Like many of the discoveries on this flower photography journey, Cosmos were another pleasant surprise. With their “daisy-like flowers that sit atop long, slender stems”, I find them to be such happy looking flowers.
Learning a bit more background info on them, apparently Cosmos are a moderate re-seeder, which means that they drop plenty of seeds to bring the plants back year after year. Perhaps this is why I see them in the same gardens I frequent to photograph? However, I’ve learned that for Cosmos to reseed themselves, you have to leave the faded flowers in place long enough for seeds to form. So there you have it!!
Making their Summer Appearance
By my observations, Cosmos make their flowering appearance in gardens around mid-summer and continue blooming throughout the summer months. Reaching varying heights with their long stems, the flowers come in shades of dark and light pinks and whites, Their leaves are interesting too with their frilly texture. Those factors combined with my Velvet 56 art photography lens makes for lovely subject matter to photograph.
I’m particularly fond of the Cosmos flowers with combination colors. The white flower petals trimmed with magenta are so striking.
As in the photo to the left, they almost look like a painting. But it’s straight from the camera! I believe it’s their long stems allowing you to isolate the flowers to capture photos such as these
The one downside I did notice is that the nasty Japanese beetles tend to love Cosmos flower petals! They seem to be especially partial to this color combination.
Chomping through the pretty petals – leaving them in tatters, I’ve seen firsthand the damage this invasive beetle species can do to the flowers.
In the Morning Light….
They are really beautiful to photograph in the early morning sunlight. The flower petals have that translucent look to them that I love. Against a dark background, they appear somewhat surreal as if they were floating.
These side view images are by far some of my favorite shots to take of blooming Cosmos. This pink one against the summer sky was a lovely contrast of colors. The pink against the blue really makes the colors pop.
Being able to isolate a flower such as this to capture the moment was worth all the stumbling around in the gardens to get the right angle. It may look rather effortless in its final state, but there was way more to it!
No complaints though. I enjoy each opportunity Nature may offer. Thankfully these flowers were spared the voracious appetites of the nasty, invasive Japanese beetles that love to chomp on them.
Giving Bees Some Love and a Ladybug Too!
Cosmos attract birds, bees, and butterflies to gardens. And as always, I’d be remiss if I did not give bees some love in a blog post. I love it when I can capture a moment of them on any flower! In the photos below there are some busy bees focused on the task at hand – gathering pollen!
I LOVE ladybugs. And when they stay still long enough to capture a photo, it definitely makes my day. This little fella was seriously on patrol roaming up and down the flower stem. I almost missed him as he was cruising along these Cosmos buds 🙂