Spring is my favorite time – for flowers, that is. This cymbidium orchid popped out two lovely blooms from last year’s plant. I moved the orchid to the patio, where it seems to like the filtered sunlight and humidity. Click the image to enlarge.
California Poppy
It was overcast most of the day today, but there was a little sunlight this afternoon – just enough to get this shot of one of the poppies growing in the garden. Click the image for the 1024×768 pixel close-up.
Some information on the California poppy from WikiPedia:
The California poppy is the California state flower. It was selected as the state flower by the California State Floral Society in December 1890, winning out over the Mariposa lily (genus Calochortus) and the Matilija poppy (Romneya coulteri) by a landslide, but the state legislature did not make the selection official until 1903. Its golden blooms were deemed a fitting symbol for the Golden State. April 6 of each year is designated “California Poppy Day.”
California poppy leaves were used medicinally by Native Americans, and the pollen was used cosmetically. The seeds are used in cooking.
The Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve is located in northern Los Angeles County, California. At the peak of the blooming season, orange petals seem to cover all 1,745 acres (7 km²) of the reserve.
Bearded Iris
On Monday, I posted a photo of irises that we bought as cut flowers. The last couple of days, the bearded iris from the bulbs I planted in January are coming out. This photo shows the first one on the patio this year. Click the image to enlarge and you can see a Sachem Skipper on the flower.
Dutch Hyacinth
Over the weekend, I brought this Dutch Hyacinth home from the flower concession in the supermarket. These come and go rather quickly, but they are so beautiful and fragrant when they bloom.
Today, you can not walk into the kitchen, where these are in bloom, without noticing the beautiful fragrance, let alone the pretty pink blossoms.
Click on the image to enlarge.
WikiPedia has this to say about the Dutch Hyacinth:
The Dutch, or Common Hyacinth of house and garden culture (H. orientalis, native to southwest Asia) was so popular in the 18th century that over 2,000 cultivars were cultivated in the Netherlands, its chief commercial producer. This hyacinth has a single dense spike of fragrant flowers in shades of red, blue, white, orange, pink, violet, or yellow. A form of the common hyacinth is the less hardy and smaller blue- or white-petalled Roman hyacinth of florists. These flowers should have indirect sunlight and are to be moderately watered.
Gratuitous Wanderlust
We saw a commercial promoting tourism in Utah on the TV this evening. Of course, that induced a serious case of wanderlust in both of us. I dug out this photo of an arch in southern Utah near Moab. We can’t wait to get back to this ‘red dirt’ part of the world. Click image to enlarge.
Iris
These colorful iris are store-bought – we got several stems Friday at the flower concession in the supermarket. Soon, though, our patio will be host to some very beautiful bearded iris and who knows what else. Stay tuned.
Click the image to enlarge.
