Photo of the Week – February 14, 2013

It’s a tough time of year to be a wildflower photographer.  The first spring flowers are still months away, and fall flowers are a distant memory.  What’s a guy to do?  Gotta make the best of things, I guess.

Here’s a shot from a few weeks ago when we still had snow on the ground.

A frosty rosinweed seedhead in winter prairie.

A frosty rosinweed seed head in winter prairie.  Aurora, Nebraska.

Many wildflowers lose the majority of their flower parts as winter sets in, making them relatively uninteresting to photograph.  Rosinweed (Silphium integrifolium) is an exception; while this one has lost its seeds, it has retained much of its characteristic shape, making it easy to identify and fun to photograph.

The frost doesn’t hurt either.

Photo of the Week – October 12, 2012

It’s been a windy week, but there was a lull for a few hours yesterday morning.  I took advantage of some early morning light and took my camera for a walk in a local prairie.  There was a lot of red and gold color in the grasses and wildflowers, but I was really drawn to the white fluffy seeds of milkweeds and false boneset that were catching the warm sunlight.

A few remaining false boneset (Brickellia eupatorioides) seeds barely hang on to the flower head. Restored prairie at The Leadership Center in Aurora, Nebraska.

I have some more photos to share next week, but this seemed an appropriate one to end a week of blustery fall weather.  Have a great weekend.

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