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~Hydrangea~


~Hydrangea~
Photo Information
Copyright: Tina Sieben (gypsygirl58) Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 568 W: 30 N: 674] (3156)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2007-01-03
Categories: Nature, Macro
Camera: Pentax K100D SLR, Sigma 18-50mm f/3.5-5.6 DC
Exposure: f/6.7, 1/45 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2007-01-05 17:54
Viewed: 397
Favorites: 1 [view]
Points: 18
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
I took this photo recently in my garden. It is of a Hydrangea I have that is in a large pot.

A bit about Hydrangeas:
Hydrangeas are a genus of roughly 70-75 species of flowering plants that are native to southern and eastern Asia (from Japan to China, the Himalaya and Indonesia) and they are also native to North and South America.

Hygrangeas can be either deciduous or evergreen, though the widely cultivated temperate species you find most often are all deciduous.

The hydrangea flowers are produced from early spring to late autumn and they grow in flowerheads (corymbs or panicles) at the ends of the plant stems. In many species, the flowerheads actually contain two types of flowers, one lot of small fertile flowers in the middle of the flowerhead, and also large sterile bract-like flowers that form a ring around the edge of each flowerhead. Still, other species have all the flowers the same size and they are all fertile.

What makes hydrangeas so appealing is obviously their long-blooming flowers which can often continue for weeks and even months. Another bonus with hydrangeas is that most types come into bloom in mid-summer - a time when after most other shrubs have finished their show. The reason for this is that they don't have petals. Their "flowers" are colorful showy sepals that are sterile. The flower heads of the big-leaved mophead or hortensia types (H. macrophylla) actually consist mostly of showy sepals with just a few small fertile flowers within. The sepals can not be pollinated and so they don't then go to seed - and that is what makes the shrubs' flower show go on for a long time.

Hydrangeas are very popular ornamental plants and they are grown for their large flowerheads. Hydrangea macrophylla is by far the most widely grown vairety with more than 600 named cultivars. Many of these cultivars have been selected to have only large sterile flowers in the flowerheads. They tend to be best pruned on an annual basis just about when the new leaf buds begin to appear. If not pruned regularly, then the the bush will become very 'leggy' and they will grow vertically until the weight of the stems is greater than their strength and the stems will then sag down to the ground and most liekly break. Still, some species only flower on 'old wood'. In these occaisions, new wood resulting from pruning will not produce flowers for you the following season.

I cropped the photo a bit from the original, altered the brightness levels a tad, sharpened it a tad, then finally framed it! Hope you like it!! Cheers Tina :-)
carmem_busko, puffy, jaja1970, kbeall has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To kbeall: Hydrangeagypsygirl58 1 01-19 20:27
To anducina: Hydrangeagypsygirl58 1 01-06 23:34
To jaja1970: Hydrangeagypsygirl58 1 01-06 23:33
To puffy: Hydrangeagypsygirl58 1 01-06 23:32
To aadilj: Hydrangeagypsygirl58 1 01-06 23:31
To pisces_t: Hydrangeagypsygirl58 1 01-06 23:29
To carmem_busko: Hydrangeagypsygirl58 1 01-05 19:50
To izmirli: Hydrangeagypsygirl58 1 01-05 19:21
To cincila: Hydrangeagypsygirl58 1 01-05 19:19
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Critiques [Translate]

Hi Tina,
what a beautiful flower! I like the colour contrast very much. Nicely cropped and the frame was also a good choice :)

Regards,
Jana

merhaba dear tina
beautiful macro.very good light and lovely colours.well done.
best regards.
gürkan akçakır.

Very nice artwork.
Thank you for sharing.
Cheers!
Carmem

Nice image and colours. I have them growing in my back garden, i posted a purple bunch a while ago. TFS

Tracey

Hi Tina. I like your use of colours and framing here. The pink stands out against the black very well. You've got a good POV and have focused nicely on the subject. Lovely macro. Regards anf tfs...aadil

  • Great 
  • puffy Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2015 W: 136 N: 3063] (16565)
  • [2007-01-06 4:40]
  • [+]

Very sweet and lovely shot Tina,

Excellent colouration, composition and lighting. Very well captured my dear, thanks for sharing,

Cheers,
Sweety

Hi Dear Tina,

Fantastic picture.
Very sharp focus and colors.
Congratulations,

Javad.

Nice compo, excellent colours. I like the pink-black combination.

TFS,

Andreea

Hello Tina,
A lovely capture and presentation of what became my favorite flower this summer, surpassing the lilac. A very informative note, as well.
Regards,
Karen

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