The wind dropped today and instead of an icy wind this afternoon was positively hot, I may even have sunburn! This afternoon I planted the Dahlias in between the rows of Narcissi; I watered them well and will now avidly await their shoots showing above ground.
The bright light has bleached the colours in the images which were taken at about 5pm this afternoon.
The usual view
The thyme growing next to the prostrate rosemary is beginning to flower
At the top of the slope Teucrium is still flowering
More Eschscholzia are brightening the scene too, they love the bright sun
The wild Irises are in bud, I’m sure by next week they will flower adding their strong vertical lines to the form of the slope
The Photinia hedge is now bright red with its new foliage
By the gate Euphorbia myrsinites is bright with yellow flowers which contrast with the still blue rosemary
What time do you usually photograph your garden? Early morning and very late afternoon are considered the best times but maybe you want the bright light of the middle of the day. Do you consciously try to capture different lights?
Creating my own garden of the Hesperides 
Things are coming around, aren’t they? The Eschscholzia looks particularily nice with the touches of blue provided by the Muscari.
It is always interesting to see how plants combine, I think the Muscari are usually finished by the time the Eschscholzia flower but with the colder weather the muscari have held on a little longer.
A garden photographer once arrived at 5-30 am to shoot my garden here. I find early morning before 8 or 9 am is good for clear shots in subtle light at this time of year. Middle of the day is hopeless especially if the sun is out.
I hope he’d warned you he was coming so early!
I’m excited to see the budding forms of your wild Irises. I found an open iris yesterday that I don’t remember ever blooming before. I think it came from a plant exchange a couple of years ago. I like to photograph in early morning.
While I was weeding the large island I found a miniature Iris fully open, I was almost on top of it before I noticed it, and I forgot to photograph it later when I was walking around the garden.
Very happy to see the poppies are arriving! Everything else looks so fresh and beautiful too.
There are even a few red European poppies just beginning Donica. I always think of you now when I see them.
I wish I could be methodical enough to pinpoint the best time of day. I think I like afternoon light best, but that is partly because I’m not much of a morning person.
I think I might have guessed that, although I have no idea why!
I usually try to avoid the midday sun (we are at a similar latitude to Crete so the midday summer sun bleaches everything). The muscari in my garden held on until earliest summer, so you may have another few weeks yet which will look stunning against the eschsholzia
The Muscai on the slope are fading fast Matt, in other parts of the garden and under the olives they last longer.
The fresh yellow-green of the Euphorbia is a lovely sight in spring. It looks good next to the darker rosemary foliage. I prefer morning or late afternoon/ evening light for photos in spring and summer when the sun can be so harsh, but it does depend very much on other factors like shade or cloud coverage too.
Your more northern light is also kinder to the effects of colour but I do find it fascinating how the time of day affects the mood of an image.
I do try to capture different light…early morning is my favorite and then midday sometimes but rarely later day which I should do more…glad the weather shifted Christina.
I probably take more images at dusk, I not really thinking about images at dawn which I should. Your light is very different to here and it works in the middle of the day for you but here the sun just bleaches everything.
I have to admit I try to get pictures when it’s overcast since I usually can’t plan for any early morning or late afternoon shots. On top of that I don’t have much in the way of camera smarts so it’s pretty much point and shoot for me. It’s always hit or miss, and I have to admit a little disappointing when the lighting is perfect but my pictures are not!
I love your stipa at this time of year and how it works as a sea of waving green accented with shrubs and pockets of poppies and other color. The photinia is adding so much color as well. Looks great!
I don’t think the Photinia has ever looked quite as good as it does this year. I have been editing the Stipa out of some of the beds; I did have it everywhere because it was so happy, but on the slope it is perfect at filling any gaps and the movement is wonderful.
It even looks warm in your photos! I grab photos when I can but, time permitting, I usually try to take care of most in the early morning hours (although I seldom manage to make my rounds during the so-called “magic hour” within one hour of sunrise). As the sun rises to the east of our house over the LA harbor (we’re on a peninsula in the bay so, although I’m on the west coast, our water view is to the east, not the west). Getting a good photo looking east toward the front of the house is almost impossible until noon or later – the sun is just too glaring.
I always think how warm it looks in your photos too, especially those that are with dappled shade, because you can see that even shade is bright with you as it is here in summer very unlike the deep shade you find in England. You live in a spectacular location.
Early morning gives the best light here, though late-ish afternoon in summer can be magical. Great to see those bright poppies, and the rosemary tumbling down the slope.
Ah! I remember you are an early riser, I should get up with the dawn sometimes too!
Lovely series of pictures of your garden. I was going to suggest an early visit with your camera but it seems many others have had the same idea. The orange and blues colours work so well together, it certainly looks like Summer.
Not summer Doris – spring! the slope is one of my favourite parts of the garden because it changes constantly.
Beautiful combination with the Euphorbia and rosemary! I will have to try some California poppies eventually – yours look so happy to just grow. I wanted to try the so-called Arizona poppy (Kallstroemia grandiflora) – of which we had a wonderful showing along the roadsides and arroyos last summer – but have learned they are very tempermental about germinating, taking as long as three years… Photography times? Any time! The sunlight is so intense here that I decided I had better just work along with it and accept the results. While this won’t win me any photography prizes, I’m pleased with being able to relax with it. As it happens, most of my garden pictures are taken late morning or early evening.
The photinia hedge is really striking – I have noticed it in various gardens recently as if for the first time. Because of the structures in the garden I have to be careful with shadows so pictures for EOMV for example might have to be made at different times of day. This last week I have found close ups more difficult because of the brightness of the sun.
I think sun is much more of a problem in photographs than open shade.
I think Judy usually likes to do it in the late afternoon.
the slope has really filled out Christina, I know you are talking about the colours which are nice but the textures are what grab my attention in your slope, the small flat leaves of the prostrate thyme with shafts of iris leaves piercing it and the more loose shrubby, spiky rosemary running along side, the contrast with the rosemary and euphorbia must be very striking too and the silky heads of soft (they look soft) grass, lovely, Frances
thanks Frances; you’ve just described the slope the way I see the whole garden so that makes me very happy.
🙂