Into the Deep Freeze

By Jim | Published January 23, 2017




Today’s post contains a few more ice-covered plants in my rural Missouri landscape: Several years ago, I planted quite a few Fragrant Sumac shrubs, a plant that a lot of the wildlife love. As with many other plants, our warm winter has caused buds to appear on these plants: One of the most interesting plants […]

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Approaching Fall Colors

By Jim | Published October 16, 2015




Fall colors are quickly approaching the Midwest. Just a couple of weeks ago, “Fall Color Fever” started hitting me, especially seeing all the colorful Aster wildflowers growing around my rural Missouri landscape. Below is one of my favorite captures of the asters, a single aster flower, standing boldly and proudly against the landscape. And I […]

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Another Purple Aster Admirer

By Jim | Published October 2, 2015




Another critter attracted to the purple asters in my rural Missouri wildflower garden is an unidentified Moth species (species unknown, but similar to the Colona moth). Moving about the wildflowers, he continuously worked at collecting nectar from the purple flowers: I gotta say that this fall, my colorful wildflower garden has been a “critter magnet”. […]

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Purple-Loving Skipper

By Jim | Published September 30, 2015




Another insect found while photographing wildflowers at my rural Missouri wildflower garden was this unidentified Skipper. He seemed quite content perched on a colorful, purple Aster: Tomorrow’s post features my “prized” critter capture in the wildflower garden :o) Photographic Equipment Used: Canon 5D Mark 3 body Canon EF 180 macro lens + Canon 1.4x TC […]

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Happy Pollinators

By Jim | Published September 28, 2015




Slept in “late” this morning, after a long evening of photographing the “super-sized”, “blood” moon of the lunar eclipse last night. Wasn’t sure how things would go, as it was pretty cloudy during the day. But Mother Nature smiled down on us and we had a totally clear sky for the eclipse! Hoping to have […]

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Pink Asters

By Jim | Published September 26, 2015




Today’s post includes the pink asters I’ve been seeing. Not nearly as many of them as the purple flowers, but the pinks have their own beauty. At one time, I thought this might be another species, but the more I see them, the more convinced I am that these are the same as the purple […]

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Fun Friday: Waking Up

By Jim | Published September 25, 2015




Today, some fun images of Purple Aster buds, in various stages of opening: Photographic Equipment Used: Canon 5D Mark 3 body Canon EF 180 macro lens + Canon 1.4x TC Vanguard Alta Pro 283CT carbon fiber tripod, with 3 Pod H-3 ballhead ISO 1600 (all photos) Aperture f/5 (all photos) Shutter 1/250 sec. (top photo), […]

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Purple Asters

By Jim | Published September 24, 2015




In yesterday’s post, I featured some white aster wildflowers. In today’s post, I’m featuring some dark purple asters that are growing on my rural land. There seems to be fewer dark purple asters, but the ones blooming have a magnificent purple color, especially when they open up and contrast with the deep yellow centers: Coming […]

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White Heath Asters

By Jim | Published September 23, 2015




Over the past few days, I’ve noticed tons of aster wildflowers growing around my rural Missouri land. There seems to be at least two different species, maybe three. Today, I’m featuring some White Heath Asters (Symphyotrichum pilosum), also know as Aster pilosus. Asters are a sure sign that fall is in the air, and right […]

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First Freeze, Part 1

By Jim | Published November 3, 2014




This past Saturday morning, Missouri experienced it’s first hard freeze of 2014. Temperatures early Saturday morning were in the low to mid 20’s and frost covered most outdoor plants. Grabbing my camera and tripod, I spend a cold morning photographing some of the frost-covered plants in my rural Missouri gardens. In Part 1 of this […]

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