Some Of Our Garden

The other day,, actually, the day before Christmas, I went around and shot several photos of flowers in our yard. I had been waiting for inspiration to hit to come up with an idea for a Christmas card. Finally, I thought of using our pink Poinsettias somehow.

So, I shot the pink Poinsettia tree below for starters, then decided to take a closer shot of one of the nicer pink bits.

Pink Poinsettia Tree

 Which is what you see below. Then I got the idea of trying to remove the background from the flower. I wasn't sure at all how that would go, especially since I hadn't used Photoshop to any great extent before.

The One I Picked

I got lucky with Photoshop and even managed to add in a radial gray tone behind it which really seemed to class it up some.

After PhotoShoping

 As a final touch, I added in the lettering on a curve. I almost always have problems doing this. This time, however, it turned out fine. And there we had a Christmas card.

Finally, Our Christmas Card

Here's the shots of several of the flowers from our yard. We have a pink poinsettia tree (about eight feet tall), and then, right next to it is a red poinsettia tree, about the same height.

The Red Poinsettia Tree

We have several hibiscus bushes all around the yard, which produce myriad flowers, all gorgeous.

Hibiscus Flower

More Hibiscus Flowers

 We've got Bougainvillaea all along the fence line. Bougainvillaea also feature long, stiff, and very sharp spikes, which make them idea as a perimeter planting. Sort of a grown-in security plant, and flowering as a bonus.

Some Other Bougainvillaea Flowers

 We've got some species of vinca (thanks Emily).

White Vinca

Purple Vinca

Purple Vinca With Raindrops

 And more Hibiscus.

Nice White Hibiscus

Yet More White Hibiscus

And some yellow ones, that Dianna thinks may be hibiscus, but she wasn't sure. I have no idea. I just like 'em. Gunnar commented and corrected us. It's an Allamanda.

Allamanda or Yellow Bell (Thanks to Gunnar)

And several bushes of Firecrackers. BTW, doves love to roost and nest under them. Why they like to be so near the ground is beyond me. They're not the brightest birds in the area.

Red Firecrackers Look Like Ladyfingers

 And we have some mystery flowers that kind of look like miniature hydrangeas. Gunnar says they're a Penta.

Penta (Also thanks to Gunnar)

 And lastly, some beautiful red celosia (thanks again, Emily) flowers. We're not sure what their actual name is either.

Celosia or Cockscomb (thanks Gunnar)

Closeup Celosia

There's more here, but that's all I shot this time. I'll take some others later on and share those with you as well.