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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Another golden day in the foothills this week #fall

This fall foothills scene has golden grass in the foreground, and a calm pond reflecting blue sky backed by hills covered in aspen trees, with autumn foliage changing various shades of yellow and orange and a few dark green conifers.

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

A beautiful morning to begin October 🍂🌾

Golden grassy hills and a hint of golden autumn leaves in the trees form this river valley with a large steel trestle bridge across it

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

A pair of painted lady butterflies took a long lunch in my garden on their way south yesterday.

A butterfly with mottled orange, brown and white markings (some outlined in white) and circular eyespots on the underside of its lower wings, sips nectar from numerous tiny pink flowers clustered on a flat blossom head.

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Hello autumn and golden shimmering leaves 🍂💛

A clump of aspen trees at peak autumn colour with golden leaves, surrounded by a deep green conifer forest in the background and golden grasses and a few shrubs in the foreground

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Late summer flowering stems of Joe-Pye weed are starting to call butterflies, moths and bees to sip their sweet nectar. #nativeplants

a multi-branched reddish flowering stem of pink buds beginning to open with more inflorescences in the background rising above tall stems with whorls of medium green leaves.

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

The migration has begun. A ruby-throated #hummingbird was darting between these scarlet runner beans and red bee balm blooms in my garden this morning. Their ability to remember and return to the same flower patch year after year along their long journey south is astonishing! #blooms

A twisting vine with scarlet red bean-shaped flowers, deep red buds and bright green foliage against a brick wall

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

As an amateur birder, I felt lucky to record and identify the call of this dickcissel bird yesterday evening near the Oldman River, after hearing that experienced birders were seeking it in the area. Apparently, a rare sighting here. #Merlin app is great! #birds #Merlinapp #nature

Screenshot from Merlin app identifying 6 birds, heard while walking near underbrush along a river, by their calls. The goldfinch is bright yellow and the spotted towhee has red on its underside. The other 4 birds are more neutral coloured.

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Our native prairie harebells are easy to cultivate in sun or shade and have a long bloom season. Also known as Scottish bluebells, it grows wild in northern latitudes across N. America, Europe and Asia. #nativeplants #wildflower #prairie

Harebells plant with thin medium green leaves and dozens of pale violet blue bell shaped flowers and pale green flower flower buds

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Nice aurora sweeping the sky outside my back door last night #aurora

Dark night sky with green and violet streaks of aurora above the tree silhouettes that frame the photo

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

If you’re out early in the morning, you might discover our native evening primrose (Oenothera caespitosa) blooming on dry prairie slopes. This beauty unrolls its large flowers at twilight, luring pollinator moths in with a lovely scent. Each blossom lasts only one night. #nativeplants #wildflower

an evening primrose plant covered in flowers; each flower is made up of four white heart-shaped petals and long yellow stamens

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Just found a metallic green sweat bee among my native blanketflowers (Gaillardia aristata). #nativeplants #pollinators

A metallic green sweat bee gathers pollen on a bright yellow daisy type flower with a red centre.

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Another rainy day and I’m curled up on the couch, thoroughly inspired by David George Haskell’s descriptions of how flowers transformed our planet, sustain us and connect us with nature in his latest delightful book. @dghaskell.bsky.social

Book cover jacket art for “How Flowers Made Our World” showing a small red-throated hummingbird perched next to a pink orchid blossom and bud, against an ethereal forest background.

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Our native purple prairie clover is a great plant for your pollinator garden, with summer-blooming flowers that are rich in nectar and pollen for bumblebees. #WorldBeeDay #nativeplants #garden

a fuzzy bumblebee collects orange pollen from the ring of bright pink purple flowers that surround the base of the wooly flower spike

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Bumblebees are busy working the last of the ‘Aurora’ haskap flowers (planted next to ‘Borealis’, its compatible companion for cross-pollination). Edible blue berries develop from pollinated flowers, ripening by mid-June for us and backyard birds to enjoy. #ediblegarden #pollinatorplant

pairs of pale yellow blossoms hang below slightly fuzzy bright green leaves on a haskap shrub

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Our wild saskatoons (aka serviceberry or shadbush) that are beginning to bloom on the prairies are also great native shrubs for gardens, with white blossom-smothered branches that supply food for pollinators that emerge in early spring. 🐝 #nativeplants #garden #spring #pollinators

An upright stem from a saskatoon shrub, covered in white flowers photographed against a cedar fence

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Our native prairie crocus flowers blooming on #EarthDay give bees a warm place to rest and plenty of pollen in their solar-collecting bowl-shaped blossoms.

Two purple prairie crocus flowers, each with a cluster of stamens topped by yellow anthers in their centres.

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Excited to find the first native prairie crocus buds in my garden today, all dressed in fur to protect them from tonight’s incoming snow. #nativeplants #spring #garden

The very hairy flower bud of a native prairie crocus sprouts from
the earth before its leaves
emerge in early spring

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

Spotted the first cherry blossoms last week in Vancouver. Welcome spring! #spring

a cluster of cherry blossoms in varying shades of pale pink to bright pink hangs from a branch

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

A preview of spring with plum blossoms from the west coast #spring

a stem of pale pink plum blossoms and buds against a blue sky with additional flowering branches on the tree blurred in the background

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

These native prairie crocus seeds I planted last October are getting some welcome snow from today’s winter storm. When it melts, the moist, chilly soil will be just what they need to sprout this spring. 🌱 #nativeplants #seeds #garden

a clump of pointed seeds with long, feathery white tails against a dark background

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

Wrapping up #ArtAdventCalendar with a bit of sparkle to wish you joy this season and in the coming year ✨ Thank you all for your likes, reposts, follows and lovely comments and special thanks to @jayispainting.earthskyart.ca for hosting this event.

In this magnified view of frost feathers, strings of ice crystals catch the light as they line up and cling to a small branch.

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

#ArtAdventCalendar Day 23 Coloured pencil sketch of a poinsettia flower This holiday plant was bred from a shrub that grows wild in Mexico to emphasize its star-shaped flowers. It naturally blooms as nights grow longer towards the solstice.

A coloured pencil sketch of a red poinsettia, using atmospheric fade technique where the foreground parts of the plant are more vivid red and green and colours fade slightly towards the background

The flower is a somewhat star-shaped cluster of red sepals, surrounding the small yellow actual floral parts. Three dark green leaves are splayed out in different directions at the base of the sepals.

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

#ArtAdventCalendar Day 22 A coloured pencil sketch showing amaryllis flower buds at various stages of opening

This coloured pencil sketch of an amaryllis stalk shows the back of an open trumpet-shaped bloom, the side view of a bloom beginning to open and two upright buds. The flowers are pale red.

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 21/12/2025

#ArtAdventCalendar Day 21 I’m sharing this prairie sunrise to welcome back the lengthening days. Happy Solstice!

A sunrise scene over prairie with brilliant pink clouds overhead

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

#ArtAdventCalendar Day 20 A splash of spring colour to brighten a winter day

a pair of purple-and-white striped crocuses in very early spring

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

#ArtAdventCalendar Day 19 Another experiment, where I illustrated our native cottonwood tree on a t-shirt, using watercolour ink pencils. Hot tips - activate the pencils in a pool of water and add 50% fabric medium to prevent bleeding, use cheap silicon brushes to paint, and iron to set the dye.

A watercolour illustration of a plains cottonwood tree with its typical large green spreading canopy on an ivory white t-shirt

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

#ArtAdventCalendar Day 18 I’m continuing to paint this watercolour study of small wildflowers in southwestern Alberta, by adding a blue-eyed grass and the bright pink shooting star (not quite unfinished) on either side of the calypso orchid, using reference photos I took in Waterton National Park.

Watercolour illustrations of a three small wildflowers: a single stem of violet blue blue-eyed grass with its short pointed leaf, a calypso orchid with its rosy pink blossom on a short stem with a deep green wide round leaf at the base of the plant, and a shooting star plant with a pointed pink blossom and a flower bud hanging from the flowering stem above a clump of oval bright green leaves at the base of the plant

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

#ArtAdventCalendar For Day 17 A watercolour study of three tasty heirloom vegetables from my garden: the short succulent ‘Parade’ cucumber, ‘Trionfo Violetto’ purple-podded pole bean, and the very sweet ‘Black Cherry’ tomato

watercolour study showing 3 heirloom vegetables: a short green-blue cucumber, a dark purple-podded bean and a deep burgundy cherry tomato with a dark violet sheen

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

#ArtAdventCalendar For Day 16, I present a watercolour study of our native calypso orchid plant, found growing at the base of conifer trees in shady, mountain forests.

A watercolour illustration of a pink orchid on a short stem with a single round leaf at its base.

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

#ArtAdventCalendar Day 15 This peaceful scene is from a lovely mountain hike we did last summer.

A scene of a pale turquoise shallow lake with tall, dark green conifers lining the shore and mountains rising in the background under a deep blue sky with many white puffy clouds

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

#ArtAdventCalendar Day 14 In this silverpoint illustration of our native prairie crocus, I used a piece of silver wire as a stylus on a specially prepared painted base called a ground. This technique was popular for centuries before graphite pencils became available.

Sketch of a very hairy prairie crocus plant with a clump of dissected leaves at the base and a pale violet bud opening on a stem arising above the leaves. The sketch is drawn with silverpoint on an ivory background.

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

#ArtAdventCalendar Day 13 My first outdoor mosaic project, playfully portraying branches of the three cottonwood species that grow native in our river valley. Each ceramic tile was hand cut, glazed and fired, then set in mortar and grout. Fallen leaves were used as patterns.

A tile mosaic panel is set above the door of a wooden shed. The mosaic shows green and yellow cottonwood leaf tiles along white branch tiles surrounded by blue swirling sky tiles. The shed roof is covered with snow and there are snow-covered branches of trees behind the shed.

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

#ArtAdventCalendar Day 12 Nature creates a dancing art display with this vibrant corona across the night sky during a strong aurora substorm last year. This camera lens view picked up more colour than the eye can see, but it’s still fantastic to experience.

Black tree silhouettes line the horizon as an aurora substorm bursts out overhead in the sky. Faint stars are barely visible behind the aurora’s red and green rays that radiate out from a central violet zig-zag shape.

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

#ArtAdventCalendar Day 11 A fabulously frilly giant poppy that just appeared among our small patch of garden garlic this summer

a bright pink poppy with very frilly petals

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

Day 10 of #ArtAdventCalendar My coloured pencil illustration of a ‘Morden Centennial’ rose hip in winter #sciart #botanical

a coloured pencil illustration of a dark red rose hip in winter

a circle of pale grey-green pointed spent sepals top the hip. which is at the tip of a dark red leafless stem

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

Day 9 #ArtAdventCalendar This wheel-thrown stoneware vase was a fun glaze trial using alternating brush stokes and random spots of cobalt and iron oxide stains and a wax resist over a white base glaze.

a wheel-thrown ceramic vase glazed with blue and brown stains that are randomly spotted around the rim and painted as vertical strokes over the body

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

#ArtAdventCalendar For Day 8, I present an image from my plant pattern series, featuring the striped stalks of a ‘Peppermint’ chard. In the limited space of our urban garden, I choose to grow colourful vegetables that are uncommon in the grocery store.

close view of the magenta-and-white-striped stalks of a chard plant with a bit of the deep green leaf visible

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

Day 7 #ArtAdventCalendar Enjoying the view from a Nigel Pass hike last summer.

View of rocky peaks from a mountain pass against a blue sky

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

Day 6 #ArtAdventCalendar I experimented with two contrasting glazes on this wheel-thrown raku-fired vase: an iridescent metallic blue with flashes of red-violet on the body, and a shiny white crackle on the wide rim and interior.

round ceramic vase with a wide white crackle glazed band around the rim and a multi-sand glaze on the body that is an iridescent blue with red-violet flashes

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

Day 5 #ArtAdventCalendar My first foray into learning pen and ink, using a crow quill nib and three different techniques (described in alt text) to illustrate the rare native fawn lily I found on Vancouver Island. I need plenty more practice to control the flow of ink.

Three pen and ink sketches of a pink fawn lily: the first sketch shows the pale pink flower and mottled blue-green foliage done in watercolour pencils, the second is done with black ink hatch marks on the white paper, and the third sketch is drawn in the pointillism style, solely with black ink dots forming the flower.

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

Day 2 #ArtAdventCalendar Every November, I plant an amaryllis bulb indoors, just to observe its spear-shaped stalk slowly emerge from the bulb, tipped with a bud that eventually swells and reveals a cluster of magnificent trumpet-shaped blossoms during the depths of winter.

a clump of brilliant red trumpet-shaped amaryllis blossoms and unopened red buds on pale green tubular stems with flat strap new leaves emerging between the blooming stems

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

For #ArtAdventCalendar Day 1 ‘Bull’s Blood’ beet, watercolour on hot press paper I grew a clump of heirloom beets from seed, harvested the beautiful leaves as baby greens for salads, then painted this one at the end of the season, and roasted the roots. Delicious!

watercolour illustration of a beet root, with violet red leaves that are surrounded by stubs left from harvesting young leaves for salad greens

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

Sunrise sky over the Oldman River Valley #nature

golden grassy hills along a river valley that is spanned by a long black trestle bridge and a pale rosy orange sky at sunrise

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

It’s that glorious time of year, when the alpine larch trees (Larix lyallii), a deciduous conifer, turn gold before shedding their soft, fine needles. #nativeplants #photography

An autumn alpine scene with reddish grasses in the foreground, and a forest of golden larch trees against a background of blue mountain peaks in the distance

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

You know it’s fall when the seed heads of our native blue grama grass (Bouteloua gracilis) curl up like eyelashes and scatter their seeds. #nativeplants

curled golden blue grama grass seedheads resemble eyelashes against a field of golden prairie grass

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 17/09/2025

Plant day-neutral types of strawberries like this ‘Seascape’ variety and you’ll be picking right up until frost. Our cool September nights produce the sweetest fruit of the season. 🍓 #ediblegarden

A bright red ripe strawberry is nestled among the green leaves of a strawberry plant. Developing green strawberries can be seen just above it on the left. The low-growing plants are mulched with small wood chips.

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June Flanagan @juneflanagan.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

After another spell of smoke blurring our sun, it’s fantastic to see bright garden sunflowers against a clear blue sky. If you look closely, you can see a bumblebee heading to join the pollinating frenzy on this flowerhead. This impressive ‘Pikes Peak’ variety is over 3 metres tall.

Bright yellow sunflower bloom on a vivid green leafy stalk with a violet-leaved maple tree and brilliant blue sky in the background. A bumblebee is barely visible flying towards the flower to join other bees on this large blossom head.

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