Midnight Bloom

The “Midnight Bloom” Experience

Alaska ~ Land of the Midnight Sun…flower.  Wow, what a great light show!  Auroras were blooming everywhere on this Saturday night and are seen here dancing over our Anchorage backyard garden near midnight on September 19, 2015.

At first, I was planning to go watch the northern lights from the nearby Chugach Mountains but decided to stay home because I had my eyes on this late but great six-foot tall sunflower!  I figured it was a unique opportunity to shoot the auroras over Helianthus (from the Greek:  Helios/sun + anthos/flower).

The tall, spindly purple flower on the left is called tree mallow.   A big old spruce tree also on the left side points toward the Polaris, the North Star.  To complete the earth-to-sky framing a beautiful birch tree on the right, ablaze in full autumn colors, reaches for the stars above in the W-shaped constellation of Cassiopeia, the Queen.