I love Cone Flowers

My side garden by the driveway gets hot. So hot that many flowers won't grow by the brick wall that gets even hotter.  I have a nice stand of Black Eyed Susans and a few Cone Flowers, white and purple.They are fairly easy to grow.

Three summers ago I decided to get some of the more exotic  Cone Flowers: Green Wizard, with no petals. It didn't grow at all. Two summers ago I bought a light orange. It didn't come back the next spring.

Last summer I bought a green, a true orange and a light pink. I gave them a nice spot in the garden, watered them in.

They came back this spring.

Unfortunately, we had a very hot and dry summer. My new flowers struggled to grow. Most of them won't bloom this summer. I tried to keep them watered, but it was too hot. We had one of the hottest July's on record. Hopefully they will do better next year.

This year I bought a red,  above,  when it first blooms it is more orange than red with a frilly head, in stead of the usual cone.

I love the more colorful Cone Flowers, but I finally realized that they need too much care. With several venues online and doing art shows I need plants that I can water and they will thrive.





Cathy August 3, 2011

Metallic Paper Something New For Me

I am just beginning to print some of my images on metallic paper. I like the slight 3-D effect it gives and the pearl like look it give your image. Unfortunately, you can't see how great it looks on this Zebra Butterfly. It just doesn't translate to your computer or Etsy shop.

I shot this Zebra butterfly in South Dakota in a wonderful butterfly house. I have photographed them in the wild down in Flamingo in the Everglades. I textured and created the fringe edge on this image.

Cathy 8/1 /10