garden

Six Views of Mexican Primrose /  by Todd Henson

One of many in a small field of Mexican primrose

Home gardens can be a great place to find flowers to photograph. My folks have some Mexican primrose in their front yard and I spent a little time one afternoon exploring them, trying to find different ways of showcasing this beautiful flower.

I hope you enjoy this selection of six views of Mexican primrose.

Top view of a Mexican primrose

Looking through the primrose garden

Some of the stages of bloom of a Mexican primrose

The light was just right to create a glowing Mexican primrose

Goodbye, primrose

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Gathering Nectar in the Garden /  by Todd Henson

Gathering nectar in the garden

One year I visited a local park that was also home to a series of gardens. One garden had a nice range of flowers, which of course attract various insects. I found one flower that appeared a bit past its better days, missing some petals. And yet that didn’t stop the insects from visiting. So I stood by, camera in hand, and attempted to photograph what I could.

One particular subject was this bee. It kept moving all around the flower, gathering nectar and giving me different views. Though I would have preferred just a bit more depth of field, this shot ended up being my favorite. The focus is on the very top of the bee’s head, where the antennae are horizontal. And there’s a ring of focus around the bees abdomen. But otherwise, the majority of the photo is a blur of color.

I was hand-holding my camera, using a 50mm f/1.4 lens with the aperture set to f/4. Normally there’d be a bit more depth of field, but I had on an extension tube to let me get a little closer to the subject, which also has a side effect of reducing the depth of field.

There’s always room for improvement, and I might have tried some things differently if I were to do this again, but overall I’m pleased with how it turned out. What do you think? Anything you’d do differently?

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Visitors to the Hibiscus /  by Todd Henson

I’m continually fascinated by all the life we so often overlook. We plant flowers and watch them grow, admiring their beautiful buds, but we often miss the small insects that make these plants their home or feeding ground.

One afternoon I decided to photograph the hibiscus flowers, but quickly began noticing the little bugs crawling over the plants. So I pointed my macro lens at the insects and continued shooting, having a great time exploring their closeup world.

Long-legged Flies

A Long-legged Fly on an hibiscus leaf.

Top down view of an iridescent, metallic looking Long-legged Fly.

I caught movement on the leaves of an hibiscus and noticed a fly, but different from typical house flies. These are Long-legged Flies, and are considered beneficial by gardeners as they feed on some of the pests in gardens, such as spider mites and aphids. I love their iridescent metallic sheen. Even flies can be beautiful.

Spotted Cucumber Beetles

A Spotted Cucumber Beetle with hibiscus pollen on its legs.

A Spotted Cucumber Beetle eating the hibiscus pollen off its front legs.

Facing the Spotted Cucumber Beetle.

Next up I found a Spotted Cucumber Beetle feeding on hibiscus pollen. Grains of pollen were all over its legs, and a couple pieces were even stuck to its antennae. This beetle is considered a garden pest as it eats the leaves of many agricultural plants. In this particular case, though, perhaps it may help pollinate the hibiscus.

Notice the yellow grains of pollen of the hibiscus flower.

Looking closely inside the hibiscus you can see the grains of pollen.

Versute Sharpshooter Leafhoppers

Versute Sharpshooter Leafhopper on an hibiscus leaf.

Moving in closer to the Versute Sharpshooter Leafhopper.

Versute Sharpshooter Leafhopper on the edge of an hibiscus leaf.

Last up was a very interesting insect, a Versute Sharpshooter Leafhopper, with stripes of green, orange, and cyan. They get the name leafhopper because of how they hop around the leaves. The sharpshooter part is apparently due to the small holes they create when plunging their mouthparts into leaves to extract the sap. Because of how they feed and what they feed on they are considered a garden pest.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this short excursion among the insects frequenting the hibiscus in the garden. What sorts of insects have you found around your flowers and garden plants? Are they beneficial or pests?

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