Thursday, April 17, 2014

Flowers from March



A selection of some of the Spring flowers and plants taken in March. The weather has been hot and sunny lately which comes as a great relief after our long dark and rainy winter. So nice to be able to sit in the sun again and be outside walking. For this post I thought it would be good to have a closer look at some of the goings on at this time of year; nature comes back alive again with its showers of  colour and flowers are seemingly thrown across the ground like stars. Some of these flowers are very tiny indeed but it is nice for a short sighted person like myself to get close to the hedges and stuff and have a good rummage. I have a bit of interesting news in that some of my photos might be published in a book of natural history of the area later on in the year. It would be nice to see some of the photos in print and I get to say that I'm a published photographer, which will make me look like I'm something proper for a change. Cheers for now.

9 comments:

Penny said...

Hi John

Love the flowers and am completely jealous
It has been and continues to be unseasonably cold here
There are no leaves on the trees even today
Which is getting to be kind of surreal... as in a strange landscape

We had snow the other day

So thanks for the pics
and thanks for sending that informative and thoughtful email

btw: Dave McGowan has info on site to get the new book- autographed
I put my order in!
Apparently he has been getting orders from all over the world
which pleases and surprises him
(heard him say that on Meria Heller's show)
cheers John!

john said...

Hi Penny. Yes it has been an unusual winter, I saw that North America also had a really cold and long winter. Ours went another way over here. Since early December we had one storm follow another, causing much destruction and flooding, although some of the flooding was actually caused by the authorities failing to maintain flood defences and dredge rivers, all intentional. We have never seen so much rain or been held in such a pattern for such a long time. We had no snow and hardly even a frost, odd indeed and not at all normal. It looks strange, but I don't go along with the AGW stuff.

You're very welcome to the email. It's good to pass these things on when I can be of help with information.

I follow Dave McGowans page for his book on facebook. At the moment nobody seems to be actually receiving their copies of the book, so I will wait until they start to turn up before ordering one. I had my doubts when he chose a small UK publisher, they can be rubbish. I don't know what deal they offered him but I think it's possible he could have made a lot more money by self publishing on Lulu. Still, that's his business. Really looking forward to getting a copy though.

john said...

Oh, and cheers to you to!

reem said...

Spring is taking about new life there dear John ,nice flowers ,of cours I'm not a photographer and I don't know much about this but I think your photos are very beautiful and it's perfect work this time ,so clear and you focused on thus various small details ,like it so much ..

It's great for you to see your photos in book ,,congratulations ..all the best for you always ..

reem said...

I wonder ,it's amaryllis flower in your third photo ,I guess yes ..in my town we should plant this sort of narcissus and take care it very well ,you have them already there ,,and that's very special ..it's called Nargees in arabic ..Thanks for your work ,,we enjoy and feel the beaty of life evert time ...

Penny said...

John, sorry for the OT
but, wanted you to know I got my autographed copy of Dave's book
Today!!!
It did not take long at all for it to get here..
and the weather here continues to be colder then normal
still no maple leaves on the trees
or oak leaves or birch leaves
and my tulips have not flowered
Keep hoping we are turning a corner...

Anyway... if you want your autographed copy it seems now is the time!

john said...

Choukran Reem! and thanks. You're quite right; the third flower is from the family amaryllis, this one is a galanthus or Snowdrop, as we know them. They grow wild and happy here and in great abundance. They're such a welcome sight as they're one of the earliest flowers to come out here and herald the end of our winter. We're very fortunate to have so many of them around here.

We had a couple of women from up north ask us about another flower here, the three cornered leek, which they say don't grow up north. We gave them some to plant, they smell of garlic and grow in great profusion.

I'm very pleased that you're enjoying these photos and hope all is good where you are. All the best to you, dear Reem.

john said...

Cheers Penny, nothing is really off topic here and all contributions are always welcome.

Daves books are out and about then, that's good news and you have yours already, you lucky person. I must order a copy soon. It will be such an interesting read.

Argh! Still no end to your winter in sight. It's been too long now. We have had plenty of rain here and some sun on and off so the plants are all springing up rapidly. Most of the trees are leafed up now. As usual, if anything we have too much rain. Hope spring comes soon to you. Cheers for now.

john said...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-cornered_leek