Pink flowers of the “Love Tree” or European Redbud (Cercis Siliquastrum). Click on the preview images to download these stock photos via Alamy Image Library.

The second magnolia photograph is in vertical orientation especially for magazine page or book page print providing a lot of copy space. Click on the low-resolution pics here for more info and immediate download.

(Click image for royalty-free license and download details.)

This stock photo is available in five different sizes, in case maximum resolution is not needed.

(Click for hi res photo).

For a change an image in vertical orientation (which makes it less suitable as a desktop photo background, but after all, this site is about GARDEN PICTURES, so it may not hurt to see some more gardens than just plants in close-up portraits).

Apple trees are not just valuable because of the fruits, they bear some of the most beautiful spring blossoms.

(Click for high resolution images.)

White gardens are relatively easy to design for producing plenty of flowers all over the year.

And roses make a nice combination with apple trees - it does not necessarily need to be a climbing rose, if the branches are long enough they can be led through the tree.

Black and white photography seems to dominate fine art photography these days. Rarely seen in contemporary stock images, I have at this very moment three new photo books laying next to me and all of them are entirely made of black and white photographs. Or, at least printed in black and white. It´s an ART thing, I assume.

That´s not the aesthetic of white I´m after. I´m wondering about the one which is, in fact, made of green, pink, blue like the botanic world so richly provides it, especially in spring. Often difficult to capture in a camera, because a correct white balance setting is one thing, moods, shadows and reflections another. There are all different sort of white blossoms suddenly appearing here out of what looked just a couple of weeks ago like dead wood, and as pure white all of them seem to be at the first look, not even two are the same.  

(Click for hi res image.)

It´s impossible to say which are the most beautiful, but, almost all of them seem to carry a scent, quite the contrary to many colourful modern garden flowers.

Planning and maintaining a white garden requires some discipline. Although it is very rewarding and the choice of plants allows for blossoms in all four seasons (some Viburnum flowers in winter), one has to withstand the temptation of mixing in all of those glorious pinks, purples, reds which just beg to be taken when you see them in the garden store or plant catalogue. Many white flowering plants are somewhat less spectacular, but combined have a great ability to reach the senses.

(Click for hi res photo.)

The variety of white-flowering plants in terms of heights, leaf shapes, silhouettes is endless, which makes real garden design (rather than just letting things grow on the ground) quite a bit easier. Nearly all common fruit trees lend themselves to this concept (see the apple blossom photos), clematis can grow on them, rose shrubs will put their flowers right in front of your nose, and, as some images may show here one day, even vegetables and herbs can contribute to it.

Unfortunately, not every willing human being can dedicate a whole garden (or garden room) to a specific (colour) concept, but, while you are perhaps at it, flower pots and vases need filling soon, so that´s a good moment to try things.

(Click for high res image).

Most of the tulips seem to have survived the cold and exceptionally wet winter, while some of my strongest and most precious rose bushes don´t look very well. Still early though, time will tell.

Today a still life image of a little flower in a glass bowl; like all the other stock photos on this site it is suitable for professional, high quality magazine print at 300 dpi (file size about 48MB, high resolution file >3000×5000 pixels, vertical/portrait orientation).

White background for lots of copy space. Please follow the link above, the advantage being that the high-res image is so available for 24/7 immediate download.

Had to give the garden some care the last days - will be posting more and more regular again over the next weeks, some colorful flower photos are waiting to be added to the image archive.

(Click for high quality image 1024×768.)

Who would have thought of planting pink hyacinths with blue and apricot varieties? When planned such colour palettes seem rather risky, but when nature gets a chance, the outcome will often enough be fresh and surprising.

(Click for high resolution image.)

Because flower bulbs can be easily re-organized and it just takes a winter of patience until the first results, the early spring garden offers a lot of opportunity for aesthetic experiments. It´s very worth (and nearly free) trying out what botanic palette fits the paint of the house wall or the colour shade of the local stone used for the garden path. As one is so much more sensitive to the pleasures of nature this time of the year (just go and visit a garden store - everybody wants to plant something now!) it is a good time for artistic decisions.

I mean, what risk are you taking? If the outcome insults your eye, you can always cut the flowers for the vase (many hyacinths i.e. have a wonderful smell, and, by the way, vases  allow for even more colour combination testing!)

If you have a printer, making snippets of flower photos can be helpful to test a lot of combinations fast and in a fun way - you could even carry those outside to see how it compares (careful though as this requires a colour-managed workflow and professional quality images for good results - but as a designer you are most likely working that way anyway.)

Still, nothing compares to messing around in a garden, and while photos capture the moment from a certain perspective and angle, there´s no better time to let the eye wander than spring.

Stock photo suitable for professional spread-page magazine print at 300 dpi, click on the low-res picture above for the high resolution image and licensing/download details.

Click for the high-res files - they make nice photo backgrounds btw.

The pink of these hyacinths is quite spectacular really, especially when one manages to get there in the right light.

(That´s why nothing beats having your own flower garden; the colours and scents change so many times during the course of a day).