Roses Archives - Susan Brandt Graham Photography

July 29, 2021July 29, 2021

Floral Whimsies

I created these floral whimsies from photographs of flowers in my garden using a cell phone camera. Many of you know I have used a variety of digital cameras to photograph flowers for almost two decades. However, I really did not use a cell phone camera to do that until I went back to FaceBook in 2020. The images were so easy to post there directly from the cell phone. I did basic editing on the phone and was okay with that.

Not until July 2021 did I realize that I had the technology on the phone to do a little more than basic editing. Once I stumbled into the capability, I have spent much of July just seeing what it was possible to do on a cell phone. These floral whimsies are one result.

Here are two composites, one in black and white and one in color, of photographs I have had fun creating this July of 2021.

floral whimsies — Floral Whimsies in Color

The color images, starting at top left and moving around clockwise are:
Shocked, Shocked I Say
What Happens in Vegas…
Sun Bird
Busy Bees
Two Frogs, a Cat, and Darth Vader (color)
Proud Parents

The black and white images, starting at top left and moving around clockwise are:
A Penny for Your Thoughts
Old Woman and Face Mask
My, What Big Eyes You Have
Two Frogs, a Cat, and Darth Vader (black and white)
Out of Darkness
Fortune Tellers

Larger versions of individual images may be seen at my portfolio site.

June 1, 2019June 1, 2019

More ‘May in Corrales’ Images

May in Corrales is one of those times in the yearly cycle as significant to me as the smell of green chile roasting in early autumn and Balloon Fiesta in October. Corrales is enjoyable all year around, but May in Corrales as the Dr. Huey roses are in bloom has become a ritual. I posted one set of images a couple of weeks ago. These are more images from the Price home on May 18, 2019.

First, Special Cats

Spunk doesn’t mind being photographed – if the mood strikes him. Therefore, I have more photos of him than the other Price kitties. On this day one of the black cats let me take a photograph too.

cat — One of the Black Cats, Najar, Observing the Goings-On on the Deck

Second, Interesting Plants

Although in May in Corrales the emphasis is on roses, the Price Garden has many other plants. These are a few that attracted my attention.

May in Corrales honeysuckle — Honeysuckle

Third, Roses

May in Corrales roses — Bud of the Rose, ‘Rio Samba’

Regular readers here know how much I enjoy not only Corrales, but also so many things New Mexico has to offer. I hope you are enjoying them, too.

May 18, 2019

San Ysidro and Dr. Huey

San Ysidro and Dr.Huey: another spectacular day in the Land of Enchantment. This weekend is the Festival of San Ysidro, patron saint of agriculture and farming. San Ysidro is also the patron saint for Corrales, an independent village that sits on the west bank of the Rio Grande. Nearly every year the Festival and the Corrales Rose Society’s Dr. Huey Tour fall on the same weekend. This year was the Sixth Annual CRS Dr. Huey Tour.

The day was spectacular. The sky was crystal clear and the temperature was perfect. Here at my house, most of the roses have finished first bloom, but ‘Mermaid’ is just beginning. In Corrales, Dr. Huey was not only at its peak, but also most of the other roses. While this is not the typical order of things, it made for a beautiful day.

I have a lot of photos to show (and many more for a later time), so I’m not going to “talk” much. As they say, hopefully “a picture is worth a thousand words.”

Painted Lady Butterflies

Iris

Roses in the Price Garden

Although I have been in the Price Garden many times in many seasons over many years, I have never seen it more beautiful than today.

Dr. Huey

The giant Dr. Huey growing ‘somewhere’ in Corrales is in great shape in 2019. A lot of underbrush had been cleared out, and we could clearly see at least three Dr. Hueys: the tall one, and at least two shorter ones, one on either side. We were happy to see these so healthy this year. They are ‘survivors’ in a harsh climate, survivors that retain their beauty.

Spunk

Tim and One of the Chile Guitars

First Day to Open the Deck

While I have many more pictures to show, like Beaker the parrot taking a birdbath in his water, more Spunk and a few of the other kitties, and such, I wanted to end this evening with the way we finished the day and have so many other times: eating wonderful food with friends, laughing, just enjoying the day and company. Thanks Tim and Laurie for the hospitality on a day spent celebrating San Ysidro’s gifts and Dr. Huey!

Dinner on Deck — Enjoying the Opening of the Deck and the End of Day

May 7, 2019

Miniature Rose ‘Pinstripe’

The miniature rose, ‘Pinstripe,’ was one of my first acquisitions when I began growing roses in earnest. Ralph Moore (1907-2009) was its hybridizer. Over his long and active life he introduced many different roses. However, miniature roses are among his best known.

A little earlier I posted an image of another of Moore’s striped miniatures, ‘Climbing Earthquake.” That one is yellow and red, whereas ‘Pinstripe’ is red and white.

2019 is looking like a good year for roses in the Albuquerque area. The striped miniatures by Ralph Moore always give me a smile. I hope you enjoy them also. 🙂

May 5, 2019May 5, 2019

Late Afternoon in the Garden

Although my favorite time to photograph flowers in my garden is morning, when it is light but the sun hasn’t yet risen above the Sandias, yesterday the light was pretty good in late afternoon.

Did you watch the Kentucky Derby? I think it was the strangest one of my lifetime. When all is said and done, I’m glad none of the horses were injured.

Once the winner had been decided, I went out to see what was happening in the yard. Because the light in my small Albuquerque yard is very different in late afternoon than in early morning, I saw different things to photograph.

Lizard

A lot of lizards live in my yard. I rarely photograph them, partly because they run away. This guy was comfortable and held his ground.

Shrub Rose ‘Pike’s Peak’

This rose was a gift several years ago. I should have photographed it a couple of days earlier. However, you can still see the beauty it adds to the garden. I was heading out to photograph it when I saw the lizard on the railroad ties.

Developing Baby Pear

I have two pear trees: one is a pollinator and the other produces good eating pears. This now-small pear should become a good eating pear some time in August.

Floribunda Rose, ‘Chihuly’

This rose pretty much speaks for itself.

Today is Cinco de Mayo, observed just for fun by many people. Today might be a good day to spend late afternoon in the garden… Enjoy whatever you do today. 🙂

May 4, 2019May 4, 2019

Garden Flowers This Week

Garden flowers are delightful, especially when they survive Albuquerque’s spring winds. These flowers are blooming this week and have maintained pretty good shape. The hybrid tea rose, ‘Gemini,’ is blooming (the first HT to bloom), but shows what wind can do to rose petals. Above all today, I’m showing some survivors in the high desert…

Cinnamon Delight

First is the unusually colored ‘Cinnamon Delight.’ I grow this in a container on my patio. It blooms almost nonstop from early spring until a hard freeze in the fall.

Climbing Earthquake

Next is the miniature rose, ‘Climbing Earthquake.’ Ralph Moore, hybridizer of many roses (mainly miniatures) hybridized this lively little beauty.

Spring Fling

Marmalade Skies

The floribunda rose, ‘Marmalade Skies,’ can produce very large sprays of roses as well as well-formed single blooms. Sprays are developing. Maybe in a week or two I’ll have some pictures of those.

Pansies

You know I’ll show pansies when they are blooming. 🙂

Autumn Sage

Autumn Sage requires very little care in the high desert. Hummingbirds, especially the females, it seems, prefer it over the hummingbird feeders.

BeBop

I cannot keep from smiling when ‘BeBop’ is blooming. I also laugh about the time a photographer who didn’t know roses (“you have to grow them to know them”) told me I should have waited until the wind stopped blowing to photograph a similar bloom. The petals grow this way, and to a great extent are how it got its name.

I hope you have a great week enjoying the garden flowers where you are. 🙂

April 27, 2019

First Rose and Pets

First Rose of 2019

The first rose in my yard in 2019 is the miniature rose ‘Child’s Play.’ This rose often has perfect form and overall general health. Other roses are about to bloom, but this one made it first.

Pets

These images are from last year. I never got them posted. This seemed like as good a time as any… All the pets belong to the Prices. Many of you will recognize Spunk. But first is a parrot, who can come out with some pretty funny things when he is listening to people in another room. He is rather shy in person, but one day let me make a few images. He is quite handsome.

Spunk, the perfect photographer’s model: handsome, loves to pose when he is in the mood.

Here, Spunk the model:

“OK, that’s enough. I’m bored now…”

Spring seems to have really arrived, and everything seems about to bloom. Enjoy what promises to be a beautiful weekend.

October 14, 2018

New Mexico Roses: A Change Is Gonna Come

New Mexico Roses: a change is definitely coming to the High Southwest Desert this weekend. The first cold front of the season is arriving in New Mexico, with unseasonably low temperatures and snow in some areas. This is a little early. The cold will not last long. But if the temperatures drop low enough, most of the roses will be close to the end for 2018. In this time of change, I offer a look back at some of the roses growing in New Mexico gardens, some mine and some of friends. All of these were photographed out of doors, as growing, in natural light. I groomed some of those in my garden. I did not groom roses growing elsewhere. You would not find those entered in a rose show. “It’s not what you look at, it’s what you see.” I saw beauty in all of these.

From My Garden

From the Garden of Friends

Change is on its way. I hope you have enjoyed a stroll through some New Mexico gardens with their roses. I have certainly enjoyed sharing them with you.

August 19, 2018

Garden Delights

Garden Delights

Garden delights are plentiful and varied at this time of year. These are a few images from this past week.

First, Spunk Price surveying his garden and activity in it from the deck:

Next, a few flowers from my garden:

Cosmos, loved by butterflies, bees, hummingbirds, and goldfinches, among others:

Mermaid, an Old Garden Rose and favorite of many pollinators:

garden delights rose mermaid — Old Garden Rose, Mermaid

Floribunda rose, Fabulous!

garden delights rose floribunda — Fabulous!

Finally, Spunk Price, “OK enough for this Sunday. Time for a nap…”

May 5, 2018

Lady Banks, Laurie, and Critters

Lady Banks, Laurie, and Critters

Lady Banks, Laurie, and critters: what more could a day in May need to be perfect? This old species rose was breathtakingly beautiful in the late afternoon light. Many different roses are doing well this year. But this one was spectacular!

Laurie adding to the spirit of the day:

In addition, this little damsel fly seemed to want to be photographed:

Finally, would a visit to Corrales be complete without The Man, Spunk?

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First, Special Cats

Second, Interesting Plants

Third, Roses

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Painted Lady Butterflies

Iris

Roses in the Price Garden

Dr. Huey

Spunk

Tim and One of the Chile Guitars

First Day to Open the Deck

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Lizard

Shrub Rose ‘Pike’s Peak’

Developing Baby Pear

Floribunda Rose, ‘Chihuly’

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Cinnamon Delight

Climbing Earthquake

Spring Fling

Marmalade Skies

Pansies

Autumn Sage

BeBop

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First Rose of 2019

Pets

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New Mexico Roses: A Change Is Gonna Come

From My Garden

From the Garden of Friends

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Garden Delights

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Lady Banks, Laurie, and Critters

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