A close look at mountain pink flowers and buds
So let’s make it three in a row for mountain pink, Zeltnera beyrichii, with a closeup showing its dense flowers and buds. Everything you see here makes up just a portion of the dome of a single plant. Now that’s what I call prolific.
This June 15th photograph comes from a property at FM 1431 and Brahma Ln. on the west side of the town of Lago Vista (which was someone’s misguided attempt to say Lake View in Spanish).
© 2014 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
Prolific and then some. Nice frame filler of this pink profusion, Steve.
Steve Gingold
July 29, 2014 at 6:15 AM
So S.S. (me) has a nice f.f. (frame filler) with this p.p. (pink profusion). T.T. (thoughtful thanks).
Steve Schwartzman
July 29, 2014 at 8:11 AM
Heh heh. 🙂
Shannon
July 31, 2014 at 7:41 AM
Which would be h.h.
Steve Schwartzman
July 31, 2014 at 7:57 AM
❤Gorgeous
kismet
July 29, 2014 at 6:19 AM
It’s one of our great wildflowers, that’s for sure.
Steve Schwartzman
July 29, 2014 at 8:11 AM
I’m often amused by your placement of your name, but this is the best yet. However did you get those flowers to leave a little space for you?
Once again, the macro lens is quite an aid to the eye. Both the flowers and buds look different here than I would have expected. The image of an individual pink I hold in my mind, and what you’ve shown, aren’t the same. The next time I see some, I need to take a better look.
The buds remind me that last week, after our substantial rain, we had a profusion of rain lilies. We had mushrooms that emerged at the same time — a kind of botanical beauty and the beast.
shoreacres
July 29, 2014 at 7:19 AM
Whenever possible (assuming I notice it) I avoid “blank” areas that distract from an otherwise filled frame. Subjects aren’t always so obliging, but then I can use those spaces for my name in the versions of the pictures posted here.
I’m especially fond of the mixture of these flowers and their bullet-like buds. Eventually all the buds open and the entire dome is floral, which gives a different look. Do check more closely the next chance you get, though the earliest that’s likely to be is next June.
The rain brought out some rain-lilies here last week too, and I went out on the 21st to photograph some of them. For whatever reason, I haven’t seen a parallel surge of beasts, i.e. mushrooms.
Steve Schwartzman
July 29, 2014 at 9:07 AM
This is so evenly lit that I cannot tell whether you used flash-fill or natural light? So, which is it? D
DAS
July 29, 2014 at 7:33 AM
There was plenty of sunlight but I added flash so I could stop down to f/25 to get everything in focus. That’s not easy with mountain pink flowers viewed this closely, as I’ve learned from experience.
Steve Schwartzman
July 29, 2014 at 12:59 PM
Beautiful! One plant is a bouquet! 🙂
myfoodandflowers
July 29, 2014 at 7:33 AM
That’s an excellent way to put it: you may have noticed from the previous post that each plant has roughly the shape of a broad ice cream cone, which is to say the shape of a bouquet.
Steve Schwartzman
July 29, 2014 at 1:00 PM
I have some Silene armeria ( Electra Sweet William Catchfly ) in my garden, also many small flowers in one plant. Kind of similar with your mountain pink.
myfoodandflowers
July 29, 2014 at 2:32 PM
I looked that up and I see what you mean about its dense little flowers. There’s a Silene species that’s native in central Texas but it has nondescript flowers and therefore is little known to the general public and I think even to some native plant people.
Steve Schwartzman
July 29, 2014 at 3:28 PM
Oh, it will be nice to plant some but I haven’t seen seed pack sold here in Canada.
myfoodandflowers
July 29, 2014 at 5:34 PM
Beautifully captured – I had to go back and look at previous photos to see how small this plant actually is.
Heyjude
July 29, 2014 at 8:01 AM
You’re right: even a broad mountain pink flower dome is rarely one foot across, and often much smaller. I think you’ll agree that what the individual flowers lack in size they make up for in density.
Steve Schwartzman
July 29, 2014 at 1:03 PM
This view of the pinks reminds me of the little crocuses that will soon reappear in my garden.
Gallivanta
July 29, 2014 at 8:07 AM
Several commenters have mentioned crocuses (does anybody say croci?) here over the past year, from which I gather that they’re favorites of gardeners.
Steve Schwartzman
July 29, 2014 at 1:07 PM
Is one supposed to say croci? I couldn’t decide.
Gallivanta
July 29, 2014 at 7:26 PM
I looked in a dictionary and found both plurals listed, but my intuition is that most people say crocuses.
Steve Schwartzman
July 29, 2014 at 8:13 PM
Yes, most people do seem to say crocuses.
Gallivanta
July 29, 2014 at 8:27 PM
Cactus also has a double plural. I just did a Google search and got 738,000 hits for cactuses but 2,940,000 hits for cacti.
Steve Schwartzman
July 29, 2014 at 8:44 PM
I am definitely with the cacti group.
Gallivanta
July 29, 2014 at 8:48 PM
I have never seen such an abundance and dense display of flowers! Is absolutely stunning, breathtaking image! The intensity of color is sublime and very energizing to look at!
marksshoesbyevamarks
July 30, 2014 at 6:14 PM
Yes, densely flowering mountain pinks are splendid, and I look forward each June and July to get another chance to photograph them. You should plan a trip one year to central Texas to see them in person and be even more energized than over the Internet.
Steve Schwartzman
July 30, 2014 at 7:04 PM
[…] the years I’ve often I’ve used a small aperture and aimed more directly into a bunch of dense mountain pink flowers and buds to create a “more is more” sort of picture that plays up all the complexity of the […]
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