Macro Monday #79

(click to enlarge to full size)

Tulip in decay

A visit to the Eden Project at the beginning of May was not the best time to go for tulips this year, although there were still some in bud outside. In the Mediterranean Biome though it was a different story. Large terracotta pots (and oh, how I wish I could (a) afford and (b) lift such pots) contained tulips in their dying throes. However, with the light pouring through the windows it proved to be an opportunity for capturing their ‘stained-glass’ beauty.

 

Flowers in Australia: 15

Kangaroo Apple / Solanum aviculare

a perennial woody evergreen member of the Solanum genus in the family Solanaceae.

 

Here Comes Summer #7

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people’s gardens
And learn to spit.

Jenny Joseph (partial)

pelargonium

hollyhocks and buddleja

hollyhock

clematis

scabious

campanula

phlox

clematis

hollyhock

cornflower

hardy geranium

achimenes

agapanthus

salvia

sweet-pea

hydrangea

agapanthus

clematis

asters

Ailsa of Where’s My Backpack is having a purple moment. Join in if you can.

Sedum

Purple Sedum

Allium ‘Purple Sensation’

The gardens in the UK seem to be full of alliums at the moment – beautiful swathes of purpleness.

Alliums

Allium giganteum

Queen of Night

My ‘black’ tulips have finally opened and what a glorious colour they are. The petals have a sheen that is difficult to capture with my camera, but think of silk and how that changes in the light.

Queen of Night tulips

May

Flower Portrait: Pasque Flower

The pasque flower, Pulsatilla vulgaris, is a beautiful spring flower, traditionally a sign that Easter has arrived. The silky buds open to light purple, cup-shaped flowers which mature to develop a star shape. As the flowers develop, ferny foliage starts to appear at the base of the stems, which continues to look good after the flowering season has finished.

Pasque Flower