Badlands Trail – Badlands National Park

Badlands Trail © 2010 Bo Mackison

First stop — Badlands National Park in South Dakota.

An all day drive from Madison, if you start at 4 a.m. We did — leave at 4 a.m., that is –and so we arrived with enough light to set up camp before catching a dozen shots of the park dressed in the light of the setting sun.

In the morning we explored several trails, including this one across from the Visitor’s Center which led up the the peaks of those jagged formations. They were crumbly, slippery, and high. Hint: I did not climb all the way to the top this year. After all, it was only the second day out, and I wanted to stay in good condition for the next destinations.

My new camera is proving to be great, when I can remember the many settings, all of which are in different places than my Olympus. I only practiced with it for a couple of weeks before we left for the trip, and I am painfully aware that I don’t know the new camera as well as I knew my old one. I hope by the end of this trip, I’ll have learned this ins and outs of this camera.

‘Queen Charlotte’ Anemone

Queen, Center Stage © 2010 Bo Mackison

This simple purple flower, a Japanese anemone, is formally known as ‘Queen Charlotte’. I was attracted to this particular flower because two of the yellow stamens have bent towards the center of the flower. With a little imagination, I can see a little butterfly kiss. This flower is also called a windflower.

Photographed at Allen Centennial Gardens on the University of Wisconsin campus in Madison.

Dewy Geranium

Dewy Geranium © 2010 Bo Mackison

There aren’t a lot of flowers in my perennial garden in the backyard. When I went garden strolling early this morning, there were a few spikes of lavender, some raggedy purple coneflowers, quite wabi-sabi, and several geraniums that were soaked in dew, but the dew couldn’t hide those brilliant purple geranium colors.

Starry, Starry Night – Sweet Autumn Clematis

Tiny White Blossoms at Allen Centennial Gardens in Madison, Wisconsin

Starry, Starry Night © 2010 Bo Mackison

These tiny blossoms of the Sweet Autumn Clematis remind me of masses of flowery constellations. This late flowering vine has thousands of tiny star shaped flowers and blooms from the end of August to October.

It is delightfully fragrant and is twined about the gates to the Allen Centennial Gardens, making the entrance especially attractive when so few flowers are now in their prime.

Last Summer Rose in Allen Centennial Garden

Last Summer Rose © 2010 Bo Mackison

I’ve been making almost daily trips to the gardens this summer.

Over the past five months, there have always been roses to greet me when I entered the Allen Centennial Gardens. They bloomed early this year, the first rose buds opening in the early days of May. And now, as we approach the last days of September, most of the roses have bloomed.

All, except for this one last pink rose, sheltered near the garden trellis. It was just beginning to open when I was there a few days ago. I do believe it will be my last rose of this summer.