NATURE'S COLOR PALETTE

Kopia – Essence.jpg

Today will be colorful. 😁 I have prepared a collection of flowers that bloom in spring. Some of these photos were taken in a botanical garden, while others were simply captured somewhere along the way. All these pictures I took last year.
Spring is one of the most interesting times of the year for nature photography. Everything slowly starts to wake up after winter and colors begin to appear almost everywhere. So I invite you to take a look at this colorfull flower's palette.

First today we will take a look at PHLOMIS FRUTICOSA. It is an ornamental plant from the mint family. Its natural habitat is mainly the Mediterranean basin. It grows, among other places, in Greece, Turkey and southern Italy. I personally came across it in a parking lot in France. So these plants can be found not only in botanical gardens, but they often grow simply in the wild. It can be found on dry, sunny slopes and also in places with rather poor soil, because this plant is very resistant to drought and tolerates difficult conditions very well.

A characteristic feature of PHLOMIS FRUTICOSA are its yellow flowers arranged in whorls around the stem. They form rings, which makes the plant look quite decorative. It usually blooms in late spring or at the beginning of summer and these flowers are very eagerly visited by bees and other pollinating insects, which I can personally confirm, because there were indeed many bees flying around these bushes.

The next flower I prepared for today is AZALEA. Azalea is an ornamental shrub belonging to the RHODODENDRON family. Azaleas mainly originate from East Asia, especially from China, Japan and Korea, but it also happens that some species can be found in North America as well as in Europe.

It is a plant that very often appears in botanical gardens because of its very decorative character. The flowers look really impressive and can have different colors such as white, pink, red and so on. I personally managed to photograph an orange specimen. Azaleas usually bloom from April to June. They are of course a very good source of nectar for bees, bumblebees and other pollinating insects.

Now we move on to OSTEOSPERMUM, which is an ornamental plant belonging to the Asteraceae family, the same family that also includes daisies, sunflowers and marguerites. In appearance it is very similar to them, which is why it is often called the African daisy.

OSTEOSPERMUM grows in a warm and sunny climate. It tolerates high temperatures and periods of drought very well. In many countries it is mainly cultivated as an ornamental plant. It can be found in places such as gardens, parks, as well as near houses, in gardens, on balconies and terraces.

I personally encountered these flowers in two different places. The orange flower was photographed in Cyprus, while the purple one was taken in France. In general, OSTEOSPERMUM can occur in many different colors besides those you see in my photos. The flowers can also be white, pink or yellow.

The center of the flower usually has an intense, dark and contrasting color, which makes the plant look very decorative and visually striking. OSTEOSPERMUM can bloom until late summer, and if the conditions are favorable, even until autumn. Because of its ornamental character, it is very often used to create colorful flower beds and decorative floral compositions.

And finally I present to you PRUNUS CERASIFERA. That is, it is most likely this tree, although unfortunately I do not have one hundred percent certainty. I came across this tree last spring during a walk and took a few shots as the first signs of spring. These trees bloom very early, often already in March or even at the beginning of April, before the leaves appear. That is why they are one of the first signals of the coming spring and also one of the first sources of nectar and pollen for pollinating insects.

The species of this tree originates from Western Asia and the Caucasus region, but it has long also been planted in Europe as an ornamental tree and today it can be found practically everywhere, including in parks, along roads, in gardens or in residential areas. When the tree finishes blooming, it produces small fruits resembling plums in yellow, red or dark purple color. They are edible, although they have a slightly sour taste.

PRUNUS CERASIFERA is a tree very resistant to pollution, drought and difficult urban conditions, which is why it copes so well in roadside environments, parking areas and residential neighborhoods.