmug.com/Nature/Vegetation/Gardens-Flowers/5424407_6ZzrtC

2012 Gardens

Garden flowers and garden settings for the calendar year 2012, now sor ...

Updated: Dec 18, 2012 3:43am PST

The Hand of Man in Natural Settings : This gallery is devoted to objects, structures, constructions, and other modifications to spaces that are primarily intended to be decorative or ornamental, with the aim of enhancing one's enjoyment of the natural setting. Actual works of art are excluded (they appear in other galleries), as are those benches which seem to me to be more utilitarian than decorative. If the occasion arises, I'll include items from indoor settings such as conservatories, but most of the pictures will come from public and private gardens, parks, arboretums, campuses, etc. I'll try to show each object in context, to show how it interacts with the nature around it. Most items are inanimate, but I will include things such as trees and shrubs that have been pruned, trimmed, and trained for decorative purposes. Note: This is a new gallery (as of September 2012). It will take awhile for me to collect older images from other galleries to help populate it.

The Hand of Man in Natural Settings

This gallery is devoted to objects, structures, constructions, and oth ...

Updated: Dec 18, 2012 2:06am PST

Dried Seeds Blooms and Grasses in Fall and Winter : Dried flower heads, seedpods, and grasses hold a special appeal, especially if the light is right. They can be garden plantings, wildflowers, or even lowly weeds. Though the color palette is limited, nature's extravagant design is still on display in all of the intricate details. Somewhat arbitrarily I've decided to include milkweed and thistle in this gallery, but not dandelions and goat's beard, which latter disperse their seeds mainly in the summertime. As a gallery that I've just created in January of 2012, most of the entries will be collected from other galleries. New photographs that fit the subject will reside here, and be collected to related galleries.

Dried Seeds Blooms and Grasses in Fall and Winter

Dried flower heads, seedpods, and grasses hold a special appeal, espec ...

Updated: Dec 06, 2012 5:52pm PST

Wild Flowers Far Afield : These are pictures of wild flowers seen on my travels both in the U.S. and abroad. Most are of species that don't grow wild near my home (i.e. in Ohio or Michigan), though related species might grow locally. Also, there might be pictures of species that grow wild locally as aliens or imports or are raised here in cultivated settings. And some are simply self-indulgent entries...pictures that remind me of the locale, even though they're pretty common species here at home. I'm including flowering plants such as grasses, sedges, rushes, as well as ferns and mosses. A word about map tagging for this gallery. Many of these images have been collected from parent galleries, and were not themselves map tagged. If you'd like a better idea of the location of a particular plant or flower, I suggest you go to the 'original gallery' for the picture in question, and select the 'Map This' button for that gallery.

Wild Flowers Far Afield

These are pictures of wild flowers seen on my travels both in the U.S. ...

Updated: Nov 27, 2012 11:32pm PST

Non-floral Vegetation - Planted : Every good garden should include plants that are grown primarily for the visual interest provided by their foliage and in some cases their fruit. Such plants add color and texture that lasts throughout the growing season. Even indoor plant displays, such as conservatories, benefit from such plants. Other plants may be grown both for their flowers and their foliage, while still others that are grown mainly for their flowers might provide foliage interest at various times of the year. This gallery is dedicated to pictures of such plants, both in detail and in the context of their surroundings. Almost all were photographed in public gardens, where plant labels are sometimes provided. I've done my best to identify each plant, but some remain unidentified, while others undoubtedly have been mislabeled by the growers or by me as a result of my researching possible ID's. Help from viewers in correcting mistakes would be appreciated. For lack of a better place to put them, I've lumped in the few pictures of crops (other than vegetables, which have their own gallery). Pictures of non-floral vegetation of plants in wild or natural settings can be found here: http://arctangent.smugmug.com/Nature/Vegetation/Non-floral-vegetation-Wild/5793898_7zrLj5

Non-floral Vegetation - Planted

Every good garden should include plants that are grown primarily for t ...

Updated: Nov 03, 2012 8:20pm PST

Dahlias : Wikipedia says of dahlias: "Dahlia is a genus of bushy, tuberous, herbaceous perennial plants native to Mexico, Central America, and Colombia. A member of the Asteraceae or Compositae, dicotyledonous plants, related species include the sunflower, daisy, chrysanthemum and zinnia. " This doesn't begin to convey the rich variety of colors, shapes, and sizes to be found among the cultivated varieties, many of them hybrids. Rather uncharacteristically for me, I found myself photographing a number of dahlias in public gardens recently without bothering to document, where available, their identification tags. I guess I just decided to let the blooms speak for themselves. The emphasis is on closeups, but there are a few shots that show them in the context of their surroundings. Enjoy! Since this is a newly (2012) created gallery, I've decided to make this the 'original gallery' for any recent shots of dahlias, but just collect here my older shots of dahlias, leaving those pictures in their original 'original' galleries.

Dahlias

Wikipedia says of dahlias: "Dahlia is a genus of bushy, tuberous, her ...

Updated: Nov 03, 2012 7:55pm PST

Hostas : I know that raising and collecting hostas can become a passion, much like that for raising roses. I'm very far from being in that category. My main interest in them is as subjects from my photography. Their chief attractions in that regard lie in the fascinating textures of the leaves, especially as they begin to die in the fall, and in the variety of the shapes, colors, and sizes of the leaves.

Hostas

I know that raising and collecting hostas can become a passion, much l ...

Updated: Sep 23, 2012 5:39am PST

Non-floral vegetation Wild : This gallery now contains pictures of plants found in wild or natural settings. I have created a separate gallery for plants grown in gardens, for crops, in conservatories, as house plants, etc. (http://arctangent.smugmug.com/Nature/Vegetation/Non-floral-Vegetation-Planted/26218310_R3K2ds) The focus here is on everything vegetative that isn't flowers or trees or shrubs. This includes the foliage, buds, seed heads, fruits, etc. from flowering plants. It also includes mosses, ferns, etc. I have recently separated photos of lichen (a symbiotic combination of algae and fungi) into a separate gallery, and likewise created a separate gallery for fungi. Recently I've created a separate gallery for what I call micro-gardens, collections of tiny plants found mostly on trunks and limbs of trees, both living and dead (the trees, that is). That is the 'Vegetation in Miniature' gallery. All the aforementioned sites are in the 'Vegetation' sub-category of my 'Nature' category. Vines and canes now have their separate gallery in my 'Cyber Arboretum' sub-category. A few remnants of those specialized subjects remain here, however. Somewhat arbitrarily, non-floral aquatic plants such as grasses, sedges, rushes, and similar aquatic plants are in the 'Aquatic Plants' gallery.

Non-floral vegetation Wild

This gallery now contains pictures of plants found in wild or natural ...

Updated: Sep 06, 2012 5:49pm PST

Lilies from A to Z : This is a gallery for pictures of all types of lilies: wild or cultivated; indoors or outdoors; hybrids and non-hybrids; you name it.

Lilies from A to Z

This is a gallery for pictures of all types of lilies: wild or cultiv ...

Updated: Aug 09, 2012 1:24am PST

Vegetation in Miniature : Lately I've begun to photograph some of the fascinating plants that colonize the bark and limb scars of both growing and dead trees. They form what I fancifully think of as micro-gardens or micro-landscapes. I have enough such photos to start a separate gallery, transferring them from their former home in the Nature/Vegetation/Non-floral Vegetation gallery. Not being a botanist, and having only an avid amateur's interest in living things, I haven't really identified any of the plants you'll see here. My guesses even as to broad categories of plant life might be very wide of the mark. Although I have a separate gallery for photos of lichen, and most of the plants in these micro-gardens are resemble fungi, mosses, and ferns, I suspect that some, and perhaps all, of them may be lichens (symbiotic combinations of algae and fungi). Still, I'm going to keep them separate from the lichen gallery. I'd welcome any information that will help me correctly describe these tiny marvels to other viewers. For want of a better place to put them, I've included a few shots of miniaturized plants growing on rock surfaces and in rocky crevices.

Vegetation in Miniature

Lately I've begun to photograph some of the fascinating plants that co ...

Updated: Apr 06, 2012 11:43am PST

Hothouse plants and flowers, from tropical to desert and everything in between : I love winter, love being outside in cold snowy weather. But I also love flowers. When there is nothing blooming outside where I live, and I can't travel to warmer places where things are blooming outside, it's time to visit various hothouses and conservatories. DISCLAIMER: I won't be able to identify all (or even most) of the plants pictured, although I do try to photograph ID tags in situ, when they are present, and pass that info along. Your help in identifying plants, or correcting errors in my identifications, would be much appreciated. I make no claim about the correctness of the tags placed next to the plants, and I especially make no claim about my correctly associating such tags with a particular plant in the vicinities of the tags. I urge you to view the pictures in as large a size as your monitor will handle comfortably, since plants exhibit the most amazing levels of intricate detail. It's a whole "secret" world, waiting to be explored. Enjoy!

Hothouse plants and flowers, from tropical to desert and everything in between

I love winter, love being outside in cold snowy weather. But I also l ...

Updated: Sep 04, 2009 7:18am PST