Greetings all. I have been enjoyed some wonderful sunny weather after a long Winter and rainy Spring. I am past most of the major stressors that I have been going through and can get back to my gardening (vegetables. flowers, etc). With that comes time for photography. I have mentioned I was experimenting with Macro-photography. I have had a macro lens but had not taken the time to try it or find out what it could do for me. I have had the opportunity to see some of my followers work using a macro lens and have been impressed.

I did not have time this year to start all my flowers from seed in my greenhouse so went to a local greenhouse to bring home some starter plants. This first photo is a Petunia variety I had never seen before. Judging from this one I cannot wait until they are all in full bloom:

Next up is a tray of Sweet Alyssum that I will move to a large pot hopefully today:

I also picked up some Coleus for potting and growing outside, as well as having one as a houseplant. I forgot how lovely these can be:

I was able to capture this tulip before it went past it's prime:

This next was my first try at using the macro lens...I love dandelions they are a very misunderstood plant. First the leaves are highly nutritious, they are one of the first flowers in bloom for the first bees that come out early in the Spring, they are really beautiful, and finally I use dandelion in a migraine headache remedy that I have made for years (we use it for most headaches):

Here is a nice capture of one of my Siberian Irises. They are earlier than other Irises, and they only get to a heighth of around 6 to 8 inches (15.24 to 20.32 centimeters). I started with one root and have been dividing and spreading it throughout my flower garden to add color before some of my other plants bloom.

Then to close out my macro photos I could not pass up this Viola. They seem to grow everywhere, even in my pasture. I have never planted them. They just showed up when I first bought my house and when I started working on my flower garden:

I was quite excited when I saw my first results of using my macro lens. Now it will be a big part of my photography of flowers.

I hope you enjoyed these photographs and my first attempt of using this lens.

Nameste