Snow on Spring-type Flora - It Is Still Winter

In Greensboro we have been having yo-yo temperatures this winter.  Spring flowers had started blooming almost 2 weeks earlier than we are used to seeing.  Even some cherry blossoms and ornamental prune trees were in bloom.  However, on Monday, this week Old Man winter decided to dump 3 inches of snow.   This is not good for blossoms.  I could not find any good snow landscape images in the neighborhood, but did decide to take a few pictures of blossoms with snow until my iPhone died.   All the snow melted when temps were 47 on Tuesday.  The star magnolia and tulip magnolia blossoms were definitely "toast". Won't be too long until crab apple blossoms will be in bloom. 

Stinking Hellebores - Altered Watercolor App

Stinking Hellebores are different than the Lenton Rose Hellebores.  They bloom earlier in winter. Usually seen in woodlands for landscaping.  They got their common name because the plant can have a fetid smell.  All parts of the plant are poisonous.   The blossoms do not come in a variety of colors but have bellshaped chartreuse flowers.  The blossoms are at the top of the stalk and do not open up that much nor droop that much.  The foliage can be a light to darm green and have thin spoke type leaves.  I previous posted an image of just the foliage.  Then used an app to give a watercolor effect.  The image on the left is the original.  I did not use a tripod but would suggest you do because difficult to get really sharp image with hand holding, especially on a cloudy day.  The image on the right I tried to put a watercolor effect.   I forget which app as I was experimenting with lots of apps that give different effects as well as experimented  with PSE 15 filters.  

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2018 - Macro Shamrock blossoms

I bought a shamrock plant that was in bloom at the nursery. The image on the left is the original. These flowers are very small compared to the image--used a macro setting on my iPhone 6S.  For the background, I used a blue piece of cloth for contrast.   The flowers were in a pot and I used outdoor shade lighting. The image on the right was attempt for an abstract look using a PSE filter ? watercolor painting.  Compared to how long it would take to paint, I had this image in about 2 seconds.   It could be used for a greeting card or post card.  I posted on Facebook today for Happy St. Patrick's Day 2018. 

The greeting attached was:  "For each petal on the Shamrock, this brings a wish your way:  Good Health, Good Luck, and Happiness for today and every day".