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Monday, September 3, 2012

Still Blooming at the F&P

While Fall might be just around the proverbial corner, flowers around the Frog & PenguINN yard are still in very colorful bloom. Walking around the yard over the weekend gave me lots of “photo ops” and some photofun as well.

Here’s two geranium collages. The TOP one was created using Windows Photo Gallery. To create a collage, you must have a minimum of 7 photos; PG warns you if you don’t have this minimum. Once 7 photos are selected, the program automatically creates the collage without showing a preview. You cannot alter the layout or delete any photos. Also, the photo integration is seamless and there’s no option to add grid spacing between photos.geraniums collage1This BOTTOM collage was created in Google Picasa, which does not require a minimum number of photos, but you do need a few for a collage. Unlike PG, you get a preview of the collage before it is created; you can delete or add photos, or rearrange them before finalizing the collage. Plus, you can choose to add grid spacing between the photos by selecting the desired colors or not (second collage below). (For comparison purposes, both collages were done using 7 photos.)
geraniums collage2geraniums collage3Which collage do you prefer – Photo Gallery or Picasa?
Besides the several flowering pots of geraniums, there’s still lots of other flowers blooming. It’s been a hot and humid summer here on the VA eastern shore and weather is most likely a factor.
fall collage
But, it’s not just flowers blooming, but vegetables as well as shown below: far left is a tomato, pepper in center, strawberry top right, and cucumber bottom right. veggie bloomsThere are some fall colors too. The Indian Blanket or Firewheel has been prolific in Grenville’s wildflower meadow with several color variations. This drought-tolerant native wildflower thrives in heat and blooms from mid-summer until frost. indian blanket collage
NO, Below these are not mini pumpkins, but Japanese Lanterns, also called Chinese Lantern, Ground Cherry, Husk Tomato, Winter Cherry and Jerusalem Cherry. This perennial originates from southeastern Europe and Japan.
japanese lantern collage

Speaking from personal experience,  it is invasive with its wide-spreading root system that sends up new shoots some distance from where it was originally .planted.  The plant has white flowers in early spring and these mature into the papery orange fruit covering which seems to be inflated, like festive balloons. The cherry seed in the center stays bright orange, even as the husks dry into intricate lace patterns. The seed pod on the right will eventually split open and disseminate its seed. CAUTION: The unripe berries and the leaves of these plants are poisonous.
 
Some flowers while beyond their prime, are still great photo subjects. Here’s 2 more collages; TOP one was created in Photo Gallery and BOTTOM one in Picasa using the same photos in each.dried flowers1dried flowers2
Flowers weren’t the only photo subjects available in the F&P gardens, there’s been many butterflies (another post) and bees. Check out the bee in the center photo – looks like it’s napping . . .
bees on flowers collage

8 comments:

Elaine said...

Beautiful flowers and collages! I do like the effect you get with Photo Gallery, especially on the second one with the seed pods. I wouldn't like not having control over the layout though, and I think that would be enough to discourage me from using it. I've still got a lot of flowers blooming too, but I think that's going to change fairly rapidly here as our fall weather marches in.

Anonymous said...

How delightful to see all this color and cheerfulness this a.m.
I would like having control over the collage. It's hard for me to choose a favorite from yours today. I love them all. Enjoy your day.

Unknown said...

Yes, autumn is still colorful.
Costas

Doris said...

Good Morning! What delightful photos! I like the gridless collage best but would not like the lack of control. Thanks for sharing your gardens!

MadSnapper said...

i like the photo gallery best. although i love the one with the white flowers, it is really pretty. i do my collage in picmonkey. it is free. did not know about the collage in photo gallery, i have it but have never used it. will look at it just for fun. i sue Photshop and picmonkey most of the time.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful flowers!
I do like both collages but I think I like Picasa best after all.

The flowers seems to have loved this summer, they have been prettier than ever and this year I'll most likely will get a chance to see an autumn aster that rarely gets a chance to flower here before the frost gets too tough. but vegetables have hated this summer, that's for sure :-)

Have a great day!
Christer.

DeniseinVA said...

You've still got a lot of lovely flowers left, they are all very pretty. I like the Google Picassa one. I don't do many collages but when I do I have a Paint Shop Pro XII. I use it for everything and have had similar programs for years. There may be better out there but I'm just comfortable with it. Loved all your photos. Such a lovely selection of colorful choices.

Connie said...

Beautiful flower collages! Even the ones past their prime look pretty collected into that collage like that. I hope you are having a nice week! :)