Here in the Hills

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

garden beauty

You all know how much I like "close-ups"...and also, how much I love color, too. So, getting in close on these Cereus Flowers shows an incredible amount of variation of color.... These flowers open wide at night and stay open somewhat in the early part of the day....These flowers are a bit slower to close up than some other Night Blooming Cereus...... The delicacy and transparency of these petals is quite astounding....And yet, they have a solid feel to the touch.....I love the very white white of these petals but then when you take a closer look, there is a great variation....this kind of slight pinkness and tanness, and even a pale lavenderness..... And then, as you can see from the picture above, the outside protective leaves can be a dark red to magenta to reddish brown...to----in some cases, a shocking pink! And then...out of seemingly nowhere--there will be this yellow to green in the petals.....And of course, at the bottom of the flower is the green of the stem of the flower.... I love seeing those little stamens and pistols(?) there, right in the middle of the flower...... You can even see a little bit of purple that has crept in on the edges of those petals, as this bloom is closing up and dying, before our eyes......The cycle of life......But, what is left, after the flower completely dries up and gets ready to drop to the ground, is the beginning of the fruit that comes after..... And there above, you can see the flowers that have dried up and a couple of flowers that are still somewhat open, and two flowers that are still in the growing stage----not yet even quite recognizable as the flowers they will become....You might want to click on all of these to be able to see them bigger..... And above, those many green bulbous things are the not quite ripe fruits that develop and ripen within a few weeks after the flower dies and falls to the ground....These are the fruits that the Finches just love to chomp on.... The abundance of Flowers and Fruit each year is remarkable! I've tasted this fruit and it is absolutely delicious....! You can see the interior of the fruit in the picture above....It is a Beautiful Deep Shocking Pink.....! And so you can see what a beautiful flower starts all this---here below is one of these Cereus Flowers, one night when it was wide open! And below....a closer look at a really lush flower taken one night, this past summer.....So very delicate, and so very beautiful.....for one night, once a year....

More To Come......

24 Comments:

VV had this to say:: Wow, great shots. I too love the close up flower shots. I love to see the textures and variations in the color. It's like this whole other world in miniature.; Tuesday, October 21, 2008 at 6:49:00 AM PDT
Frequent Traveler had this to say:: You can even make cactus flowers look gorgeous, Naomi. Feminine, delicate, lush. The colors are exquisite !

Happy Tuesday to you :); Tuesday, October 21, 2008 at 8:11:00 AM PDT
Monogram Queen had this to say:: You just do flower photos SO WELL! I love them!; Tuesday, October 21, 2008 at 9:50:00 AM PDT
Anonymous had this to say:: A sure sign of fall when fruit is ripening and falling to the ground. Our persimmon tree is loaded to the gills and I hope the deer get in during the night to clean up around it. Otherwise, the yard winds up smelling like a distillery when the fruit ferments.

Cheers.; Tuesday, October 21, 2008 at 11:38:00 AM PDT
kenju had this to say:: Naomi, your photos look more like paintings. So beautiful.; Tuesday, October 21, 2008 at 12:30:00 PM PDT
Scarlet had this to say:: You know how I adore your close ups of your garden flowers...as well as the birds and the bees. :)

This rare and beautiful flower has the prettiest colors. I like it with the blue sky background. It brought me peace.; Tuesday, October 21, 2008 at 2:29:00 PM PDT
Shionge had this to say:: So refreshing :D I have never seen such flowers before.; Tuesday, October 21, 2008 at 7:11:00 PM PDT
Lucy Stern had this to say:: The birds are enjoying the fruits of your beautiful flowers.....; Tuesday, October 21, 2008 at 8:42:00 PM PDT
Lydia had this to say:: Happy Tuesday! I'm not sure which brings more joy- the photos of the flowers or the birds eating the fruit.; Tuesday, October 21, 2008 at 10:26:00 PM PDT
Pat had this to say:: That finch is in Heaven and he's looking straight at you saying 'Please Naomi - hands off - these are for finches!'; Wednesday, October 22, 2008 at 4:13:00 AM PDT
Pat had this to say:: Do you think Randall will have drunken deer?; Wednesday, October 22, 2008 at 4:14:00 AM PDT
Gigi Ann had this to say:: Naomi,

The pictures are lovely. I also like how you walk us through the life cycle of the flower to the conclusion, where the bird is loving his sweet treat!; Wednesday, October 22, 2008 at 8:05:00 AM PDT
debra had this to say:: What a beautiful flower!And the photos, too. It's fall her in NE Ohio--the leaves are brilliant, and today the sky is incredibly blue.
The diversity of this planet is fabulous. Thanks for posting those pictures.; Wednesday, October 22, 2008 at 9:15:00 AM PDT
Dianne had this to say:: You're so good at close-ups

I love when their edges go to purple, they look most dramatic at that point; Wednesday, October 22, 2008 at 1:58:00 PM PDT
Rachel had this to say:: Lovely Naomi, just lovely!! Your pictures make me look at flowers more closely now!; Wednesday, October 22, 2008 at 3:10:00 PM PDT
Julie had this to say:: How gorgeous! Fantastic photography!!!!!!!!!; Wednesday, October 22, 2008 at 7:30:00 PM PDT
Anonymous had this to say:: These are just wonderful shots, as always.
And the fruits remind me of The Little Shop of Horrors...
:); Thursday, October 23, 2008 at 8:40:00 AM PDT
Deana had this to say:: Fantastic pictures- as always. It is nice how that little hint of yellow in the bottom portion of the flower just sets it off so! Nature does know what she is doing!!!; Thursday, October 23, 2008 at 10:02:00 AM PDT
awareness had this to say:: beautiful Naomi....loves the translucence of the blooms. You most definately captured their feminity.; Thursday, October 23, 2008 at 2:10:00 PM PDT
Teena in Toronto had this to say:: Wow! All we have here are falling leaves, though they are beautiful colours!; Thursday, October 23, 2008 at 4:18:00 PM PDT
Chickie had this to say:: Love the close ups too! You know, I think flowers look pretty when they're dying as well as when they're all fresh.; Thursday, October 23, 2008 at 7:35:00 PM PDT
Rick Rockhill had this to say:: so beautiful. I can look at flowers all day, they always make me smile.; Saturday, October 25, 2008 at 9:04:00 AM PDT
Anonymous had this to say:: I'm speechless ...makes my eyes water. Such tender pastels.; Sunday, October 26, 2008 at 7:38:00 PM PDT
Shephard had this to say:: Beautiful. I love how the colors soften and graduate. :)
~S; Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 11:02:00 AM PDT