A few weeks ago, Hugh Locke shared some beautiful close-up views of flowers from his garden in Montrose, New York (Close-ups in Hugh’s Garden). Today we’re going to enjoy more of those images. By zooming way in, he makes you see flowers in a different way, which might just inspire you to take a closer look at the flowers in your own garden and notice things about them you never have before.

Detail of Stoke’s aster (Stokesia laevis, Zones 5–9). Asters are what is called a composite bloom—each bloom is actually a whole cluster of many tiny flowers massed together. Zoom in like this and you can see the open flowers on the outer ring, while those in the center are still in bud, ready to burst open.

Tips of tulip petals (Tulipa hybrids, Zones 3–8) are showing the delicate mixture of different shades of pink.

Floss flower (Ageratum houstonianum, annual) is another composite bloom, opening to make a fluffy mass of flowers.

The tiny blooms of yarrow (Achillea milliflolium, Zones 4–8) mass together to make a big disk of flowers, which are very popular with many pollinators.

Cleome (Cleome hassleriana, annual), with the open flowers at the base and a row of buds ready to open and replace them as they fade.

Platycodon grandiflorus (Zones 3–8) has beautiful blue flowers on a very durable, easy-to-grow plant.

Celosia (Celosia argentea, annual) has very unusual flower heads. In this close-up photo you can see that they are a mass of these small red strings, brightly colored to attract pollinators.

The fuzzy beard on the lower petals of this bearded iris (Iris hybrid, Zones 3–8) guides pollinators into the flower so they can collect and deposit pollen on their back.

A crisp, perfect paperwhite (Narcissus hybrid, Zones 8–10 or as a tender bulb). These warm-climate daffodils bloom easily indoors for some winter color and cheer.

Have a garden you’d like to share?

Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!

To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.

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