Flowers

Yellow Orchid

Golden yellow orchid blooms fill the frame at close range, their waxy, veined petals surrounding a small red and yellow lip at the heart of each flower, against a soft blur of green foliage and warm tones. Key Features: The Flower Form: Five broad, ruffled petals surround a compact lip, the showy, long-lasting bloom orchid breeders prize. The Color: Vivid golden petals set off a deep red-streaked lip at the center. The Detail: At this range the fine veins and waxy texture of each petal come through. The Setting: Warm, humid gardens and greenhouses are where tropical orchids like these flourish.

Fire Orchid

Fiery Cattleya orchid blooms face the camera head-on, each flared, trumpet-shaped lip opening to the pollen-bearing column at its throat, with soft green foliage blurred behind. Key Features: The Color: Orange-yellow petals shade into ruffled magenta-purple edges and a deep maroon-red throat, the fire-toned look prized in show hybrids. The Genus: Cattleya orchids grow wild across Central and South America, from sea level to the mountains. The Diversity: With more than 50 species and thousands of hybrids, growers can have Cattleyas in bloom nearly every month of the year. Their Standing: Cattleyas are often called the queen of orchids for their large, showy flowers.

1513 Pink Orchard

A single pink Phalaenopsis bloom fills the frame against a soft green blur, its broad veined petals opening around a white throat and a lip marked in deep magenta and orange, with a curled bud and stem at the lower edge. Key Features: The Flower: Phalaenopsis is a genus of about 45 species of mostly tree-dwelling orchids from India, southern China and Southeast Asia. The Common Name: Called moth orchids, they are popular house plants that bloom again and again with good care. In the Wild: They grow in the tropical and subtropical forests of Southeast Asia. The Bloom: Their petals come in solid colors and intricate spots, stripes and gradients, like the veined pink here.

1360 Leaf

A broad green leaf curves across the frame, seen from directly above, its long parallel veins and ribbed texture picked out by soft, diffused light as the foliage around it falls into a gentle blur. Key Features: The Form: A single wide, lance-shaped leaf with a wavy edge and pointed tip. The Veins: Strong parallel veins run from base to tip, the structure of many shade-loving garden perennials. The Setting: Layers of soft, out-of-focus leaves behind it speak of a densely planted, shady garden bed. The Technique: Shallow depth of field and close framing turn an ordinary leaf into a study of color, light and texture.

1358 Florida Palm

A single Florida palm frond fills the frame, its central rib and radiating blades sharp against soft, sunlit green blurring into the foliage behind. Key Features: The Frond: Overlapping blades fan out from a central rib, the feather-like leaf of many palms in Florida's subtropical landscape. The Setting: The soft green background is a dense planting of palms, a fixture of Florida in the wild and in gardens. The Light: Bright sun through the leaf lights up its parallel veins and gives the frond a glowing, translucent quality. The Composition: Shallow depth of field keeps only part of the frond sharp, turning a familiar plant into a study of line, curve and color.

1358 Palm Leaf

A palm frond's central rib runs diagonally through the frame, rows of slender green leaflets fanning out on either side and melting into soft streaks of yellow-green and emerald at the edges. Key Features: The Composition: A narrow band of sharp focus draws the eye to the frond's spine while the rest dissolves into color and light. The Subject: Palms grow across the tropics and subtropics, making this a study of form rather than place. The Technique: Close-up photography turns an ordinary leaf into an abstract pattern of lines and curves. The Light: Backlight through the leaflets gives the frond its vivid, almost translucent green glow.

1359 Holy Leaf

A single backlit Monstera leaf fills the frame, its deep green surface cut with irregular oval holes and split by a bright yellow midrib and branching veins, so close that only texture, light and pattern remain. Key Features: The Holes: The Monstera, or Swiss Cheese Plant, is known for the natural holes in its leaves, called fenestration. Why They Form: Botanists still debate why; one idea is that the holes help the leaves stand up to strong winds. Natural Habitat: Native to the rainforests of Central America, it climbs through the canopy, its open leaves letting dappled light reach the plants below. Backlit Detail: Glowing veins and translucent gaps turn a common houseplant into a study of light and organic form.

1361 Palm Leaf

Slender, curving palm leaflets radiate across the frame against a softly blurred green background, the yellow-green gradient along each vein in close detail. Key Features: Leaf Structure: A palm frond is a compound leaf, many narrow leaflets growing from a central rib, which makes the repeating diagonal lines here. Natural Pattern: The curve and parallel rhythm of the leaflets show the organic symmetry of tropical plants. Color and Light: Shifts between yellow and green come from each leaflet's age and the sun it gets. The Palm: Palms like this thrive in warm, humid climates along coasts and in the tropics worldwide.

1363 Sunshine

A single orange cosmos bloom glows in warm garden light, its eight ray petals fanned open around a dense, pincushion center of golden disc florets, the stems and foliage behind dissolving into a hazy wash of green and gold. Key Features: The Flower: Cosmos sulphureus, called Klondike or sulphur cosmos, a fast-growing annual of the daisy family with golden yellow or orange blooms. Growing Habit: A vigorous plant that can reach six feet, flowering from summer until the first frost. Garden Use: Loved for its heat tolerance and long bloom, it is a favorite in cutting gardens and borders, often reseeding itself year after year.

1367 White Orchids

A white Phalaenopsis moth orchid fills the frame among a cluster of similar blooms, its broad overlapping petals opening around a slender central column and a yellow, maroon-streaked lip, with soft white blossoms behind. Key Features: The Moth Orchid: A popular house plant that blooms once a year, its flowers lasting four months or more with good care. Native Range: Phalaenopsis grow wild from India and Southeast Asia through Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines to northern Australia. The Column: At the heart of the flower is the column, a short cylinder rising above the patterned lip. The Lip: Its bold yellow and maroon markings guide pollinating insects to the center.

1368 WHite Moth Orchids

A cascading spray of white moth orchids opens against a deep, shadowed background, fully open flowers beside buds still pale green and yellow, with delicate purple and gold markings deep in each throat. Key Features: The Flower: Phalaenopsis amabilis is known for its beauty and long-lasting flowers, which look like moths in flight. The Name: Phalaenopsis means moth-like. Native Range: India, Taiwan, China, Southeast Asia, New Guinea and Australia. Growth Habit: An evergreen orchid that grows on trees, it can carry twenty to thirty large, fragrant white flowers on a spray.

1369 White Moth Orchid

A cluster of white Phalaenopsis moth orchids glows against a solid black backdrop, the wide petals and sepals of several blooms around one sharply focused lip, where yellow and magenta markings surround the small orange anther cap. Key Features: The Genus: Phalaenopsis orchids grow on trees in the tropical and subtropical forests of Southeast Asia and northern Australia, and are grown commercially for their showy flowers. The Name: Their blooms look like moths in flight, which gave them their common name. A National Flower: Phalaenopsis amabilis is one of the national flowers of Indonesia.

1370 White Orchid

One fully open white moth orchid glows beside two unopened buds against a deep black background, its pale petals luminous around a yellow and magenta throat. Key Features: The Species: Phalaenopsis amabilis is known for its beauty and long-lasting flowers, which look like moths in flight. The Color: Moth orchids were once only white, pale pink, or white with a pink lip; breeders have since widened the range. Growing Conditions: They need bright, indirect light and humidity to thrive. The Composition: The dark backdrop and shallow focus draw every eye to the translucent petals and the buds waiting along the stem.

1364 Koi Pond

Orange and white koi swim just beneath the dark green surface of a secluded pond in a tropical garden, fed by a tiered rock waterfall and framed by towering palms, broadleaf trees and moss-covered boulders that mirror in the still water. Key Features: The Waterfall: Water spills over several mossy ledges into one still pool, a garden design that cools the pond and keeps it rich in oxygen. The Koi: Ornamental koi have been prized in garden ponds for centuries for their color and calm. The Setting: Dense palms, ferns and hardwoods make a lush, carefully tended tropical garden.

1350 Orchid Eyes

Miami-Dade County, Florida

Dense purple-black spots converge on the waxy, cream-colored column at the throat of a single orchid bloom, photographed at extreme close range in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Key Features: The Markings: Bold, leopard-like speckling across the petals is prized by orchid breeders for its high contrast. The Column: The smooth cream structure at the center is the orchid's column, a fused reproductive organ found only in orchids, carrying both pollen and stigma. The Setting: Miami-Dade's warm, humid climate has made it a center of American orchid growing, with major collections and seasonal shows. The Perspective: At this range a single bloom becomes a study of pattern and texture.

1352 Love Leaves

A single young leaf unfurls from a cluster of vivid red-pink foliage, sharply focused against a soft blur of surrounding leaves dissolving into shadow and color. Key Features: The Foliage: Red and pink leaves like these are prized as ornamental accents in warm-climate gardens. The Technique: Shallow depth of field isolates the emerging leaf tip, its ribbed texture and curling edge. The Color: The saturated red and magenta come from natural pigments in the leaf, heightened by close framing and selective light. The Title: New growth in such rich color reads as vitality, the love in its name.

1351 Leaf

A single curling leaf twists through the frame in black and white, its central rib and fine parallel veins fanning out in a sculptural play of light and shadow against a softly blurred background. Key Features: The Subject: A broad leaf with a strong midrib and fine, striated veins. The Technique: High-contrast black and white turns the vein pattern into an abstract design, almost like wood grain. The Composition: Tight framing makes texture and form the whole story.

Napa Valley CA

The sword-shaped leaves of a variegated euphorbia whorl out from a central rosette in a Napa Valley garden, their pale cream margins and yellow-green centers sharp against soft, blurred foliage and pale blossoms behind. Key Features: The Plant: Euphorbias, or spurges, are evergreen perennials, and variegated forms like this one bring cream and green foliage to a garden all year. The Detail: Each slender leaf carries a thick cream edge, and the tight spiral of the rosette draws the eye to the center. The Setting: Napa Valley's estates and gardens favor low-water ornamentals like this one alongside their vineyards.