SU08059-81

SU08059-81  5200x3900 pixels  1 frame 23 image focus stack blend  A6000 60mm extension tube diffusion disk
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San Jose Municipal Rose Garden 5/8 2of2
San Jose Municipal Rose Garden 5/9
San Jose Municipal Rose Garden 5/13
San Jose Municipal Rose Garden 5/16

2020 Trip Chronicles:  Page 3

San Jose Municipal Rose Garden 2of2

SU07596-20

SU07596-20  4900x4000 pixels  1 frame 25 image focus stack blend  A6000 60mm diffusion disk
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Continuing local urban photography work from page 2 at the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden, was back on Friday May 8, 2020, and captured these spectacular Watercolors Home Run cultivar roses that were very popular with bees for a few days. Rumor is angels in Heaven arrive on Earth in spacecraft that look like these.
Per FOSJRG:
Bred by Tom Carruth. Shrub. Light yellow, blush shading, ages to pink. 5 to 8 petals. Average diameter 3 ft. Medium, single (4-8 petals), in small clusters, cupped bloom form. Prolific, blooms in flushes throughout the season. Short, compact.

SU07639-51

SU07639-51  5600x3500 pixels  1 frame 13 image focus stack blend  A6000 60mm diffusion disk
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Above is another image of dazzlingly red Take It Easy, a hybrid tea rose. All the Red singers came down with a chalky virus. Per FOSJRG:
Bred by Christian Bédard. Shrub. Dark red, light pink reverse. Mild, tea fragrance. 15 to 25 petals. Average diameter 2.75 feet. Medium, cluster-flowered, cupped, high-centered to cupped bloom form. Blooms in flushes throughout the season. Glandular sepals, leafy sepals, pointed buds.

SU07657-84b

SU07657-84b  3400x4600 pixels  1 frame 28 image focus stack blend  A6000 60mm diffusion disk
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These dense blooms were of Easy To Please, a Floribunda cultivar, that were swarmed by honey and bumble bees. Per FOSJRG:
Hybridizer: Christian Bédard. Medium pink Floribunda. Pink, lighter reverse. Fuchsia pink. Moderate fragrance. Average diameter 3 feet. Double (17-25 petals), in large clusters bloom form. Tall, upright. Medium, glossy, medium green foliage. Height of 39 to 71 inches.

SU07687-09

SU07687-09  5300x3500 pixels  1 frame 23 image focus stack blend  A6000 60mm diffusion disk
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Another group of Easy To Please roses with 2 honey bees. This took some time carefully positioning my camera on the tripod to get this geometrical perspective that says Independents. Select the enlarged vertical slice view to better see that bee at top left. Per FOSJRG:
Hybridizer: Christian Bédard. Medium pink Floribunda. Pink, lighter reverse. Fuchsia pink. Moderate fragrance. Average diameter 3 feet. Double (17-25 petals), in large clusters bloom form. Tall, upright. Medium, glossy, medium green foliage. Height of 39 to 71 inches.

SU07763-85b

SU07763-85b  3400x5000 pixels  1 frame 23 image focus stack blend  A6000 60mm diffusion disk
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All red blooms of a Carefree Spirit, a Floribunda bush. Merry Christmas. Per FOSJRG:
Hybridizer: Alain Meilland. Medium red. The 2009 AARS Winner. An offspring of our popular winner ‘Carefree Delight®’, Meilland hybridized an even better landscape plant that keeps the great foliage of its parent and adds more disease resistance, as well as having an even better plant habit with a great non-fading bright red color. A consensus winner that will work well in all of the climates for which it was tested. Hardy Zone 5. Red, white center. Single (4-8 petals), cluster-flowered bloom form. Blooms in flushes throughout the season. Medium, bushy, mounded. Height of up to 5 feet.

SU07801-16

SU07801-16  5100x3700 pixels  1 frame 16 image focus stack blend  A6000 60mm diffusion disk
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The next day, Saturday May 9, 2020, aesthetic petal shapes of Wild Blue Yonder, roses. This took some odd tripod positioning then working the electronic viewfinder selecting manual spot focus positioning while switching to holding up the diffusion disk in my left hand while actuating the shutter as moments of calm. Per FOSJRG:
Hybridizer: Tom Carruth. Mauve or mauve blend Grandiflora. Mauve Grandiflora Rose, 2006 All America Rose Selection Winner, Wild Blue Yonder, a mauve Grandiflora Rose. Warm wine-purple color, layered onto rich lavender with a strong citrus and rose scent. Wild Blue Yonder was the first lavender rose to win the AARS award since 1978. Mauve or purple blend, red edges. Strong, citrus, rose, spice fragrance. 25 to 30 petals. Average diameter 3.25 feet. Medium to large, double (17-25 petals), in large clusters bloom form. Blooms in flushes throughout the season. Medium, bushy, upright. Large, semi-glossy, dark green foliage. Height of 4 to 5 feet.

SU07814-41

SU07814-41  3600x5900 pixels  1 frame 28 image focus stack blend  A6000 60mm diffusion disk
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One subject with 2 spotted red on white roses with orange buds that I'm still trying to recall where it was shot.

SU07842-61

SU07842-61  4000x6000 pixels  1 frame 20 image focus stack blend  A6000 60mm diffusion disk
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Four days later on Wednesday May 13, 2020, as the peak flowering waned with most rose varieties, I began to increasingly look below the bushes at piles of petals below, especially early morning when water droplets would add interest. Because rose varieties were not mixed, there were not many spots with multi colored petals. Subjects like this with fine detail view effectively best at full 100% pixels on a 24 inch 4k monitor.

SU07891-16

SU07891-16  6000x4000 pixels  1 frame 26 image focus stack blend  A6000 60mm diffusion disk
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Petals below Parade Day, rose bushes. Here the brown dried shriveling petals add an interesting detailed background. The whites are so clean that the red and purples really float atop the muddy river below. On some garden plots are small green plants. FOSJRG:
Hybridized by Christian Bédard. Pink blend Grandiflora. Pink, white stripes. Strong fragrance. Average diameter 3.75 feet. Large, full (26-40 petals), borne mostly solitary, in small clusters bloom form. Bushy, upright. Large, glossy, dark green foliage. Height of 5 to 7 feet.

SU07939-61

SU07939-61  6000x4000 pixels  1 frame 23 image focus stack blend  A6000 60mm diffusion disk
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More petals below Parade Day, bushes, these quite wet. The game was to find groups of petals with aesthetic geometry for a rectangular frame. Does this say, Strawberry and Cherry Candies?

SU07984-09

SU07984-09  6000x4000 pixels  1 frame 26 image focus stack blend  A6000 60mm diffusion disk
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A group of dense outrageiously highly saturated Cinco De Mayo, blooms. I had to wear sunglasses. For this composition, I tried to center the flower with the more yellow center a bit left of top center frame however due to other geometries it was a compromise. This shows how images can still work if geometries just approximate as our minds do the rest.
Per FOSJRG:
Hybridizer: Tom Carruth. Russet Floribunda. Russet. Flowers multi-color, smoky lavender-orange. None to mild, opinions vary fragrance. Average diameter 3.5 feet. Medium, double (17-25 petals), cluster-flowered, in large clusters bloom form. Blooms in flushes throughout the season. Medium, rounded. Medium, semi-glossy, dark green foliage. Height of 35 to 47 inches.

SU08033-57

SU08033-57  6000x4000 pixels  1 frame 23 image focus stack blend  A6000 60mm diffusion disk
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This next image above shows fallen petals below Wild Blue Yonder rose bushes that was also shot with image SU07801-16 above. Beautiful color combinations for women's clothing.

My next subject was the image at page top Mardi Gras, a spectacularly shaped rose I managed to shoot during mid day calm. Per FOSJRG:
Hybridizer: Dr. Keith W. Zary. Pink blend Floribunda. Truly reminiscent of the carefree days of Mardi Gras, this new Floribunda has a large cluster of flowers with bright yellow, orange and pink hues. As a strong repeat bloomer, with a good fragrance, In form, this rose would be excellent as either a specimen or a small hedge, and is very heat resistant. Pink blend. Pink orange yellow blend upper; same reverse. Mild to strong, musk, sweet fragrance. 20 to 25 petals. Average diameter 4 feet. Medium, double (17-25 petals), borne mostly solitary, cluster-flowered, in small clusters, classic hybrid tea, high-centered bloom form. Continuous (perpetual) bloom throughout the season. Pointed, ovoid buds. Medium, upright, well-branched. Large, semi-glossy, dark green, leathery foliage. Height of up to 4 feet. Width of up to 32 inches.

SU08141-58

SU08141-58  3900x5800 pixels  1 frame 18 image focus stack blend  A6000 60mm diffusion disk
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Another 3 days later on Saturday May 16, 2020, more dense Carefree Spirit, blooms similar to image SU07763-85b above except a bit more rose, less red. Can you find the honeybee and 3 lady bugs? Per FOSJRG:
Hybridizer: Alain Meilland. Medium red. The 2009 AARS Winner. An offspring of our popular winner ‘Carefree Delight®’, Meilland hybridized an even better landscape plant that keeps the great foliage of its parent and adds more disease resistance, as well as having an even better plant habit with a great non-fading bright red color. A consensus winner that will work well in all of the climates for which it was tested. Hardy Zone 5. Red, white center. Single (4-8 petals), cluster-flowered bloom form. Blooms in flushes throughout the season. Medium, bushy, mounded. Height of up to 5 feet.

By mid May the spring bloom was on the wane and within a week there were far less fresh showy blooms however because the different varieties don't all tend to bloom the same time, peak blooms varied. Generally the peak of most species was the last week of April through second week of May. Note, there are at least some blooms in the garden most of the year with the exception of late fall into winter when most of these deciduous rosa genus species go into dormancy.

At all times there were fair numbers of visitors especially mid day and many are from the local neighborhoods in this upscale residential zone of San Jose that includes a few large school campuses and the nearby Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum that houses the largest collection of Egyptian artifacts in North America. And in this era many visitors were taking selfees against these beautiful flower backgrounds. Outside the wrought iron fenced 5.5 acre park that is half garden, half grassy park, were always numbers of people jogging, bicycling, walking streets, and particularly walking dogs. In the future at this time of year, will be back at the garden and also expect to research visiting other regional gardens. Also note, despite visiting the garden several times, there were far more worthwhile subjects that I saw were worth shooting than I ever had time to actually work, as even light breezes are a limiting factor when focus stack blending.

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   David Senesac
   email: info@davidsenesac.com

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