shutterspeed

I went on a native and low-water garden tour here last weekend, so of course I took pictures! (Then, unfortunately, I forgot to write down what everything was.) For starters, here's a shot that makes the small plant look tall, with bonus ladybug:

1. a tall purple stalky plant, with a ladybug resting on one of the stalks

a tall purple stalky plant, with a ladybug resting on one of the stalks

We went to a garden that had a giant bush of this, which usually grows into a big tree but was apparently transformed into a (more flowery) bush by the deep shade down the hill:

2. closeup of the outside of a flower on a tree; the flower is red-orange and scratchy-looking

closeup of the outside of a flower on a tree; the flower is red-orange and scratchy-looking

This is the same plant as above, with an unopened bud:

3. a bud of one of the flowers on the same tree; it's heart shaped and scratchy-looking

The same gardener had filled his yard with succulents. I love photographs of succulents, but I find it hard to get the depth of field right; I think this is really the only one that came out:

4. close-up of a budding succulent

Then we went to a bee-friendly garden, where I couldn't help taking pictures of bees in addition to plants. I was trying to photograph the structure of this flower when a bee flew into the frame:

5. close-up of a multi-segmented blue-purple flower, with bee

close-up of a multi-segmented blue-purple flower, with bee

This one I actually know offhand - it's an apricot mallow, and it's very attractive to mid-day bees, so it's always full of buzzing in the early afternoon.

6. close-up of a single stalk of apricot mallow, with simple orange flowers that are open in a cup-shape