We continue to post sunflower images from Dix Park in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Here are images of sunflowers, adding a nice contrast against a blue sky and faint clouds.
Eaten Nectar in a Circular Formation
A Single Sunflower Against a Blue Sky
Sunflower fields at Dix Park in Raleigh are pretty. A white fence in the background adds to this image.
Apart from pollinators, sunflowers attract beneficial insects like ladybugs and lacewings, which help control pest populations in gardens and agricultural fields. The tall stalks and dense foliage of sunflowers offer shelter to birds.
Sunflowers on a Field
Apart from a single sunflower, a bunch of these makes the image more striking. A group of flowers is called a “bouquet”. However, botanically speaking, it is called an “inflorescence”. An inflorescence is a collection or aggregation of flowers on an individual plant. Inflorescences often function to enhance reproduction.
Bunch of Sunflowers
Here is an upside-down sunflower. Insufficient water can cause sunflowers to wilt and droop their heads and the wrong amount of moisture can cause several problems. Conversely, overwatering can also lead to drooping due to root suffocation or nutrient imbalance.
Inverted Sunflower
The back of a sunflower is interesting. The stem is the long, narrow part and is referred to as a peduncle for composite (although it looks like a single flower, a composite flower is made up of many smaller flowers, sometimes called florets) flowers. The green, hairy structures that resemble leaves are called phyllaries.
Back of a Sunflower
Sunflowers Facing the Sun
The reproductive phase of a sunflower begins in June and ends in July or August, and the blooming phase lasts around 20 days. You can tell the seeds are ripening when the back of the sunflower head turns yellow. The bud may initially have a star-like appearance, but once the reproductive phase is complete, you’ll see your bud transform into the tall-stemmed, yellow-bloomed plant you know so well.
Sunflower Yet to Bloom
Sunflower Waiting to Bloom
Sunflower Almost Ready to Bloom
Dorothea Dix Park, a 308-acre property acquired by the City of Raleigh in 2015, is the largest city park in the City of Oaks. The site blends historic architecture and rich landscapes on the edge of downtown Raleigh. Named for Dorothea Lynde Dix, an American activist on behalf of people with mental illness, the site spent 150 years as Dorothea Dix Hospital and more recently has been home to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
Here is an image of sunflowers facing the beautiful North Carolina sky and clouds.
Sunflowers Facing the Sky
When we were in Raleigh in July, we got the opportunity to visit a sunflower field. will be posting images from there.
First planted by the City of Raleigh’s public utilities department in 2010, a beautiful five-acre batch of sunflowers blooms yearly in July at Dorothea Dix Park, where approximately 100,000 seeds were planted in early May. The sunflowers serve a purpose beyond just acting as a photography hot-spot—for a number of years the City of Raleigh would harvest the sunflowers to create thousands of gallons of biodiesel, which was then processed into fuel to run tractors, trailers and farm equipment. Now the flowers are left to be excellent pollinators for birds and other wildlife.
Dix Park Sunflowers
Field of Sunflowers
Sunflowers on a Field
Crinum lilies are tender perennial bulbs in the Amaryllis family. Lily-like flowers (to 4” wide and long) bloom in clusters in summer atop leafless scapes (to 3-4’ tall) above a clump of strap-shaped green leaves. Flower colors in whites, pinks, and reds.
‘Ellen Bosanquet’ is an old but very popular hybrid whose parentage was never revealed. It was hybridized by Louis Bosanquet in Florida in the period of 1915-1920 and was named after his wife. Bell-shaped, wine red (rose-purple to red-purple) flowers are noted for having a spicy fragrance. Flower scapes typically rise to 3’ tall.
Crinum -Ellen Bosanquet-
In the United States, the Magnolia tree symbolizes luck and stability. It’s a staple in Southern gardens and delights people with its flowers in the early to mid-spring. In the east, the white blooms of the magnolia represent nobility and purity, while many of its parts are used in traditional folk medicine.
Southern magnolia, is a large, broadleaf evergreen tree that is noted for its attractive glossy dark green leaves and its large, extremely fragrant flowers. It is native to the bottomlands and moist wooded areas in the central and southeastern coastal plains from North Carolina to Florida and Texas.
Magnolia Bud
Bloomed Magnolia
These small buds bloom into vibrant colored flowers of yellow, magenta, red, or orange, and then eventually the bloom gives way to the prickly pear fruit, also known as a tuna. Prickly pear cacti are predominately known for their edible pads and fruit, but the buds have remained relatively unknown as a consumable item.
Prickly Pear Buds
Hibiscus is a large genus of flowering plants in the Malvaceae or mallow family. The Malvaceae family includes many plants grown for their ornamental flowers and vegetable and fiber plants, such as okra and cotton. Perennial and annual hibiscus and other closely related members of the mallow family are grown as ornamentals in South Carolina.
Hibiscus
Hydrangeas, one of the most beloved landscape plants, are revered for their large dramatic blooms that add long-lasting color to the garden in summer and fall. These romantic shrubs come in many white flowering varieties, adding timeless beauty to any yard. The color white complements most other hues, helping to cool down the landscape during the heat of summer.
White Hydrangeas
White Hydrangea Closeup
While we saw and captured bonsai images, we walked around the gardens and took photos.
The Sarah P. Duke Gardens consist of approximately 55 acres of landscaped and wooded areas at Duke University located in Durham, North Carolina. There are 5 miles of allées, walks, and pathways throughout the gardens.
Here an image of a yellow lily in a small pond.
Yellow Lily at the Garden
We end our series on bonsai with Bougainvillea Bonsai.
The Bougainvillea is an evergreen shrub, little tree, or thorny vine with little trumpet-shaped flowers that grow in clusters of three and come with three pretty bright papery bracts, most often magenta or purple colored.
Bougainvillea Bonsai
The desert rose bonsai (Adenium obesum) is known for its bright, colorful blooms in the springtime. They do have dark green glossy leaves and do look very good when not in bloom.
Adenium Obesum Bonsai
We end the series of images from J C Raulston Arboretum, Raleigh, North Carolina with a photo of Pink Crinum Lily. This vigorous hybrid Crinum lily is perennial, blooming in summer with large, fragrant lily shaped flowers.
Pink Crinum Lily
Calibrachoa are also called million bells or trailing petunia because of their prolific, bell-shaped flowers and their resemblance to petunias. Flowers come in a wide variety of colors and often have more than one color to them.
Flower Color Combination
Phlox is a genus of 68 species of perennial and annual plants in the family Polemoniaceae. They are found mostly in North America in diverse habitats from alpine tundra to open woodland and prairie. Some flower in spring, others in summer and fall. Flowers may be pale blue, violet, pink, bright red, or white.
Phlox
Red hot pokers(Kniphofia) are herbaceous perennials. They are also commonly known as torch lilies, and though they do share some characteristics they are not true lilies (i.e., they are not members of the Liliaceae family). Being rhizomatous, red hot pokers can be aggressive growers in favorable conditions; they are even considered invasive in some areas. They are attractive to hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies but, fortunately, not to deer.
Red Hot Poker