February 2011 Free Desktop Wallpaper Calendar

For the February 2011 wallpaper calendar I chose a harbinger of spring. I had decided to do flowers for the calendar this year and had to ponder what flower blooms in February? Then I remembered that the amaryllis bulbs in my home bloom in February. I liked that this perfect crimson flower had a tiny vein of white. It gave it a personality all its own in my mind.

You might have noticed that I have expanded the number of monitor sizes available and have also offered one for an iPhone4. I hope you find the perfect version for your use and enjoy this splash of red in the month of love.

download your free desktop wallpaper calendar for February 2011
1024x768 1280x800 1280x1024 iPhone4

Easy Instructions
After clicking on the size you want
you will be at my Flickr page. Simply click on
"Download the Original size of this photo."
The file will then download to your desktop or iPhone4!

Etsy JulieMagersSoulen

Framed Red Flower Photo - Tropical Beauty

It was a warm summer day when I took this photograph of a coral red hibiscus. The bushy plant with dark waxy leaves was peppered with beautiful blossoms that day. The flowers only last for a day before they shrivel and drop, but their short life is brilliant. My hibiscus lives inside now as it would not survive the bitter cold Colorado winter. It musters up one little pale blossom occasionally. But I know that this summer it will burst forth in all its beauty once again.

Tropical Beauty Framed OOAK

My Colorado photography studio is featuring a one of a kind double matted and framed photo of a luscious coral red tropical hibiscus on a dark background.

click here for purhase information on this one of a kind framed photograph

If you are interested in a 5x7 unframed fine art photograph of this image check here.

Do not forget to order your Valentine note cards. Valentine's Day is only three weeks away!
Click here to find out how to purchase these note cards today.

Etsy JulieMagersSoulen

Valentine Note Card Set of Six

Valentine's Day is just around the corner. I thought it would be fun to play with a photograph of a pink hydrangea and create a little heart of pink flower petals. This blank note card is perfect for your mom, sister, friend, or your true love. You write the perfect personal note yourself. My wish is that you have many loves in your life. So why not let them know.

SET OF SIX Notecards -Valentine Note Card
My Colorado photography studio is featuring this Valentine's Day SET OF SIX note cards suitable for invitations or love notes.
click here for purchase information on this note card set of six

Etsy JulieMagersSoulen

January 2011 Free Desktop Wallpaper Calendar

The new year is almost upon us. Christmas 2010 is past and a sparkly new 2011 is just around the corner. Last year my free wallpaper calendar was all landscapes of the west. This year I would like to try something different and I thought why not flowers! I hope you like my idea and January's pick of frozen icy red rosehips.

Click here for purchase information on an 8x10 fine art photograph of this image.

Wishing all of my friends a very happy and prosperous New Year!

download your free desktop wallpaper calendar for January 2011 here

Easy Instructions
After clicking on the above link
you will be at my Flickr page. Simply click on
"Download the Original size of this photo."
The file will then download to your desktop!

Etsy JulieMagersSoulen

Rocky Mountain National Park Landscapes - Lawn Lake Trail

On July 15, 1982 an earthen dam in Rocky Mountain National Park failed resulting in the death of three campers and $31 million in property damage in Estes Park, Colorado. The reason I mention the Lawn Lake Flood is because after 28 years the area, though still scarred, also has amazing beauty. This past summer I enjoyed hiking the trail once again. The debris of giant boulders and logs are sprinkled with wildflowers and new life. Mother nature inspires us with her healing resilience once again.

Mountain View
A distant peak in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado is seen through a pine forest with purple wildflowers blooming near fallen tree trunks.
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Lawn Lake Trail
Purple wildflowers grow amongst rocks and weathered logs on the Lawn Lake Trail in Rocky Mountain NP, Colorado.
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Etsy JulieMagersSoulen

Red Floral Verbena

I was looking through some photos that I took this past summer and this vibrant scarlet flower jumped out at me. Sometimes it is just plain hard to let go of summer's beautiful color and bounty. So to hold on just a little bit longer to the warm glow of summer past and carry it with us into the slumbering winter months I share with you my way of seeing a brilliant red verbena. Enjoy!

Red Verbena
A bright warm red verbena stands out in a summer garden in Colorado.
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Thank you Bonnie for correctly identifying the flower as a verbena!

Etsy JulieMagersSoulen

Lily Love

It was one of those mild summer days that left dew on the wildflowers and grass, a rarity in Colorado's dry climate. As I sat on my favorite rock gazing into the distance at the "Valley of Contentment," my focus turned to a nearby sprinkle of white in the still green meadow. I got up to investigate and found two beautiful Sego Lilies. I had never seen them in this area before and wondered if it was because of our wetter than normal summer. So I had to look them up and found that they are also called Mariposa Lilies and can come in a variety of colors. I am always astounded at the beauty I find in nature, growing totally untended. My garden flowers never seem to measure up to the delicate beauty of the wildflowers that spring up with no help at all in the extreme climate of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Nature is still the master gardener.

Lily Love
This flower photo of a delicate white wildflower, the Sego or Mariposa Lily, was found in the Northern Colorado Rocky Mountains.
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Etsy JulieMagersSoulen

Red Ruffles and Dew Drops

A crimson flower opens to the early morning light, sparkling with morning dew like a Hollywood starlet wearing a gown of rhinestones and red satin at a movie premier. She is a flashy flower standing out in a crowd of tiny wildflowers in soft pastel hues on my summer deck. And like most ingenues her time is brief. As my demure houseplants come in for the winter she is left looking more and more ragged to face the first frost alone. But when she was in her prime she was a show stopper!

I hope you enjoy my "Red Ruffles and Dew Drops" photo and check back with me next week. I will be out of my Colorado photography studio for a week and am headed for Las Vegas. It is once again the week of our anniversary and we are off for some fun and relaxation. See you next week!

Red Ruffles and Dew Drops
A deep red zinnia flower catches the sparkling drops of morning dew on each perfect petal.
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Etsy JulieMagersSoulen

Wild Rose

The wild rose found in Colorado's mountain woodlands has five pale pink petals. I also find it growing along the dusty road and often think of trying to transplant it to my perennial garden, where only the hardiest plants survive the cold and long winters. This delicate flower of the rose family is very tough. I have seen in growing up in the middle of the road only to be scraped off each winter by the snow plow and emerge in the spring unscathed, albeit a bit shorter. Maybe this year I'll try moving one to the good life of a watered garden and occasional weeding. Enjoy!

Wild Rose
A close up of a wild rose in petal pink with golden yellow stamens catches the light.
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Etsy Buy Handmade JulieMagersSoulen

Tropical Beauty Hibiscus

Every year I buy plants to decorate my deck and make it into our favorite outdoor room. Even though we only get to use it a few months every year we always look forward to outdoor dining and relaxing. This year I found this tropical hibiscus at the grocery and could not resist that beautiful coral red color. It has given me one or two new blooms every day all summer. I intend to bring it inside for the winter. Does anyone have any tips? Thanks everyone!

Tropical Beauty
A tropical hibiscus in luscious coral red on a dark background holds its blooms briefly, but the large blossoms are eye stoppers when fully open.
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Etsy Buy Handmade JulieMagersSoulen

Yellow Sweet Peas

The breeze gently stirs the fragrant wild bouquet of yellow pea creating the sound of sheets stirring in the night. I stoop to gather in the subtle perfume and feel the soft blue green leaves tickle my nose. A sudden urge envelopes me to simply lie down on the covered hillside and sink beneath the green blanket of blossoms. A lazy bee impossibly hovers nearby and adds his own splash of yellow to the melee. The moment continues and is forever part of me.

Sweet Peas
Wild yellow sweet peas, a common wildflower that grows on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, is found growing in a lush profusion of blue green leaves. This plant also goes by the names; Yellow Pea, False Lupine, and Buck Bean.
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Etsy Buy Handmade JulieMagersSoulen

Butterfly on Catmint

After a series on sunset lit architecture and a commentary on snakes, I am returning to more flower photos for awhile. Today I want to share with you my latest "Butterfly on Catmint." I am not sure what type of butterfly this is but they are very common in my garden. Do you know?

The flowers are catmint, a member of the Nepeta family that also includes catnip. I no longer have a kitty, but I do know they love to roll around in these plants. The honey bees love catmint too and the plants are always humming with their ceaseless activity. I hope you enjoy my latest!

Butterfly on Catmint
An orange butterfly is perched on the top of a stem of vivid purple catmint flowers gathering nectar. I am not sure what type of butterfly this is but they are very common in the foothills of Northern Colorado.
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Etsy Buy Handmade JulieMagersSoulen

Lovely Locoweed

I was on my morning walk with my two exuberant dogs. The air still had the chill of a Rocky Mountain morning but the sun was warm. As I rounded the bend in the dusty dirt road I saw the mound of white blossoms that we locals in the West know as locoweed. It is so pretty and also so poisonous. The variety that commonly grows near my home is usually white but can also be a pale lavender. It is dangerous to grazing animals and also very tasty to them. I ponder this apparent conundrum in nature as we continue to walk through the dappled shade of pines on the dusty road.

Lovely Loco
The delicate spires of white blossoms of the locoweed plant are lovely and common throughout the West.
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Locoweed Road
White locoweed grows in a beautiful clump near a country road in Colorado.

Etsy Buy Handmade JulieMagersSoulen

Rocky Mountain Wildflowers of Colorado

Spring came late this year with our last large snow in the middle of May. As many of you remember, I was gone the last week of May on family business, and when we returned home everything was bursting with color and new growth. Summers are short in the Colorado Rockies and the spring plants were mingled with the summer blooms all in a rainbow of exploding color. Here are a couple of my favorites; the Pasque Flower and Cushion Cactus. Enjoy!

Pink Cushion Cactus Blossoms
A mound of hot pink blossoms adorns the top of a Cushion Cactus in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
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Pasque Flowers
Delicate lavender Pasque Flowers, also called Prairie Crocus, are the earliest of spring flowers in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
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Etsy Buy Handmade JulieMagersSoulen

Mountain Bluebell Snow

It is amazing that flowers and snow go together, but in the Colorado Rocky Mountains they are spring companions. When the heavy winter snows finally melt away the earth begins to awaken and the flowers burst forth from their winter slumber. The season is short and the flowers do not hesitate. Mountain Bluebells are among the first. The inevitable spring snows are heavy and laden with nourishing moisture and the bluebells are once again completely buried. But undaunted they emerge from the melting snow into the warm sun over and over.

Bluebell Snow
Mountain bluebells dangle above a fresh spring snowfall in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.
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Etsy Buy Handmade JulieMagersSoulen

Verdant Spring

It has been a long winter in the Colorado Rockies. But the earth is awakening slowly. Tiny snow drop flowers the size of a baby pea are usually the first to emerge from the blanket of pine needles. Along the dirt road I see tough little dandelions with their buttery yellow flowers. Unlike a suburban home owner I welcome the cheery little blossoms that pop up where ever a cow has munched and walked. This bright little succulent with its chartreuse colored flowers was the only bit of color along a stretch of road on a morning walk a few days ago. I do not know what it is called but the brilliant bright color stood out as a harbinger of spring in the mostly dull brown landscape. So I decided to call it "Verdant Spring". Has she finally arrived in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado?

Apparently not. I woke up this morning to almost a foot of heavy wet spring snow. The grape hyacinths of a couple days ago are totally covered. But the snow will be melted in a few days, and they will again poke up their royal blue blossoms. Cheers!

Verdant Spring
A macro photo of an early spring succulent with exotic looking yellow green flowers is one of the first plants to emerge in the northern Colorado Rockies.
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Here is a look at the entire plant. Does anyone know what this is?

Etsy Buy Handmade JulieMagersSoulen

Graceful Resilience on Mother's Day

When you live in the Colorado Rocky Mountains you expect spring snows. I have long ago given up the notion to run outside and cover my freshly emerging spring flowers. They have to be tough! Grape hyacinths fit that bill perfectly. They gracefully bend low under the weight and then when the sun emerges to melt away the spring snow they slowly stand up again. They remind me that part of being a loving mom is graceful resilience with just a sprinkle of toughness. Wishing all you Moms out there a very Happy Mother's Day!

Snow Grapes
Deep royal blue grape hyacinths bend low under the weight of a fresh spring snow in the Colorado Rockies.
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Etsy Buy Handmade JulieMagersSoulen

Mellow Yellow - Friday Features

Yellow is sunshine. It makes me think of summer and fresh flowers. In Japan it represents courage and in India peace. It is joyful, perky, and attention grabbing as well as hopeful, laid back and relaxing. Today's collection is a delicate mix of soft yellow items. Enjoy each one and while you are visiting you may wish to listen to "Mellow Yellow" by Donovan. Have fun!

banana with print (organic)
by necklush
click here for purchase information on this scarf

Beautiful Bugs
by DS Brennan
click here for purchase information on this photo

White Roses Plein Air Blank Note Card Set
Made by Swirly Girl
click here for purchase information on this note card set

White Feather Earrings
by noogal
click here for purchase information on these earrings

As Time Goes By
by Flash Forward
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Etsy Buy Handmade JulieMagersSoulen

A Blush of Pink

A blush of pink tints the eastern horizon the color of a child's flushed cheeks. The whole world becomes saturated with pinkness. My own skin takes on a fresh young glow as the rose colored light permeates the room. Everything is awash with the rosy color of a new day.

Be sure to click on the names of these wonderful artisans to visit their Etsy shops and see all of their fine items.

Dancing In The Spotlight
by Urban Design
click here for purchase information on this photo

Acid Rose - Scrabble Tile Necklace
by House of Six Cats
click here for purchase information on this pendant

Labrador Retriever Dog Art
by Ron Krajewski
click here for purchase information on this signed art print

Dreams In Pink
by Kristybee
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Hobbit Birdhouse Shelf
by J and D Woodcrafts
click here for purchase information on this birdhouse

Etsy Buy Handmade JulieMagersSoulen