Susan Brandt Graham Photography
Life from a Southwest Point of View
Iris
The iris were gorgeous last week at the BioPark. For my iris-loving friends, I am sorry I do not have the names of these – they were not marked. But, I think you can still enjoy the beauty of the flowers. They were everywhere throughout the BioPark.
Clematis – a beautiful vine that can have very large flowers that come in a wide variety of colors. It grows well in the high desert of New Mexico, and is one of the first things to bloom in the spring. Depending on conditions, it may bloom again in the fall, but the fall bloom rarely matches the spring bloom.
“The President” has large purple-blue flowers, with reddish-purple anthers, making for a spectacular display at its spring bloom.
These images come from my mother’s garden on May 5, 2013.
Clematis can make a very good companion plant for climbing roses. The vine can use the rose canes for support, but does not “choke” the rose. It will bloom first, usually before rose blooms appear. It will finish blooming about the time the roses start to bloom. The rose provides the “shady feet” the clematis needs to thrive, which is important since the vine itself needs sun.
This clematis, ‘The President,’ is not planted with a climbing rose, but is planted near ‘Gold Medal.’ It is a stunning combination when the two are blooming together.
Clematis – a wonderful addition for a spectacular and early spring bloom!
Redbud trees – where I grew up, these trees are quite common in early spring. I have seen them in Albuquerque, but they are not so abundant here. The common variety in Oklahoma, native to the region, is Cercis canadensis var Texensis or “Texas redbud.” It is beautiful and hardy. The Albuquerque Biopark has examples of that variety, and they were blooming on Saturday. There is also the Eastern redbud, along with its many varieties.
The Biopark has another variety of redbud, Cercis canadensis var. texensis ‘Oklahoma.’ It is the State Tree of Oklahoma. To be honest, until last Saturday I was not aware of differences between the two, or even that those two varieties existed. In walking through the BioPark, however, I turned a corner and suddenly came upon one whose flowers were darker, with much more intense color, and really markedly abundant flowers. Fortunately, that one had a marker. The common redbud is a beautiful tree; the Cercis canadensis var. texensis ‘Oklahoma,’ is, in my eye, even more beautiful.
These images are from Saturday, April 6. Yesterday and today (Monday and Tuesday, April 8 and 9) we have had strong winds. I doubt many spring blooms remain, not only at the Biopark but around town. The best of the spring bloom was short-lived, but glorious while it lasted. There are the summer-blooming flowers to which to look forward: roses, hibiscus, cosmos, sunflowers, and many others. Spring bloom 2013 has been glorious!
Spring bulbs – tulips, daffodils, and others were seen in colorful abundance at the Albuquerque Biopark on Saturday. I was really glad I made it out then, because all were just beginning to look a little worn. Today (Monday) we are having high winds, and I doubt photographing the spring bloom will be as good after today as it was on the weekend.
This is just a sampling of Saturday’s spring bulb beauty.
Pansies – one of the early spring flowers here in Albuquerque seemed to be at their peak today at the Albuquerque Biopark. Actually, there were also glorious bulbs, flowering trees and shrubs, and color everywhere. This post will show you the pansies. They always make me smile, and I hope they brighten your day as well. Other images from today will be posted in subsequent posts.
And, finally, the pansy I call “the Rohrschach pansy.” 🙂
The Albuquerque Biopark is celebrating its blooming bulbs in March. A few crocus and daffodils are beginning to bloom on the grounds, but the show at present consists of calla lilies and a few other assorted flowers in the Mediterranean Conservatory.
Over the years I have grown a few calla lilies. Somehow, I had expected the ones at the Biopark to be larger. Most were either the size I had grown, or even a little smaller. On the one hand, I did not feel like such a failure as a gardener of calla lilies. On the other hand, I was a bit disappointed as a photographer that there were no “giant” calla lilies on display. What I can say, however, is that the calla lilies (and other flowers) blooming today were quite colorful!
Signs of Spring
Yesterday Albuquerque received some very welcome precipitation in the form of snow. The area is in the midst of a very severe drought, and people are already worrying about the fire season ahead. Even people who ordinarily do not like snow were happy to see any form of precipitation yesterday.
By the end of February, however, almost everyone is ready to see the end of short, cold days. We are looking forward to spring. We delight in any sign that spring is just around the corner.
Yesterday I found these little grape hyacinths, among the first bulbs to bloom in the spring at my house, pushing up through the snow. The juxtaposition of the two was wonderful: the snow for the moisture we need so badly, and the signs of spring, the little grape hyacinths pushing their way through the snow.
Just one sign of spring that I found so welcome yesterday. . .
Welcome to Susan Brandt Photography News. Over the years I have had a variety of blogs on different subjects, but nearly all involved photography to some extent. It seems time to put the photographs and news about them in one place.
Susan Brandt Graham Photography is the site at which I now make photographic prints available for sale.
Those of you who have followed my work will recognize this first image, ‘Lily.’
This image was a Bronze Medal winner at the 2012 PX3 Prix de la Photographie Paris, as well as People’s Choice Third Place winner in the same competition. It was juried into the 2012 Corrales Fine Arts Show and was shown at the Old San Ysidro Church in October 2012.
Prints of this award-winning image may be purchased here.
Thank you for your interest!
Continue reading “Welcome to Susan Brandt Graham Photography!”
