Foto-Werkstatt Basel

Time-Out on the Way of St. James

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 07:22 +0100

Time has come to fulfill one of my longstanding dreams - the continuation of my pilgrimage on the ‘Way of St. James’ [in German: ‘Jakobsweg’].

I will start where I finished in autumn 2010 - in Burgos in northern Spain. Some photographs from the previous hike can be seen here.

This time I plan to walk to Santiago de Compostella [about 450 km], and then - if my feet still agree - further to Cape Finisterre [another 100 km], a rock-bound peninsula on the west coast of Galicia. This place was thought to be the end of the world in medieval times [Finisterrae literally means ‘Land's End’].

I left early this morning to catch a flight to Bilbao. I will return to Basel May 12 and resume photobloging shortly after.

I wish you colorful spring days with great light and plenty of outstanding photo opportunities. And thanks, as always, for visiting my photoblog, for your constant support and for your generous comments.

With kindest regards / Mit lieben Grüssen, Arnd

Cat Woman

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 07:23 +0100

Meow!

I took this snapshot of my daughter Iken shortly before she went to a costume party the other day. Here and here are more action shots of her.

Old-Fashioned Bleeding-Heart (Lamprocapnos spectabilis)

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 08:59 +0100

The old-fashioned bleeding-heart, which has various other names like lyre's flower, lady in a bath, Venus's car and Dutchman's trousers, is native to China, Japan and other regions of Asia. However, the plant is now grown in various parts of the world for ornamental purposes.

Bleeding heart is an all-time favorite among garden growers. The most attractive part is its flowers, which are pink-colored with small dangling tips that are compared to drops of blood. The flowers are produced during late spring to early summer on racemes that grow in an arch-like fashion. Each of these hanging flowers has a length of 2 to 5 cm.

The plants may grow to a maximum height of one meter. Being deciduous in nature, they lie dormant after the blooming season, but grow back the next spring. Bleeding heart is poisonous and it is not advisable to ingest any part of it. The plants must be handled carefully, as they can cause skin irritation too.

The blur of yellow in the background is due to a blooming forsythia shrub.

Happy Easter, Everyone!

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 09:54 +0100

I photographed these beautiful tulips in the garden of a neighbor two days ago. A capture of the same tulip clump taken about a year ago is shown here.

This photograph benefits from the black website theme [link 'b' on the top right of the page with the picture].

Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis)

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 08:40 +0100

Lily of the valley is an herbaceous perennial woodland plant that is native throughout the cool, temperate Northern Hemisphere. It forms extensive colonies by spreading underground roots (rhizomes).

In late April, early May, two large lance-shaped leaves forge up from the earth, together with an arching stem bearing around 12 white flowers. They are waxy, bell-shaped, 5-10 mm in diameter, and sweetly scented. The flowers are followed by an autumn fruit that takes the form of a small orange red berry.

In spite of its innocent appearance, the plant is highly toxic. All parts contain very potent cardiac glycosides that have been used in medicine for centuries.

Lily of the Valley has been in cultivation for over 500 years. Though a little out of favour now it was at one time widely used in bridal bouquets and is supposed to bring luck and herald new life.

The photograph of lily of the valley blossom buds was taken in our garden yesterday. A picture of the flowers can be seen here.

Apple Blossoms (Malus domestica)

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 19:41 +0100

The cultivated apple, Malus domestica, belongs to the Maloideae subfamily of the Rosaceae, along with pear and quince.

Botanists theorize that apples originated somewhere in central and southern China. This area is home to around twenty Malus species, whose seeds were gradually spread by birds throughout the Northern Hemisphere. It is thought that the edible apple (Malus domestica) evolved as a complex hybrid from a number of these wild apple species.

Apples were probably improved through selection over a period of thousands of years by early farmers. Alexander the Great is credited with finding dwarfed apples in Asia Minor in 300 BC; those he brought back to Greece may well have been the progenitors of dwarfing rootstocks. Apples were brought to North America with colonists in the 1600's.

Apples are a good source of carbohydrates and dietary fiber. They are a fair source of vitamin C, vitamin B6, vitamin K, and manganese. They also contain detectable levels of protein, vitamins, and minerals.

This photograph was taken in our garden only a few hours ago. The image benefits from the black website theme [link 'b' on the top right of the page with the picture].

Stained Glass Windows of St.-Ottilien Chapel (Obertüllingen, Southern Germany)

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 23:04 +0100

In the shade of old trees on a terrace in front of the Ottilien Chapel, you can let your gaze wander from the Black Forest, across the Jura to the southern Vosges.

There are several legends that entwine this and two other churches on hills around Basel: St. Ottillia in Obertüllingen on the Tüllinger Berg, St. Chrischona, on the west slopes of the Dinkelberg, overlooking Bettingen and Grenzach-Wyhlen, and St. Margarethen in Binningen, on the outskirts of Basel.

The three saints are mentioned in the early Christian saga of St. Ursula and eleven thousand virgins who stopped in Basel on their way from Cologne to Rome. It is told that they left the pilgrimage and settled here to live their lives in seclusion as anchoresses.

According to another legend the three sisters father, a knight at Schloss Pfeffingen, had murdered their lovers. They retreated as hermits to the three hills, daily signalling their wellbeing to one another, in the morning with bells and in the evening with oil lamps.

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In order to adapt the two small windows to my landscape picture format I rotated the photo by 90° to the right.

This photograph benefits from the black website theme [link 'b' on the top right of the page with the picture].

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 12:47 +0100

The dandelion is a perennial, herbaceous plant with long, lance-shaped leaves. They are deeply toothed, which gave the plant its name in Old French: Dent-de-lion.

The dandelion’s well-known yellow, composite flowers are 2 to 5 cm wide. They grow individually on hollow flower stalks 5 to 50 cm tall. Each flower head consists of hundreds of tiny ray flowers. The flower head can change into the familiar, white, globular seed head overnight. Each seed has a tiny parachute, to spread far and wide in the wind.

The thick, brittle, beige, branching taproot grows up to 25 cm long. All parts of this plant exude a white milky sap when broken.

Golden Bells (Forsythia x intermedia)

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 05:56 +0100

Forsythias, showy flowering shrubs from the Orient, are popular in gardens and parks. They are a familiar, early blooming herald of spring, their arching branches covered with yellow blossoms just preceding the emergence of their leaves. The fruit is a dry capsule, containing several winged seeds.

Saucer Magnolia (Magnolia × soulangeana)

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 00:04 +0100

Saucer magnolia is a small deciduous tree or large shrub, typically with a low, multi-branching habit. It can grow up to 10 m tall and just as wide, with bright yellow autumn foliage and striking gray bark in winter. The blooms open in spring before the leaves, producing large, white flowers shaded in pink, creating a spectacular flower display. Initially, the flowers are tulip-shaped and slowly open into saucers.

Magnolia × soulangeana was initially bred by French plantsman Étienne Soulange-Bodin (1774–1846). He crossed Magnolia denudata with M. liliiflora in 1820, and was impressed with the results. From France, the hybrid quickly entered cultivation in other parts of Europe and also North America. Since then, plant breeders have continued to develop this magnolia, and a large number of hybrid cultivars now available featuring flowers in various shades of white, pink, rose, purple, magenta and burgundy.

I captured the magnolia blooms in a small road-side park in Basel yesterday.