The Land That Ugly Forgot The Bewildering, Beautiful and Blithe Happenings Around Vancouver, BC

4Jul/111

Perennial Daylilies

Daylilies come up every year in the garden, serving as a popular rest stop for butterflies, bees and anyone else seeking pollen.

1Jun/113

Totally Tubular


Interesting how the perspective changes your view of the world; I never would have known that these petals are actually little tubes without having looked at them in macro.

17Feb/112

Fuchsia

What a weird word to look at - "fuchsia". That's what this is though. And it's absolute perfection. If there was a contest for being perfect, Ms. Gerbera here would be a fan favourite. It hasn't even a single bent petal or bit of an askew tilt anywhere. Ridiculous how amazing nature can be.

15Feb/114

Fresh Cut

Whoever's been doing their rain dance needs to stop because it's been raining in the Lower Mainland for I've lost count now how many days on end (or so it seems...). Flowers like these Gerbera Daisies need some serious sun. I'm not a big proponent of artificial things, but a 'hip, hip, hooray' for greenhouses and artificial light.

5Jan/115

Zantedeschia

For all you botanists out there that are up on your plant genera, you'll know that Zantedeschia is the genus for Calla Lily. It's a clean and simple flower with elegant lines at a quick glance, but I find it increasingly detailed and complex the more I look at it up close. Especially with the pop of magenta striations built in to this one.

20Dec/102

Nerine, the Star of the Show

Against a glittery backdrop.... here's Nerine!
I think it's a pretty name, but you don't hear that flower name used much as a given first name for girls, like: Lily, Jasmine, Daisy, Willow, Holly, Iris, Rose, Violet.
If you're lucky and have a sweetheart partner, you may be called Buttercup or Sweetpea.
Your Grandpa might be a Poppy.
Nobody wants to be called a Pansy.

18Dec/102

Vibrant Viburnum

This has petals of three instead of five, but I think it's still a variety of Viburnum - the plant that produces these white blooms and those red berries we see around Christmas:

6Dec/102

Half

The colours of this gerbera daisy make it look sugary and sweet, just like a can of Orange Crush pop.

1Dec/106

White and Bright

I've found white flowers the most difficult so far to photograph. It's hard to avoid them looking flat when they're lit up. And they always need some cleanup; stray pollen grains, bits of fuzz stuck on the petals.... things you don't see until you look at it through a macro lens! Q-tips come in handy. So do small fingers with a dainty touch.

29Nov/106

A Side of Red

This time of year we're in for a few months of dreary weather. It'll be a while until we see these in the yard again, so good thing there's flower shops (and indoor DIY macro flower studios...) that make these colours available year round.