Cee’s challenge of Flower of the Day always keeps me looking for the floral beauty around me. This beauty is in one of the raised flower beds at the church. We put in 4 raised beds by the community garden for people who have trouble bending over but still want to play in the dirt. Then we put two more between two parking lots for those on walkers who still want to plant or just enjoy flowers with easy access. These coreopsis are large and beautiful.
This one bloom evidently got some extra fertilizer as he was a good 4-5 inches across and shows who is boss of the flower box.
Flowers have a personality too as they share their beauty with us. They seem to smile at us as they sway in the breeze. Take a note from their beauty and smile at others. It shows amazing kindness when you do.
Cee’s FOTD challenge reminds us of the beauty we see in the little things around us. Today the raised boxes outside the church with the portulaca, moss roses, was very colorful. These are very hardy plants that bloom all summer well into the fall and are very drought tolerant. That means they can withstand careless care taking.
They are small blooms only about 2″ in diameter but they create multiple blooms of varying colors; rosy reds, oranges, pinks, yellows and whites.
As we zoom around being busy, let’s not forget the small beauty around us. It can be in flowers, birds or the smile of a child. And as we enjoy this beauty, let’s not forget to be kind. The tiniest bit of kindness we share can sometimes break through the tremendous cloud of misery that may surround someone.
Fall is now coming in, so my summer flowers are fading. But Cee’s “P” FOTD challenge fit right in with my yard. The petunias are still hanging on even though we have had a couple of frosty mornings.
The stripped varieties have always been a favorite as well as the purple…
The yellows and whites are sure to make you smile…
Then the old standby pink is never out shinned…
I hope you enjoyed a walk through my fading but still colorful yard. As fall continues onward, I will focus on the marigolds and mums. Have a great day and remember to always be kind.
While I have tried to have different colors of violets, these are the ones that seem to thrive.
My front window gets about 3 hours of direct sun early in the morning but the brightness of the day still comes through the windows making it a perfect place for house plants.
This macro shows the fuzziness under the leaves and along the leaf edges while the light seems to shimmer off the purple color.
There are many ways to be beautiful like a flower but the best reflection comes from the kindness we show to everything we come in contact with. Kindness shows an inner beauty we should always have.
We, who play with Cee’s challenges of FOTD, understand that all things growing are allowed for this fun challenge. So today I give you a really pretty flower, looking similar to a morning glory but is a larger and thicker tube shaped flower.
This is the flower of a sweet potato. Due to the crazy spring we had in the midwest, these were later getting in the ground and they are still blooming like crazy. Today was the last hold out for summer – it was 96 today – so with cooler temps coming, we are hoping these vines will slow down their growth and begin to turn yellow. The notes I read said wait until the vines start to turn on the ends. Well, these vines are in four foot high planters in our community garden and the vines cascade down all four sides to the ground. They are quite beautiful but I cant wait to see it we really have potatoes. Its our first time planting those.
Can you see the sparkles of color on the tuber?
Fun stuff. While we are having fun, I remind you of the easiness and powerfulness of kindness. It can make any situation sparkle brighter.
Well, we enjoyed him throughout the summer, but the sunflower giants have finished their life. Their goal, beside being beautiful, is to create seeds…that create more flowers…that create more seeds…that …well you know.
The giant at his most beautiful – over 11 feet tall
I find the evolution of the bloom itself amazing. It never stops growing. It can’t, for it has to get big enough to sustain the growth of the seeds. The bloom at the stage above is approximately 9 inches, not counting the beautiful yellow petals. But once the petals die and fall off, the flower center continues to gain in size as it produces the hundreds of seeds.
The inner bloom now is over 14 inches
The much needed rain we had this past weekend did the giant in, as the stem could no longer support the bloom’s weight of over 4 pounds. The stalk had bent over from its weight over the last few weeks to nearly 180 degrees but the hardiness of the stalk refused to let the bloom fall. It fell over from the root ball and soft ground. I could not get my fingers completely around the stalk.
Stalk was almost 3 inches in diameter.
I had to take a machete to take it to get it to the trash pile but I put the bloom out for the birds to enjoy the seeds. Yes, I will pull some seeds for next years project…a sunflower circle, a fun thing we saw on FB. I still have 1 giant left and 1 multi-bloom that are still surviving. I was also amazed by the size of the leaves. They looked like elephant ears – over 18 inches across.
But the seeds were the most amazing how they are packed tighter than seeds in a grape.
Look at the little flowerets for the ends of the seeds.
A macro to show how tightly packed they are.
For now is the time for season change. The sugar maples are beginning to change to show their red beauty with a sprinkling of yellow scattered through the leaves. As the season changes to a cooler climate, remember to keep your kindness warm.
Cee welcomes us all to join in on her challenge to share the beauty of the flowers around us. I am sharing 1 flower, a lily that is in a vase of flowers I was given. The lily shows its stages as one of the buds opened throughout the day. Hope you enjoy.
New life
The first shot was about 10am this morning. The tight bud of last night now is showing cracks of opening.
Taking a big breath
By lunch, the flower was showing progress as it began to roll out its petals.
Hello world
By the end of the football game I was watching, one side was completely open.
By early evening it was fully open taking taking a good 10 hours from bud to flower. An amazing beauty to be enjoyed.
Always remember the beauty of kindness. It really can change the momentum of the day.
I enjoy flower pictures and Cee’sFOTD is always fun. This picture I took was of a vase of flowers I had received. There is just something magical about a rose.
Be part of the beauty around you and have fun sharing the flowers you see. In closing I remind you to be kind. Kindness has a beauty all its own. You might be surprised the benefits it brings.
For Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge, I am combining close ups and macros. I took two photos of each flower, a close up and a macro, then decided which I liked best. Some I liked both. For starters, I can finally reach the bloom of one of my sunflowers because the weight of the massive bloom filled with seeds is causing the stalk to bend over. This is actually a close and a closer. The closer one you can seed the seeds.
I am surprised the birds have not attacked these. They are full
Some of my flowers have gotten real leggy but their blooms are still beautiful.
Two variations of marigolds. You can see that the inner part has tiny blooms that open as well.
The center of these also have those tiny buds that open like flowers
Some of the mums are hitting a second wave of blooming.
Dianthus are always a favorite
Petunias
Rich Purple
In closing we have the light pink center of a dark pink geranium.
A reminder that we don’t have to be in the center to be beautiful. Beauty, like kindness, comes from within. So, be beautifully kind.
Nature creates blooms from huge to tinyNature displays objects from elegant to craftyNature shows seasons of growth, change and rest
Nature is a gift from God for us to enjoy each day as we open our eyes to see the beauty that is in front of us, regardless of the season. We people have a nature and the strongest component is kindness.
For the Love of 