Last pink roses-pictures of roses

Happy Halloween!

I have no sweets but I'll treat you with roses instead.
These are some of the last roses photographed this autumn. Beaten down by rain and wind, roses are still ROSES.


Click the badge to visit Macro Flower Saturday and join the fun!

Head over to Flowers on Saturday for more beautiful flower photos.

Read more >>

Garden snail on statice flower-macro

I know, gardeners don't like garden snails but they are such interesting creatures.
This little garden snail was crawling on this spiny statice flowers. And if the spines were not enough, its little house is broken.

Visit Macro Monday for many interesting macro shots.

Read more >>

Chinese lantern-Physalis alkekengi

Chinese lantern plants (Physalis alkekengi) are one of the season's delights.
This unique plant is a popular ornamental plant, appreciated for its bright orange-red papery covering over its fruit, which resemble Chinese lanterns.

As a member of the nightshade family, physalis is related to tomatoes, peppers and petunias.
The lanternlike bladders are protecting the forming fruit, which looks like a cherry tomato. Inside this shinny, smooth, flashy fruit are the seeds.
The fruit of the Chinese lantern plant is edible and is used to make delicious jams around the world.

The Chinese lantern looking balloon gradually dehydrates, becoming paper thin and breaking down to a delicate, lacy veiling. When the seeds inside are dry, this covering opens and the seeds will be scattered by the wind.

The dry branches with the fruits are used to accentuate flower arrangements.
For its aesthetically appealing fruits, the Chinese lantern plant is used as a means of garden decoration, thought it spreads rapidly. Its underground creeping rhizomes must be restricted, when planted in flower bed.

Read more >>

Jasmine Nightshade-Solanum jasminoides-Potato Vine

Jasmine Nightshade (Solanum jasminoides), also known as Potato Vine is a shrubby climber. This plant can reach 6 m in height and is very appreciated for its long flowering season.
Nightshade shrubs come into bloom in middle summer and persist till latest autumn.

The star-shaped flowers are pure white to light blue, with prominent yellow stamens. The flowers are followed by small purple-black berries, toxic if ingested.
Potato Vine is relatively frost-hardy, it can withstand cold temperatures down to about 17-21°F (-6°C to -8°C), and even lower.

Its evergreen leaves take a red tint during fall offering a spectacular view on fences and walls covered by Nightshade.

Another member of the Solanaceae Family is the Chinese lantern plant.

Read more >>

Look what the cat dragged in!

I was complaining all summer that I can't find butterflies for taking photos.

I woke up this morning with a beautiful Peacock butterfly in the bedroom. It probably came in yesterday when the window was open.
Peacock butterflies make a hissing sound, by rubbing their wings together. Though the sound is audible to human ears, I didn't hear it while sleeping and the poor butterfly was hitting the window glass for several hours, to get free.
Here it is, the Peacock butterfly, resting on my pink African violet.
Yet, it's not my lucky day; it closes its wings when resting, so I took several photos of its black underside.

The European Peacock (Inachis io), or simply, the Peacock butterfly has spectacular colors.
I love its large, colorful eye-spots; the ones from the hind wings are changing colors from blue to purple as the light angle changes.

The underside is almost black, providing perfect camouflage when the butterfly is at rest on a tree trunk, or when hibernating.
In autumn they are looking for a place to hibernate over winter, often wintering in buildings or trees.
Fly, fly, butterfly!
Fly over you too and join Macro Flower-Saturday

Read more >>

Roses and thorns-Happy Birthday Libra!

I send you some roses to brighten your day. Have a thornless week !

The red rose whispers of passion,
And the white rose breathes of love;
O, the red rose is a falcon,
And the white rose is a dove.

- John Boyle O’Reilly

Click the picture to enlarge!

Take time to smell the roses.

The sharp thorn often produces delicate roses.

- Ovid

This pink rose is for all Librans.

Happy Birthday Libra!

-and Happy Birthday to me !

The world is a rose, smell it and pass it to your friends.

- Persian Proverb

Visit Macro Monday at Lisa's for beautiful macros.

Read more >>

Fall flowers and hummingbirds

Weekend again! Welcome to the weekend flowers garden!

Though outdoor temperatures are low (10-15° C), some flowers like the cool weather.

From now on, till the first of November we will see the most beautiful fall flowers, especially chrysanthemums, of the year.

On the 1st of November is All Saints' Day. Like in most European countries, we celebrate the "Day of the Dead" on this day.

Most families visit cemeteries to remember deceased loved ones and decorate gravestones with chrysanthemums. Gardeners are holding their best flowers for this day when money doesn't count.
As I can't post all my autumn flower photos on the blog, I show them up in the following video.
At the last part oft the video I have a recording with some very small and speedy creatures, which look like hummingbirds (Kolibri). All I could clearly see with my eyes was that they are about 4 cm long. They are flying with such speed that the eye is unable to distinguish the details.
Although hummingbirds don't live in our parts, they showed up in different parts of the country, to the astonishment of the few witnesses, who also managed to take some still pictures (unlike me).

If you have the patience to watch the video, those who saw hummingbirds in real life, please let me know what these are.

Read more >>

September rose-rose pictures

Not so long ago, in mid-September these roses were so beautiful.
As autumn slowly settles in, there are very few of them left.

Read more >>

Oriental lily-Lilium 'Muscadet'-Macro Flowers Saturday #30

Welcome to a new Macro flowers Saturday and thanks everyone for a weekend with beautiful flowers! Have a pleasant stay!

An extremely elegant oriental lily is the Muscadet lily, Lilium 'Muscadet'. It bears pink or white flowers. The huge flower petals with ruffled edges are speckled with rose-red spots and touched with a blush of palest pink down the center of each petal. Its stamens are red.

The flowers are strongly fragrant and have distinctive hairs at the base of the tepals (petals).
These gorgeous Muscadet lilies are in containers, I took the photos at the flower center, for two days.
Some stamens are already removed, probably because of the colorful pollen that stains everything. I find interesting that it has more than one stigna, (those stick-like parts in the middle).
Oriental lily "Muscadet" blooms in late summer and it is a treat to have these gorgeous lilies in my home, in early October.
All the flowers you see in this last picture are from one plant, in a container.

Join Macro flowers Saturday and share your beautiful nature colors with us!
First time visitors, please read the participation requirements here.

Read more >>