Gardening With A Camera

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Photographing while gardening is a hazardous business. I blame the camera’s unforgiving eye. My entertainment this morning was tidying up the Rose Garden with dead-heading and sweeping back into the beds the mulch bark that our avian friends daily toss onto the paving; and clearing up the Head Gardener’s clipping piles.

Crocosmia in Rose Garden

I was at risk of exposing bits I’d missed, like these few scraps of bark in this shot of crocosmia torches burning alongside the Rose Garden path;

View through gazebo

revealing tasks I hadn’t yet carried out, like the clippings in this view through the gazebo;

View from old well site

or incurring the displeasure of the Head Gardener for leaving a blue bucket in this view from the circular concrete of what we think is the site of an old well.

This afternoon we continued with our usual garden maintenance activities, mine, of course, including the new camera, with which I am beginning to capture elusive insects in flight.

Small white butterfly in flight

Small White butterflies are never still;

Bee and cosmos

and bees, like this one aiming for a crocosmia, are apt to dart from one plant to another.

Included among the many varieties of fuchsia we have

Fuchsia Chequerboard

Chequerboard,

Fuchsia Hawkshead

Hawkshead,

Urn with fuchsia Army Nurse

and Army Nurse, this one sharing an urn with trailing lobelia.

Rose Garden

There is also variety in the Rose Garden, provided by different types of flower, such as lilies, geraniums, petunias, penstemons, heucheras and honeysuckle, in addition to the crocosmias mentioned earlier.

Crême de la crême

Crême de la crême,

Rose Winchester Cathedral

and Winchester Cathedral are among the white scented varieties of rose;

Mamma Mia reflected

Mamma Mia is here reflected in one of the mirrors placed for that purpose.

This evening we dined at Lymington’s Lal Qilla, where, despite their being very crowded, we received our usual warm welcome, friendly, efficient service, and excellent food. My choice was king prawn Ceylon; Jackie’s was chicken sag; and we shared mushroom rice, egg paratha, and Tarka dal. We both drank Kingfisher.

Sunset 1Sunset and reflection

With the promise of an interesting sunset on our return, we diverted to Milford on Sea. In the second shot the sky is reflected in the Modus’s roof.

 

 

90 comments

  1. That was a clever catch. The reflection off the roof of a car may be the first I’d ever seen 🙂

    I’m sorry I could see any flowers because of all the rubbish lying around (just joking) 🙂

  2. At first glance I thought the Modus roof was a lake….with a car sinking into it….until I realized that was a pretty odd place for a lake to be.
    It’s always good to humanize a landscape painting with some element of the human, even if it’s just a blue bucket! 🙂

  3. Clever camera and photographer – the butterfly and bee shots are so clear! I like to see the blue bucket, or a glimpse of the Gardener bent to her task – a sign that work is going on, for a garden is always living and dying and in need of much care……. That last shot shows your car is nicely polished!

  4. You and your camera did a fine job 🙂 I love the crocosmia and fuchsia plants and your photographs. Both flowers make me think of humminbirds.

  5. Well done with the new camera – and, although I don’t make the effort to comment each time, I must say the garden looks fantastic!!! Well done both of you!

  6. Wow! You know I always love your photographs, Derrick, but I have to say, these are probably my favorite so far. Stunning shots of the garden and the sky…well done! Is that a mirror hanging next to the clock, in the first photo?

      1. I’m with Jenny on the blue bucket — at risk of reduced helpings next time we’re at yours for lunch 🙂

  7. Your garden is looking so beautiful. My sort of garden. A profusion of gorgeous colour and little flying creatures.
    I’d love to have a patch like this again one day.
    Keep gardening with the camera please 😃

  8. Do you rent your garden out by the hour, or maybe for a weekend? It looks great. I like it because it’s not perfect, it’s colorful and inviting…my kind of garden.

    1. You can rent the garden! the rental is at least 1 hours dead-heading for a day!

    1. When I saw that blue bucket I was annoyed, thinking he’s done it again! I had not yet read Derrick’s comment, I am getting predictable.

  9. Wonderful photos, Derrick.
    I have to tell you that every time I see a beautiful garden now, I think of yours–even though I only know it from your photos.

  10. Your insects in flight are masterful. As for catching evidence of work in the garden, that makes it more like a garden, doesn’t it? I’ve seen ongoing work at Dumbarton Oaks and Isola Bella and both times it pleased me inordinately, as did your blue bucket and pile of clippings…

      1. I much prefer the phrasing “pile of clippings”. The sentence about the H G’s clipping piles evoked an image I don’t like to dwell on…

  11. That first shot may be one of my favorites, ever, Derrick – It just makes me ache to have a walk around. And it occurs to me: How on Earth do you know all of the names of your flowers? Do you have tags on each? Or are you just making them up as you go? lol

  12. Your camera caught many interesting things Derrick haha, I wonder how the head gardener felt about the blue bucket and the bark! The garden is truly amazing! I love how you have captured the butterfly and other insects!

  13. Derrick your boarders are stunningly colourful and your roses a delight.. I love your winding pathway.. And I am always holding the camera while gardening lol..
    Love the beauty and Peace of your garden you share Derrick.. Thank you x

  14. I am so glad I missed the notification of your posting on the 30th as I now get to enjoy it after a difficult day at work 🙂
    You are getting to capture amazing shots with your camera (the tell tale signs that rat on you excluded 😀 of course) and I love the one with the bee. The flowers are also so beautifully captured. I also love the picture with the sunset reflecting on the Modus’ roof, the colour of the car is perfect for this!
    I was just pondering whether the shot with the blue bucket could actually stem from a well but it looks more like an arrangement one would have for a tree. There is also the fact that considering what the size of the circle seems to be it would have been a really thin well and not very practical. From my experience in India, people did not make such thin wells but perhaps things are different in the UK.

    1. It’s difficult to know the width of the well, because it has all been filled in. They were usually quite wide. I hope you have recovered from your difficult day

      1. Well the circumference would give you a direct equation of the circle radius. An arc of a circle is also sufficient to work it out, which you seem to have. My view was based on assessing on a swift “eye” measure and it seems quite narrow but then again the camera might be distorting the actual size.
        I have recovered from my day, thank you and thanks to your beautiful images. They are really very soothing. I prefer the view of flowers in the garden to cut flowers offered in a vase.

  15. Ah ah ah. What I meant was narrow well. Sometimes I think in French when I write in English which gives some absurd expressions 😀

  16. I like gardens with beauty and a few unique imperfections which show how much constant attention they need to maintain, Derrick.
    The butterfly and bee “in flight” were amazing shots. Your meal sounds delicious while nice to escape from home and having excellent service. 🙂 Final sunset photographs were outstanding, including reflection.

  17. Yes, flying insect shots were impressive. Better than my “flying blur” photos. Our crocosmia have spread nicely over the last three years but they are still late – we only just have our first flower.

      1. The camera is only a tool – you are the brains behind the operation. It’s a bit like gardening – Jackie is the brains and you are…well, maybe I should stop there. 😉

  18. Showing us your beautiful garden is a delight, Derrick. Sometimes it matters only what you show us. Not the camera’s unforgiving eye. 🙂

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