Alternative sunflowers

Alternative sunflowers. 2020 has been a good year for sunflowers in my garden. Most of the ones I have grown have dwarf varieties, Little Leo and Teddy Bear. I could not get out to buy packets of tall sunflower seeds due to lockdown. Both varieties grow approximately three feet high. Little Leo is a classic sunflower with long yellow petals, just like the sun’s rays. Teddy bear has a pompom head. It works by starting the flowers as a fringe on the outside and working towards the centre to complete the pompom.

The weather also brought some great opportunities for photographing the sunflowers. one of my birthday presents was a lens ball. I decided to experiment with it and the sunflowers were the first subject. A lens ball is a glass sphere which can be used to capture images. The process of refraction turns the image upside down. You have to use software to correct that afterwards. Two images are attached. One showing the “Teddy bear” variety. The lens ball captures the second image. I hope you like the images of alternative sunflowers. This web page has more images of my sunflowers.

I do have some tall sunflowers, these are self-set ones!

Carpets of Yellow

Carpets of yellow

There were carpets of yellow at Warley Place Nature Reserve in Essex today. I have never seen so many daffodils in one place. It was amazing that there were several “fields” full of them as you walked round the nature reserve. We have not been to this place before and only realized what there was to see there from a Facebook post by a friend in the Team Essex Photography Group. Wendy saw a Woodpecker as well, but we were not that lucky.

  • carpets of yellow
  • Profusion of yellow
  • Daffodil slopes
  • Daffodil corner

You will have to be quick to see the carpets of yellow, as the daffodils will finish soon.

I image that the country park has bluebells too. I can’t wait to re-visit at the appropriate time and see them. BUT, given the government’s announcement today I wonder if that will be in 2020?

Warley Place Nature Reserve is run by Essex Wildlife Trust, it is open every day during daylight hours. This 25 acre reserve is the site of a house and once famous Edwardian gardens belonging to Ellen Willmott. Click here to link to the Warley Place Nature Reserve website

See more of our images by visiting our website www.compassphotography.co.uk