Lemon Yellow

With us since ancient times

MichaelStephenWills

Enjoyed since ancient times throughout the Middle East and China, our European roses were cultivated from Chinese introduced in the late 18th Century. One evening this June, unusually quiet with no breeze, Pam asked me to photograph this tall shrub in full bloom. These are protected from grazing deer by a stout fence, six feet tall.

ISO 800, 1/40 sec at f/16

At first it appears the blooms are a mix of colors from lemon yellow to cream.

ISO 800, 1/40 sec at f / 16

The variation is an indication of each bloom’s age since opening. At first each opens to a lemon yellow. Here is a combination of opening and tightly closed bud. Throughout this set I used the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV dslr with the EF 50 mm f/1.2L USM stabilized with a Manfrotto 468MG tripod with Hydrostatic Ball Head. The stabilization allowed me to present the following comparison, at right the very fast 50 mm lens allows the opening bud to be highlighted. Left side, the lens diaphragm is somewhat closed and the opening bud, tightly closed and leaves are all seen. The pinnate, serrated leaves have one terminal lobe and two lateral for a set of three. There are fewer thorns than some, but sharp enough to be careful.

ISO 800, 1/30 sec at f / 16
ISO 800, 1/1000 sec at f / 2.8 diaphragm “wide open”

Flowers bloom throughout the late spring, summer and fall. Pam stops fertilizing in late summer to allow the plant to harden for our Zone 4b winters. Here you can see the plentiful flower buds, compare the opening to mature flower colors.

ISO 800, 1/60 sec at f / 16
ISO 800, 1/100 sec at f / 13
ISO 800, 1/80 sec at f / 13
ISO 800, 1/60 sec at f / 16

References

“The Botanical Garden” Vol 1, Roger Phillips and Martyn Rix, Firefly Books, Buffalo, N.Y. 2002 pp 228 – 233

Copyright 2022 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

21 thoughts on “Lemon Yellow”

  1. Beautiful photographs Michael and interesting background information. My greetings from Spain,
    FYI
    FBC.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Lemon yellow may be my favorite yellow, and this rose is glorious. Color changes are interesting; I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a yellow-to-white transformation.

    Liked by 1 person

  7. I do believe, Michael, you really have to love gardening to have roses. Yours look lovely.
    I had to smile when you mentioned the deer. In oz the kangas are the closest ‘wild’ creature roaming about. It is lovely to see them – and, they don’t try to eat the garden!

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      1. Oh yes, rabbits are in abundance year round. They were originally brought over from the UK as pets. They were released and now – well, they made themselves quite at home!

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  9. Pingback: Lemon Yellow — Michael Stephen Wills Photography – ° BLOG ° Gabriele Romano

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