Click on photo to see full version or larger version. The first is of a magnolia tree in my yard on January 31, 2015 before a snowstorm. The other snowy photos were taken on the Grinnell College campus the next day. The macro photos of flowers were taken with a cell phone while holding up to the lens a simple 10x loupe with LED lights. I was pleasantly surprised by the results. The flowers shown are Rudbeckia subtomentosa (sweet black-eyed Susan, three photos), Solidago (goldenrod), b Cosmos bipinnatus (Cosmos flower, native to Mexico), and Echinacea purpurea (purple coneflower).
The first two photos below are of Centaurea cyanus (blue cornflower or bachelor's button), then a Echinacea purpurea (purple coneflower), and Salvia azurea (blue sage). The monarch butterfly grew up on some Asclepias incarnata (swamp milkweed) I planted and is drying its wings on a cosmos flower. In the final photo, Azul the Cat is waking up from a nap.
