143B-0523 = David's New Flowers in Yard-for May 23 2010
Image by ♥ Crystal Writer ♥
Among the many ways David showed that he missed me, was in going out and getting some pretty flowers for our yard. He put them out early Sunday afternoon, so I had a second picture to take for the 143rd day of the year. You can even see the flower spikes still on the ground since I took this while he was actually still working.
The Secret Life of the Blue Lotus
Image by o palsson
I went to the Sarah P. Duke gardens in Durham, North Carolina, a few days ago to enjoy the comfortably mild and sunny weather, just bumming around with two cameras in case I came across something photo-worthy. I'm not a flower photographer at all -- I rarely take pictures of plants -- but I was taken by the sight of blue lotus flowers (Egyptian water lilies) floating on a pond there. Illuminated by the rays of the late afternoon sun at a low angle against the dark backdrop of the pond, with gusts of breeze making them tremble, it seemed like the interior of the flowers were living creatures dancing and glowing. So I used my super-zoom camera to zoom in from a distance on the flowers floating out on the pond to capture the scene.
This flower, the sacred water lily of the Nile, is native to Egypt and was treasured by the ancient Egyptians. Ancient Egyptian wall paintings often show people in social situations holding this plant in their hands. Apart from its beauty and fragrance, the Egyptians believed that it had great spiritual significance, as it was thought that the sun god Ra first emerged from his cradle inside a water lily. And looking at the glowing interior parts of these water lilies the other day, I could certainly see how they could come up with that notion.
Lotus corniculatus
Image by ieuleron
Bird's foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus).
I've been keeping my eye out for any color variations in this local wildflower.
I've found is a few plants with a slight reddish blush on the outside of unopened flower buds. (like this one, or this one.)
In my imagination, I see versions with white or red flowers filling roadsides with a riot of color.
--
Searching flickr has rewarded me with a nice color variation. Too bad I can't get seeds from a picture.
I also found a succulent relative of this plant, Lotus creticus,.
Lotus Flower
Image by treegrow
Nelumbo nucifera. Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, Washington, DC, USA. 18 July 2010.
I find it impossible to walk past a lotus pond and not take a picture of a blossom. They're one of the most gorgeous things on Earth.
Seerose / Water-lily
Image by only_point_five
Eine Weiße Seerose im Zoo Leipzig.
A European White Waterlily (or White Lotus), seen in the Zoo Leipzig, Germany.
Nymphaea alba
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar