Chicago Botanic Gardens (Sat 9/18/10 & Sun 9/19/10))

One of the perks of being in the Meet Up group I belong to is that our fearless leader is a professional photographer and is working on putting together a book of floral images with all of us being contributors to this group project. I think this is a great way to get my name and my work out there.

With that in mind, I grabbed my 60mm macro lens and decided to go back to the botanic gardens to work on putting together some viable submissions for this project. John and I set out really early on Saturday morning and after two hours of shooting under perfectly overcast skies, lightning bolts erupted and drew ever closer to where we were. Having a large very metal tripod in tow, the desire for safety overtook the passion for photography and we packed it in for the day. Which turned out to be a good thing because no sooner did we get in the car the clouds unleashed a deluge of rain.

Knowing that fall was fast upon us and the glorious colors of summer blossoms were rapidly waning, I decided to return the following day by myself to continue where I left off when I was rudely rained out of my mission!!

All in all I think I did some outstanding work - mission accomplished! For me the hardest part turned out to be not only taking the time to write down the common name and botanical name of the plants, but trying to find half of their labels in the first place!! Here are the fruits (or rather the flowers) of my labor...

Zinnia Elegans - Benary's Giant Red

Zinnia Elegans - Var Unk

Zinnia Elegans - Benary's Orange

Another Benary's Giant Red

Zinnia Elegans - Benary's Giant Purple

Not sure what these are - they were labeled Nemesia but I am pretty sure that is not correct.

Rosemary - Tuscan Blue

Red Stemmed Thalia - Thalia Geniculata

Red Flowered Pea Shrub - Caragana Rosea

Raspberry Wine Bee Balm - Monarda Didyma

Pitcher Sage - Salvia Azurea var Grandiflora

Semi-Cactus Dahlia - Pink Princess

Pink Hydrangea Late Pinacle - Pardiva Hydrangea Paniculata

Paper Flower - Bougainvilla 'Rosenka'

New England Aster

Sunsatia Raspberry Nemesia(?)

Morning Glory - Carnivale de Venezia Ipomoea Purpurea

Mongolian Aster - Asteromoea Mongolica

Japanese Anemone - 'Queen Charlotte"

Grasshopper on a Lambsear

Peek-a-boo!

Gallery Blue Lupine - 'lupinus polyphyllus'

Fuji Blue Balloon Flower - Platycodon grandiflora 'Fuji blue'

Fredheim Potentilla - 'potentia fruticosa Fredheim'

Florette Champagne Aster - callistephus Chinesis

Fireworks Gomphrena - Comphrena 'Fireworks'

Some kind of double Cosmos

Dancer Eggplant - solanum melongena var esculentum 'dancer'

Informal Decorative Dahlia - 'Cloudburst'

Same Dahlia, less close

Big Sky Sundown Coneflower - echinacea 'Evan Saul'

Autumn Colors Black-Eyed Susan - Rudbekia Hirta 'autumn colors'

Woods Blue Aster

Wild Oats

Three Leafed Lantana

Snapdragon??

Purple Water Canna

Pumpkin-On-A-Stick Eggplant

Orange Narrow Leafed Zinnia

New England Aster

Pink Turtlehead

Lions Tail

Florabunda Rose - 'Mardi Gras'

Florabunda Rose

Crown Daisy

Indigo Spires Salvia

Branched Bugbane?

Morning Glory - 'Flying Saucer' Ipomea Tricolor

Some kind of Coneflower

Some kind of Chrysanthemum

Autumn Colors Black-Eyed Susan

Anise Scented Sage