Flower Power

It's entirely possible that at this point you've grown tired of my flower pictures.  If that's the case, my apologies.  I can't help but continue taking and sharing these pictures, for three primary reasons:

1. Flowers don't scream, cry, refuse to smile, smile like someone's threatening them, or run away.  Photography is considerably less stressful when the quality of my photos depends on just me, rather than on me + how well I've fed, rested, entertained, and/or bribed my subjects. 
2. Flowers are so unbelievably available here, unlike up north, where flowers bloom for such a short period of time that if you happen to skip going outside for a day you might miss them completely.  I expect that after a few more years in Texas I'll grow accustomed to year-round flowers and won't appreciate them as much as I do now, so until that happens, capturing their beauty is high on my priority list.
3. Flowers are Hallie's current obsession.  She talks about flowers from sun-up until sun-down, colors pictures of flowers, waters the flowers in our backyard, picks every flower-y weed she passes between our house and Will's elementary school, and literally stops to smell the roses.  Every. Single. Rose.  Appreciating flowers is something the two of us enjoy together, and if I'm taking pictures, the time Hallie spends smelling the roses passes a little more quickly.

These pictures were all taken in the Barbara Bush Rose Garden at the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum here in College Station.  Offering to take Hallie to the garden was the only way I could get her to leave the field of bluebonnets.

It was so bright outside that I didn't notice this
little buddy until long after I'd taken the picture.  

As much as I disliked this lizard, he did look pretty up
against the purple veins of the plant on which he rested.

Gray and yellow are all over the place these days, which may
be why I'm really drawn to this photo and the one below.

This is my favorite photo from the day's shoot.

Smelling the roses.

I love the yellow and gray with just a pop
of green and orange in the background.

I need to come up with a way to display these photos, preferably something other than just framing them and hanging on my living room walls - any suggestions?