It was a beautiful evening in the garden!  The sun was shining, but slowly dipping behind the hill.  The flowers were glowing in the warm light.  I changed lenses many times in this place where the flowers were plentiful, but not totally accessible for macro photography.  This image was shot with the Lensbaby Velvet 56 at f/1.8.  I would have loved the background to be even more out of focus than it is, but still I’m happy with the softness of this image and the burst of color throughout.

I enjoy adding new plants to my garden.  About 10 years ago, I planted a Trumpet Vine and encouraged it to trail over a fence in my back yard.  The tube-like flowers attract hummingbirds.  The plant has always been full and green, but never developed any flowers.  About 2 weeks ago as I was puttering in the garden, I noticed a cluster of 4 flower buds!  These were the very first flowers after 10 years of waiting and hoping!  I was so excited!  The other night I went back out to the garden with plans to photograph the flowers.  To my dismay, 3 of them were gone and only one remained!  The deer must have been as excited to see the new flowers as I was!  Thankfully the one remaining flower was open and I had a chance to take a few photos.  If anyone has this plant in their garden, I would love some advice on how to encourage more flowers.  I read that the plant must mature before it blooms, so maybe this year was the start of great things to come!