September at Missouri Extension Center Gardens

In this post I will be reviewing my September visit to the Missouri Extension Center gardens.  I am fortunate to live within a short distance of the University of Missouri Extension Center in St. Charles County.  The center has a lot of various education and services which it provides for the community, but what interests me most is the beautiful flower gardens which are maintained by their Master Gardener program volunteers.  It is a wonderful place to go and practice my photography skills among the gorgeous native flowers and pollinators. 

Pollinators at the Center

On the day that I visited the butterflies were particularly active.  Butterflies are particularly attracted to flat, brightly colored flowers and the abundance of Zinnias was a big attraction.  Here are a few of the photographs I took of the butterflies on Zinnias.

Although, butterflies are not heavy-lifter pollinators like bees they do move pollen.  When the butterfly lands on a flower to drink nectar from their proboscis some of the pollen sticks to their legs, proboscis and body.  When the butterfly flutters to the next flower some of that pollen will rub off.  Butterflies also travel further between flowers and that can help in cross-pollination.

Bees of course, are very special and the primary means of pollination for much of our food and flowers.

Flowers at Missouri Extension Center

Here are just a few of the flowers in bloom at my September visit.

Zazzle Designs from my Photographs

I love to use my photographs to create products on Zazzle.  Here is one of my butterfly photographs on a greeting card.

Beautiful Butterflies Card
by mbgphoto

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Review of Spring Flower Photography

 

There is nothing like the beautiful colors of spring flowers to get me past the dull days of winter.  The brilliant yellow of the daffodil photograph above is a case in point.  I took it while on an excursion to the Missouri Extension Center.  On this page I will share with you the photographs I have taken this spring.

Flowers in my Neighborhood

I try to take a daily walk and as winter turns to spring, I look forward to seeing the new flowers poking out of the ground. This year I have a new dog that walks with me so rather than trying to take my camera, most of the photos I take on my walks are taken with my iPhone. I live in Missouri, and we usually see the first signs of spring in late February or early March.  The first flowers in my neighborhood are the crocus.  One house up the street from mine has a flower bed in the front yard that is full of all different shades of purple crocus.  I love seeing the green peaking up out of the soil and I always anticipate these lovely flowers.  With these tiny flowers I like to get in real close when I take the photos and take them from different angles.  Here are three of my favorites.

The next flowers to bloom in my neighborhood are the daffodils.  I have a few of these in my own yard and I enjoy looking at the bright yellow blossoms as I look out my window.

The last of the spring flowers that I photographed during my spring walks were the tulips.  I love these colorful flowers and find them in a whole rainbow of colors in the various neighbors' yards.  

As you will see in the photos below, I like to take the flowers in various ways.

• Up very close
• From above
• From the side
• Just a section of the petals

Springtime Flowers at Missouri Extension Center

One beautiful spring Sunday, my neighbor and I drove to the Missouri Extension Center gardens.  Here master gardeners learn their skills and hone them with other gardeners.  The grounds are open for anyone to come and visit.  We had the place to ourselves for most of our visit and were able to take our time and photograph lots of spring flowers.  I particularly liked the daffodils.  They were so many more varieties than I realized even existed.  Here is a collage photo I put together of the daffodils.  I used the Print panel in Lightroom to put together the collage.

Flowering Trees and Bushes

Springtime also brings beautiful flowering trees and bushes.  Here are a few I photographed on my neighborhood walks.

Redbud Tree and Forsythia Bush

Lilac Branch after the Rain

My Neighbors Beautiful Pink Tree

Capturing Bird by Flowering Bush

I particularly like it when I am able to photograph a bird by a flowering bush.  Here is a photo I took Easter Sunday of a Cardinal by my Lilac bush.

Zazzle Cards from my Photos

I love turning my photos into cards.  Here are a couple cards with spring flowers.

Cardinal and Lilac Card
by mbgphoto

Lilacs in the Spring Card
by mbgphoto

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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