Floral

Fancy Crazy Poppy

Posted January 12, 2022 by Ellie

Fancy Crazy Poppy

This poppy is going from the sublime of the Crumpled Poppy of the other day to the ridiculous of total extravagance of petals. Once again this beauty came from Jane’s wonderful garden, taken last June when the blooms were at their peak. She offered to let me have a root from this plant, so all I had to do was go back when it was no longer flowering. Did I go back? Not yet. I am pretty certain that it is ready now, so I might be able to dig up a root. If I can find the place under all the snow we had a few days ago! (Just kidding, of course, now I will have to wait until next year.) In any case I can look at this glorious red display on my screen until I can get there and see them again in the real, next summer. I should have seized the opportunity at the time, which reminds me that there are no doubt similar things I should not let slide right now. So friends, when you get offered a gift like that, don’t hesitate to make the bit of effort it might take to accept it, or you might miss it as I did. Today’s thought, then, is ‘seize the day!’. I am sending a warm hug to all. The Flower a Day #487 View all posts on the Home page.  

To view the info and Flower a Day galleries…

Continue reading →

Peony for Picking

Posted January 11, 2022 by Ellie

Peony for Picking

If you remember yesterday’s bristly bellflower featured post you will now see why that compliments these peonies that I pick for displaying in a vase. If you don’t recall the look of the bellflower, a quick glance at the bottom of this blog post will remind you. The gentle mauve/pink and white coloured petals, as well as the lovely rounded heads of the peony are set off perfectly by the blue/purple of the bell shaped heads of that campanula. There is a lovely warm deeper pink at the heart of this flower, perhaps to beckon pollinators in to find some treasure? Or is it perhaps just to draw our eye past those raindrop jewelled outer edges, to explore the depths? In writing this, I suddenly was seized by a deep yearning to see those beginning to bud and flower again. It’s far too soon to give in to such wishing, but now, in the aftermath of the first of the winter storms, the temptation to sit and dream of such times is very powerful. A look out of the window at the sparkling snow and white rimmed branches has shaken me out of my reverie, so I will take my own advice of the other day and live each day for the beauty it brings. The Flower a Day #486 View all posts on the Home page.  

To view the info and Flower a Day galleries…

Continue reading →

Bristly Bellflower

Posted January 10, 2022 by Ellie

Bristly Bellflower, Campanula

It seems that I have a lot to learn about the flowers growing around me. For years this has been one of my favourite blooms to cut and display with pink and white peonies, as they flower in my garden at the same time of year. I had no idea that this was a variety of campanula, called Bristly Bellflower. The only thing I knew was that it seemed to grow despite being rather poorly treated and constantly uprooted. I have read today that this is invasive, which in my case is a happy situation. The number of times I was upset because the area had been weeded and this beauty had disappeared are countless. Little did I know that this plant was simply biding its time to reappear and so, the following year I would find just enough scattered plants had regrown to provide me with flowery, bristly stems to set off the peonies in my vases. One year I even asked Steven to transplant some to be sure we didn’t lose it. Now I can give it a name and relax, knowing that even if we wanted to get rid of it, it would not be an easy task. So my peony displays are safe for the future it seems. I hope you all have a lovely day with at least one fun discovery. Flower a Day #485 View all posts on the Home page.  

To view the info and Flower a Day galleries…

Continue reading →

Perfect Pink Rose

Posted January 9, 2022 by Ellie

Perfect Pink Rose

We have to thank my friend Jane again, for today’s Pink Flower Day subject. Of course nothing is perfect and no doubt if you zoom in on this beauty you will see imperfections galore. On the other hand, the little imperfections make this rose unique, like no other on that bush. So while we are looking at this as a ‘pink rose’, this particular flower is actually a one of a kind. We are used to birds and animals being unique characters (and probably even insects too, for all I know). The idea of each and every flower being an original is a bit strange, but why not? And of course our friends are all original, all unique, so we treasure them all for their individual beauty they bring to our relationships. Have a good day being originals, my friends. Flower a Day #484 View all posts on the Home page.  

To view the info and Flower a Day galleries…

Continue reading →