So my violet-thumbed better half is again responsible for growing today’s Flower a Day. It seems a bit lame to call it a blue violet, but as I don’t have a name (another acquisition from the hardware or possibly grocery store, where they don’t bother to name their varieties) this will have to do. Besides, it is a blue African violet. I love the contrast of colours here and how I can almost make smiling faces of the petals as they overlap. Have a happy day, with lots of smiles wherever you see them, my friends.
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Today’s Flower a Day is another that I photographed in a hardware store, next to the bags of potting soil and racks of tools and supplies. Such beauty is only enhanced by the contrast with the rather grubby surrounds and when I walked into the aisle all of the building supplies disappeared for me, eclipsed by this radiance. I hope you are like me and are drawn to this bright happy flower in its drab environment. Looking for and seeing beauty wherever you are makes ugliness fade from view.
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Just add water! Yes, these are clearly seeds to grow little suns with their lovely rays as you see in the background. Do we need such seeds? Absolutely! The warmth will be most welcome. Sadly I left these where they were growing and did not collect any or I would send some out to all of my Flower a Day sun seeking friends. Instead of seeds, this photograph will have to do for us all, so I hope it warms the heart if not the skin. I will be checking out the seed catalogue to find some of this wonderful plant for next winter. If I find the official name, I’ll let you know!
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Another (official, or almost official) World Wild Aster Day on Flower a Day features this group of pretty blue wild asters. They almost seem to be swimming around here, with their delicate, slender petals floating above this dark background of leaves. They seem almost ethereal so light and airy are they. It’s hard to believe, as I trudge now through the snow where they grew, that it really wasn’t that long ago. But I look at where they were and know that under the snow, the promise of them is there and waiting, patiently, for the warmth of summer to awaken them. Hold onto that thought, my friends.
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This red and yellow Lantana, seen in a closer view than previously in our Flower a Day seems to really radiate happiness. And believe it or not, this plant I carefully dug up from the garden is flowering again, in my front porch. And that brings me such delight to see it. I guess that means that I am doing something right. I hope the pretty little florettes bring you all a measure of joy to your day, my friends.
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Today’s Flower a Day treat is a fluffy one, the seeds from the Canadian Goldenrod flowers. From a distance, in late summer the edges of paths and fields look as if a giant pillow fight has resulted in white fluff spread over the countryside. A closer look at these plants reveals within the white strands a complexity of tiny threads and dark stems and seeds that are like a little universe. So little is as simple as it appears from a distance. It’s always worth a closer look. Enlarging this photo in the gallery shows the detail better.
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I thought we should take a walk on the wild side in our Flower a Day posting, with this wild Sea Radish scene from last summer. These were growing on the verge and were so impressive in their numbers, that, though tiny they easily captured my attention. I don’t usually have the same colour featured in subsequent posts, but with the rather gloomy weather we’ve had lately, I wanted more sunshine, so here they are for us all. I hope in their airy carefree abandonment they might make our day feel a little lighter. With them I send a warm hug to all.
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This plant, also known as Cinquefoil (five leaves) has special memories for me, on this Flower a Day. It was one that formed a hedge in front of the first house I lived in as a young wife and mother in a lovely seaside town in England. I loved the bright blooms that covered it, cheering up even the most miserable rainy day. I hadn’t paid much attention to flowers growing in gardens until they grew in my own and this mature, thick hedge was a legacy from someone who must have had a love of beauty a long time before I lived there. I think the hedge is now gone, along with the lovely flowering cherries that flanked the front door behind these beauties. But they are still blooming in my memory. Somewhere in our memories there are always flowers blooming. We just have to look for them.
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We have moved indoors (only temporarily, don’t worry) today for our Flower a Day feature. Some of you know that I am married to a man with a green violet thumb. Our house has been filled with these wonderful flowers for a few years now, thanks entirely to Steven’s care and nurturing (and propagating) of these beautiful plants. There are so many different varieties of this species and I know we only have a few (so far), but I am going to feature the ones we have from time to time. They give me so much joy when I see them and I always think of my mother when I see these as she loved her own small collection. I know she would have been impressed with how many we have and just how prolific they are. For today I am thankful for small pots of gorgeous colour. I hope you have some such where you live and, if not, that this will help to fill that void for you. To view the info and gallery…