December Colours
So, all this week I have shown results of a close look I had in the garden for a bit of colour on a very grey day last weekend. I have pretty well had enough of this ‘series’, but since the weather has not been great most of the week, it has been quite nice to have a bit of colour here and there to cheer things up. This post shows a few of the other kinds of colour I found in the garden – a few roses that are valiantly hanging in there, even with frost, they look a bit tatty but are still distinctly not-grey, some other flowers, fruits and objects.
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An azalea, that will have tiny flowers that are a shocking purple, as if caught in black light. It’s getting all ready for the big day, even though winter is not even officially on us.
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A larger azalea – it is exceptionally early to flower, and is even more ready to bloom than the small one shown earlier.
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Ceanothus is still blooming, there are quite a few ratty old bits of dead blossoms, but also a healthy splash of blue against the dark green foliage.
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A hand made Italian marble that somehow ended up in a fish-shaped pot of succulents on the patio.
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Tamarack – no bright colour here, but the greys and browns are a large part of the background for most of the colours on this page. This is my favourite of all these pictures which is why I threw it in here even though quite dull by comparison.
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Close up shots all taken with SMC Takumar 100mm f4.0 macro screw mount (m42) lens on a Canon EOS 5D MkII, handheld at ISO 2000, usually at f4.0 and f5.6 with shutter speeds in the 1/125th to 1/250th range though some slower, some faster. Most of the pictures cropped quite a bit.
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burnt embers 
I’m still loving that first one.
Your top post and pages section is looking very pretty today: all those lovely colours.
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Thanks Ashley – it is probably different now at this end of the day, it looks as if people have been poking around in my older images too. Finding colour perhaps.
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It’s nice to find people have had a wander through one’s archives, eh?
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It really is. Though I cringe at some of the stuff in my archives – I have been doing a lot of learning since I started this blog, so am happy to leave that proof on line, but really….
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I’ve deleted a lot of my old posts and some images I’ve re-edited. I have more than a thousand posts now and I’d rather people see stuff I still like.
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This post is simply a feast. Fabulous.
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Well – fill your eyeballs, glad you are enjoying. I just found a couple of images I had meant to include. Later…
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I totally love your macro work. GREAT colours and details here, my friend! That second shot has some of the most incredible colours I’ve seen in quite some time; great work here!
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Hi Toad – glad you like the colours – that is the blue glaze on the pot – pretty close the the real thing in the photo.
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Jolly good. The top one is my favourite, I do so like abstracts.
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Hey there SE – glad you enjoyed it.
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Love the yellow wheelbarrow!
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It is very yellow, handle grips and all. Kind of nice to have it sitting around out back, but shelter might be warranted, if there were soome.
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Lovely. The colors are stunning. Beautiful details.
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Hi Ryan – thank you, I am glad to have you back, especially with such nice comments 😉
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I love how you appreciate the beauty in the details of nature. Many lovely shots here. And a self portrait in the last one I see.
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Danita – you noticed! Indeed, that is me, lurking in the weeds.
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I love the imperfections of the first two shots but the pine cones have me 🙂
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Hey thanks Juanita – me too!
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These are great shots, especially the azalea. Mine don’t look like that, though, I’ve got green leaves but no buds. Is that normal? Or did you shoot this last spring?
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Hi Ken. That shot is from last weekend. I checked around the garden. We have another very similar azalea in the front garden which has tiny buds on it, not nearly as advanced as this one. I discuss (and show a picture of) the patio azalea in an earlier post – we moved it to our place a few months ago and it was very pleased with us and sprouted a few flowers in the fall, down close to the roots, and covered itself in these buds (which appear to have grown a bit since I last posted a picture). It is in a warmish corner out of the wind so might be ahead of the front garden on that account too. So, until we have been through another year, I won’t really know if it is atypical or not. There are other azaleas in bud or tentative blossom in the back yard, and some smaller buds on some rhododendrons too.
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The plant world in this miserable wet December is not a very promising topic and yet you have managed to find beauty there!
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Hi Mario – thank you for your comment. The Fennel Fail post is at the unpromising end of December vegetation, while these roses are at the other end. I suppose that really we should be pruning the roses rather than enjoying their last blossoms, but that would be too much like work for today’s level of energy.
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This was a nice bit of color and textures for you to share with those of us that are experiencing gray overcast days. Thanks for sharing!
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Hi dh – the northern hemisphere winter grays… Usually around here we get breaks in the cloud, shafts of low raking sun, often sweeping along the ground. They make a huge difference to the seemingly endless gray that I experienced when I lived in Vancouver, and in London (GB). The last week we have not had much of a break from the heavily overcast sky, so my timing was pretty good on this. But, I am moving indoors for my next post.
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I really like the wheel barrel.
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It glows there in the back yard, sometimes I think its a bit of an eyesore, but it works so much better than the rusty old metal one that wobbles all over.
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You’re fortunate to have plants blooming in December. Few have bloomed here in the past two months and we have another 3-4 bloomless months to go.
I’ve never seen Ceanothus before. That, and those plump azalea buds are the two images I like the best because of their rich color.
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Hi Doug. This species/variety of Ceaonothus is very fast growing and is a prominent plant in gardens in Victoria. It is used for a single planting or as a hedge. They can be really large – the neighbour’s one, which is about 15 years old, is over 10ft high, and about as big around. Ours is the same age, but we have pruned it relentlessly into a more spindly shape open at the base with sweeping branches and a flat top – it is probably 6 feet tall in a raised bed and maybe 10 or 15 feet at its widest. They are evergreen which is one of their attractions, especially for hedges. Sure is nice to have the dark green foliage around, and the blue flowers can hang in there for a long time, like this year.
The azalea buds do look plump, but they are tiny – they are less than 1/4″ across (~5mm).
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Awesome possum.
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Well, strictly speaking there are no possom on Vancouver Island, but I get your meaning 😉
Abyssinia
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Beautiful! You have captured them beautifully! 🙂
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Nandini – you are such a faithful commentor – thank you! It is so nice to have you visiting.
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Beautiful pix. I like the cones best too—maybe it’s the contrast with the others.
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skadhu – I like that contrast, but also the colours which are not bright but are very much this time of the year. I was going to save that picture and use it on its own as I think it could stand up alone all by itself. Snmehow it talked its way into this series.
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Gorgeous!!! So delicate!
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Hi TBS, thanks for coming back 🙂 Delicate is a word I had not considered to describe these images, but I see what you mean, especially for the first of the pink azalea shots.
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