America’s Roadside Bloomery

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I had a thought after I posted this image of Black Eyed Susans (and other flowers) taken yesterday on a Floyd County roadside. Here it is:It would be neat for contributors from all over the country to offer their images to an aggregate gallery called America’s Roadside Bloomery. All images would include in their composition a road of some kind, just to place it, and then the wildflowers that grow there unplanted.Hiway department wildflower beds don’t count.Each image should be 72 dpi, max size of 800 pixels on the largest side. Information should minimally include the location, if possible some ID on the flowers, and any other pertinent or interesting information.If you would like to accept this assignment, send them to me at — fred1st over at gmail — with Unplanted Garden in the subject line. I will upload them to a public gallery on Smugmug.I’ll collect these through October (there are lots of fall asters, Joe Pye Weed, Iron Weed, etc.) If at least thirty are received, we’ll go farther.We’ll vote and there will be a first, second and third prize–some combination of the book (Slow Road Home), the two sets of photo note cards, and screen saver images for your computer.Please forward this pleasant “assignment” to your photog friends. The more, the better. I will set up the gallery with this image soon, and it will be ready for your submission.Here’s the 800 pixel version of the image above. (Link back to the front page of Fragments)

Now. Get out there while the flowers bloom. And stay out of traffic!

UPDATE: And speaking of traffic. AMERICA’S ROADSIDE BLOOMERY, a call to action for photographers. Cool! — kindly posted by Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit Saturday morning. Now you peepers send in those pix! Deadline: 15th of October for submitting, voting completed October 31 and prizes awarded.

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Fred First holds masters degrees in Vertebrate Zoology and physical therapy, and has been a biology teacher and physical therapist by profession. He moved to southwest Virginia in 1975 and to Floyd County in 1997. He maintains a daily photo-blog, broadcasts essays on the Roanoke NPR station, and contributes regular columns for the Floyd Press and Roanoke's Star Sentinel. His two non-fiction books, Slow Road Home and his recent What We Hold in Our Hands, celebrate the riches that we possess in our families and communities, our natural bounty, social capital and Appalachian cultures old and new. He has served on the Jacksonville Center Board of Directors and is newly active in the Sustain Floyd organization. He lives in northeastern Floyd County on the headwaters of the Roanoke River.

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  1. Sounds like a good idea.

    Hopefully I will have recovered and I’ll be able to be out and about, soon enough to join in. You may have to provide the info on what the flowers actually are. I know some, but not all by name.

  3. I’ll try. Sometimes I see stuff while I am driving I want to photograph, but there’s no place to stop.

    Florists call those wildflowers
    “roadsidea”.

  6. I take my camera outside usually when my Doberman and I go out, so I have lots of Doberman pictures. After the death of Annie in April 2006, there were two months when I took weed pictures instead, in Central Ohio. These are here with identifications, and a few non-weed pics on the roadsides.

    Take any of them you want.

    Vicki arrived May 30, so that ended the weed expedition. You can find an Annie page and a Vicki page with a little investigation, if you prefer Dobermans to flowers.

    Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide is the best single source of identifications, by the way. He has a pretty good system of cataloging them, once they’re in flower, and you can usually find what you’re looking at very quickly.

  7. This is a great idea. My mother, who loves flowers, will enjoy looking for some great shots.

    By the way, as of 1:30 CST your link to the 800 pixel pic didn’t work. Or at least it didn’t for me.

  9. Terrific idea! You should compile them on your site when the contest ends as a national wildflower or “scenic highway” travel guide. I’m in Wisconsin. Will send some in.

  10. Terrific idea! When the contest is over you should publish all of them on your site, by location, as a kind of travel guide to random wildflowers. Wisconsin has some of these. I’ll send some along.

    jimf

  12. I have several blurry photos taken from a car going 75mph which show the general color of a swath of wild flowers. While my wife and I have oft joked about writing a book called “Horticluture at Highway Speeds” illustrated with these blurry pics, yours is the first venue which has offered the actual opportunity to do so. I’m in.

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