Thought for the Week

"A hug is a perfect gift - one size fits all and nobody minds if you give it back."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



'A' is for ...

Thanks to Denise for coming up with this idea of Photograph Wednesday and for letting us all join in. I love photography, and this will give me a new reason to grab my camera and get out there!

So it begins, with the letter 'A'

I have photographed an Amaryllis that has flowered beautifully in my dining room. It was given to me by my favourite Auntie when I visited her last month as a surprise. She lives about 2 hours away from me and is a volunteer in the gardens of a National Trust property where her partner is the head gardener. I came home with fresh, organically grown veggies, 3 succulents and this amaryllis bulb that had just begun to grow.



The stamens of large headed flowers like the amaryllis and lillies fascinate me. They begin life emerging from the bud as smooth, brightly coloured wands and almost immediately begin to split open and turn themselves inside-out, revealing their pollen coated jackets.


Standing to attention, in a neat little formation, as if competing for the mother flowers attention, almost shouting, here I am, and aren't I just gorgeous.


An amaryllis with a flower head at each of the compass points N, S, E & W was not too happy when I tried to sit one on top of the other to capture this, but I was eventually the winner in the battle of wills. I'm so glad I persevered, I love this shot.

15 comments:

Elaine Denning said...

Lillies are my favourite flower. My Mum keeps telling me to cut the stamens off (cos that stuff gets everywhere) but they look so pretty!

Beautiful pictures Ali.

Ali said...

Laney ~ A lilly without it's stamens is like a woman without her make-up, shame on your Mum!! lol

ellie said...

I love that second picture, the petals look so perfect they almost look artificial.
When I was at school and learning plant reproduction I always remembered stamens were the male part of the plant because it sounded like semen. Nothing changes eh? Im still thinking about male organs.

Mike said...

Absolute rubbish! Are you sure you've been on a photography course? lol (I'm only joking) x

mrsnesbitt said...

Ali, can I use your photographs please? I will make some new greetings cards from the image. Obviously I will credit the picture to you. I will send you a couple anyway, I think your Auntie would love it!

Denisexx

Ali said...

Ellie ~ The petals almost look like they are made of sugar granules don't they. I love macro photography.

Denise ~ Of course you can, I'm honoured you want to use them, and thank you for asking permission. Send me your email and I will send you the original if you need it, I down sized the files to upload here!

Mike said...

They're all lovely Ali. I prefer the first one. It's very pleasing to the eye. You've done a great job.

Ali said...

Mike ~ Hi honey, didn't see you there!!!!! Glad you like my pics! x

RUTH said...

Stunning photos! What a great start to your A to Z.

mrsnesbitt said...

denisedotnesbittatbtinternetdotcom

Dxxxxxxxxxx

Anonymous said...

Very beautiful pictures. I love it. I can't wait to follow your photos through the rest of the alphabet.

Ali said...

Ruth ~ Thank you. I love photography, but I always feel a little nervous of posting them... some people (hmm 'M') are just (ahhem 'i') so flippin' (ahhh 'k') 'orrible, with a (hisss 'e') capital 'O'!!! But I see now who has an eye for beauty!!

Thanks for stopping by, can't wait to visit the 'B' shots next week

Denise ~ email on way honey.

DWQ ~ No pressure then????? lol... Thanks for dropping in, and p-l-e-a-s-e can I have your duck when your done with him??

Mike said...

Can I have a go at this game as well then? :):):)

Ali said...

Mike, it would be great if you played along, the more the merrier as Denise says. If you would be so kind as to make a link to Mrs Nesbitts site, as the originator of the 'abc Photograph Wednesday' in your first entry that would be great.

So, come on then, I know it's Thursday, but let's have the 'A is for..' so I can abuse it!!!! lol x

Cherrie said...

Lovely photos, Ali! And the new look of the blog is quite striking! Although I miss the waterfall (Niagara?).