New Old Town Captures

I love my town. There’s just so much to see here. As one of my friends often says, “It’s aesthetically pleasing.”

And since I’m all about aesthetics, isn’t that reason enough to love living here?

Did you see my post featuring flower pictures captured after the rain? The Blushing Rose shot was a favorite. It was captured four days before this next image…

Again, I just happened to have my camera along when I went out to lunch yesterday. I absolutely love the colors in that flower. A good reason to always have the camera handy, right?

As an aside, if you want to see the detail in these images, click on the pic and a larger version of the image will fill your screen. Keep that in mind. You just might want to use that feature soon.

Most of my walks around town are dog-walks. My girls need and thoroughly enjoy their daily exercise. I always have my iPhone along, which does take pretty decent snapshots. But it’s an all-purpose kind of camera, so you can’t capture varying shades of light, especially in low-light situations, or manipulate the focus and depth of field. Which is why, when I see especially compelling stuff, I make a mental note to return with the real camera.

The other day, I’d noticed that the peonies by the Old Jail Museum were blooming. The rich, dark color really caught my eye.

In the early evening light, they’d appeared to be purple. Midday light showed their true colors… my favorite hot-pink.

I couldn’t decide which angle I liked better, so you get to see two different views.

As I was staring at the peonies, looking for the best angle to shoot from, a woman who was walking past commented about how pretty the flowers were. I had to chuckle when she said, “Did you see the brown Iris in front of the old building down the street?”

Why did I have to chuckle? Because yes, I had seen them. In fact, that was to be my next stop.

This building has been around for a long time, and has served various purposes. It started out as a residence. I’m guessing these Iris have been there for a while. Flower colors, like paint colors, upholstery colors, etc., come in and go out of fashion over time. I don’t remember ever having seen Iris in this odd brown/maroon color. That’s why I think they are old.

I captured the building shot with my phone especially for you. The lens I was using on my other camera had a pretty narrow focus, so rather than walking down the street to get far enough away to capture the building, I took the lazy route and decided to snag a phone image later.

Those are some very cool Iris. The colors are really very interesting. Which, by the way, is why I couldn’t decide, again, which angle I liked best. So you get to see several shots.

 

 

See what I mean? Those are some very pretty and unique Iris. Size-wise, they were the same as all the other Iris I’m used to seeing. But, beside the porch, was a patch of smaller, daffodil-sized versions with the same color pattern.

I definitely don’t remember having seen flowers like those before.

While I’m on the subject of unique flowers, here is another example that caught my eye during a dog walk. The funny thing is, I remembered the flower clearly, but not it’s location. So it took me a few minutes to locate them again.

Whether they are Petunias or Torenias, I haven’t a clue. But they are annual plants, which means I just might be able to find them at a local garden center.

If any of you local folk know where to buy these, let me know, okay? I think they’re awesome. And it’s time to replace my potted Pansies.

In case you’re wondering where you can see these cuties, they are in the flower bed in front and on the right-hand side of the Warren Green Building. If you go to see them for yourself, you absolutely must check out the lovely little flower garden between the Warren Green Building and the new courthouse. Kudos to whoever decided to plant that lovely little spot, which is where the following images were captured.

 

 

There’s probably a story behind that statue, but I don’t know it.

Seeing those Rhododendron shots reminds me… last night, during the dog-walk, I saw the prettiest, reddest Rhododendron I’ve ever seen before. Maybe I’ll get a chance to capture a shot or two of that to share with you. Before the blooms fade.

Now can you understand why I so enjoy my strolls around Old Town Warrenton?