Friday flowers…white & FOTD plus Squares: Why trees?

Today’s a big overlap because it’s the last weekend of “white” as the Life in Colour challenge and the first day of the new Squares challenge where July’s theme is “trees.” In addition, any day is a FOTD day (Flower of the Day). While I can’t get one photo to meet all these themes, as usual I try not to do multiple posts except on some weekends, so I’m including two photos, the second for Squares.

While hiking through McDowell Preserve during my trip back to Illinois, I came across a bush of what I believe is common ninebark. It might have “common” in the name but a bush covered with these is anything but common to my mind and just right for the last flowers in the “white” challenge.

for Life in Colour: white and Cee’s FOTD

Becky, in her infinite wisdom, has decided the July’s squares will be “trees.” To me, trees usually require a vertical rectangle, but I shall rise above my inclinations to meet her challenge. I’ll start with my original question: (Wh)y trees? 🙂 This is the photographic rendition of that question as seen at Boyce Thompson Arboretum, which I was thankful to learn had been spared, just barely, by one of the recent wildfires, the Telegraph Fire! What a loss that would have been!

for Squares: trees

Bonus Arizona whites

I’d planned to take part in the Lens-Artists Challenge today but we just bought access to Le Tour de France, so that’s five hours or so where we’re glued to the screen. Yesterday morning was my Friday grocery shopping and cleaning day for my parents, but in the afternoon my mom fell, so I was there twice more, the second time to help with dinner and then watch most of game 7 of the remaining Stanley Cup semifinal game between Tampa Bay and the NY Islanders, which also meant I didn’t get much done at home. Tomorrow my parents will be here to celebrate their 69th wedding anniversary, so a bit of prep called for there as well. All of which means I have plenty to do or to distract me and the challenge for Lens-Artists isn’t a straightforward one today. So I’m sharing three bonus white photos for Life in Colour: white, all of which come from Arizona.

This photo of a snowy egret amuses me as it appears the bird is being lifted to heaven by and in the ray of light. In case you wondered, it didn’t get that far but flew off elsewhere. 🙂

Not an artistic photo but it is an iconic one for desert dwellers. Humorous, but take it to heart and stay on the path!

This bee is living proof that the poisonous datura isn’t poisonous for bees and also has enormous, beautiful white flowers.

I hope you’re each having an enjoyable, relaxing weekend.

Friday flowers…dying white

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, old Time is still a-flying. And this same flower that smiles today, tomorrow will be dying.
Robert Herrick

for Life in Colour: white and Cee’s Flower of the Day

Wordless Wednesday…white by the ocean

for Life in Colour: white

Friday flowers…light, glorious light

And bright glorious light for today’s “Square” entry, once again from Descanso Gardens in southern California.

Friday flowers…come inside

Getting up close and personal with this flower. Happy Friday!

for SquareUp 1.29.21

Pretty is as pretty does.

While viewing yesterday’s osprey, I chatted with a couple, then shared with them where the white flowers are once again blooming off the beaten path. You’ve seen these before, once in a video and in a macro. But this time I had a bit of a surprise. They knew exactly what these beautiful flowers were and they weren’t what I expected.

The couple told me that these are datura and very poisonous! As for names? Moonflower sounds nice, but devil’s weed, hell’s bells and devil’s trumpet? Not so much.

Datura is a genus of nine species of poisonous vespertine flowering plants belonging to the family Solanaceae. They are commonly known as thornapples or jimsonweeds but are also known as devil’s trumpets (not to be confused with angel’s trumpets, which are placed in the closely related genus Brugmansia). Other English common names include moonflower, devil’s weed and hell’s bells. The Mexican common name toloache (also spelled tolguacha) derives from the Nahuatl tolohuaxihuitl, meaning “the plant with the nodding head” (in reference to the nodding seed capsules of Datura species belonging to section Dutra of the genus). Wikipedia

Datura wrap-up waiting to bloom…

Friday flowers…succulent

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: White flowers…elegance

“White Flowers” is the theme for Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week. I’m sharing another shot of this elegant arrangement at Krannert Hall in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois.  As I’ve said before, I’d love this in my house. But I’ll settle for sharing for this challenge.