Fluff and Majesty

The Chinese name for the peony is sho yu and this means "most beautiful." I totally agree. Peonies are among the "most beautiful" flowers in a garden. Hidden inside the hard, tight bud glorious flowers patiently wait to spread their petals. We have to wonder what lovely color it will be.

The edges along the green scales produce sweet nectar. If you have peonies, most likely you will have ants. Don't be too quick to wage war against them. They are beneficial to the peony. Those ants that take advantage of the peony flowers not only help to open the buds as they try to get to the nectar, but they eat insects that are attacking the plants.

A peony represents romance, a happy marriage, compassion, riches, and honor, but it can also mean bashfulness. They do seem to be a little bashful as they slowly open, popping up one petal at a time.

Peonies bring back memories of my mother's love for flowers and her gardens. Peonies and roses were her favorite flowers. The peonies in these pictures are in her garden.

"The fattest and most scrumptious of all flowers,

a rare fusion of fluff and majesty, the peony is now coming into bloom."

~ Henry Mitchell

The Textures of Trees

I'm still in recovery mode around here. Lack of energy is my greatest problem, so I've only wandered in the woods near the house. Although the pollen is thick, it's still been nice to get outside and walk. As I walked along the familiar path, I began to search for something that I could take numerous pictures of. I've been missing the feel of my camera in my hands! I decided to find a subject I could focus on that was close by and also eye level. Squatting down is definitely not happening right now.

I decided to concentrate on the textures of trees. I stood in one spot and slowly turned in a circle searching for one tree that stood out among the others. There it was; a tree with bark that was peeling away revealing unusual base colors. I'm pretty sure it's a sycamore.

I walked around and around this tree. I studied it and touching it's rough bark and the soft inner wood. My heart did a little pitter-patter when I spotted a heart shape.

As I moved away from the sycamore, I looked at the bark of other trees. If you look closely in the photo below you can see another heart shape. You know if you see one heart you may just find another and . . .

another!

Not all trees are healthy, but even as they die they are beautiful.

I marvel at the beauty in nature that can be found even when my outings are limited and I'm looking at eye level.

 

"Patterns and textures are all around us. To take notice of textures and patterns you simply need to stop moving and consciously look around at your environment."

~ Robert Berdan

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Side note: I updated my 52 Weeks of Nature page this morning.