Purpleleaf sandcherries, according to the arborday site, are
[a] cross between Prunus pumila and Prunus cerasifera ‘Atropurpurea’ developed by Dr. N. E. Hanson of South Dakota State University in 1910. The parents of this hybrid are native to Western Asia and Caucasia (P. cerasifera) and the northeastern United States (P. pumila). Prunus is the Latin name for plum, and cistena comes from the Sioux word for baby.
sony ILCE-7C, lensbaby sweet35, 1/2500s, ISO 100, ev -0.3 f...(whatever the widest apeture is, I'm guessing...) 30apr2023; scaled in gimp
When I purchased this shrub, the tag said it grew in part sun[1] , which it sort of does, but really the ones around here that do well are in full sun. Mine is gradually getting shaded out by an evergreen growing in the neighbor's yard that I do cut back, but also appreciate for its shade on my deck. This poor plant got a very bad infestation of (I assume) aphids after it bloomed, and I spent a lot of time washing them away with soapy water—it really does need to be moved.
...sony ILCE-7C, sony 90mm macro lens, f/4.5 ev +0.3, 1/100s, 30apr2023; scaled & cropped in gimp
I'm still not very good at focusing with the lensbaby—I have yet to learn how to manually turn on the magnification of the viewscreen—so I switched to the macro lens, which has this feature nicely integrated with the manual mode. But even given the problems with both the plant and the photograph(er), I got some nice pictures, and also used the opportunity to make a notecard:
graphite, ink and watercolour on paper; sony ILCE-7C, sony 90mm macro lens, f/2.8 ev +0.3, 1/200s, 30apr2023; curves, rotate, transform, scale & cropping tools applied in gimp
Pretty sure I sent this to Japan, where sakura (cherry blossoms) are very popular subjects, as they represent spring. These, of course, are a bit different from the traditional ones:)
Also, while the drawing is only mediocrely bad, my efforts at copperplate are truly horrible. C'est la vie.
[1]also likely that it's a native species, which it is also...sort-of
Unless otherwise noted, text, image and objects depicted therein copyright 1996--present sylvus tarn.
