Thursday 17 July 2014

Strange Plants and Botanical Stuff

I'm back home again now - but the Blogger app for my phone seemed just as flaky as the PC version. (The PC version of Blogger doesn't let me change the colours or layout, which is why I can't comment individually on comments - it comes out yellow on white!).  Although I scheduled three posts during my absence, the app didn't post them, and in fact completely deleted one when I tried to post it manually.  But that's life, and here's one of the posts which should have appeared during my absence. It's a continuation of the Kew post.  Hope you like it!

It's all about some of the (mostly weird and wonderful) plants I wanted to show you from Kew.  I should have carefully noted their names... but I forgot to. Though  I can tell you this one is a lotus.



As well as the new gallery of botanical art, there's also a gorgeous Victorian one next door, which was purpose built to house the paintings of the most intrepid maiden Victorian lady called Marianne North. She travelled the world alone in search of amazing plants and she would have known all the names I don't.  Here's a glimpse of the gallery, below, with just a few of her paintings.

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So the first flower is a lotus, right?  And these wonderful things were dangling downwards like party decorations, in the tropical section, but I don't have any idea what they are.


A most exotic water lily here.


And this is a very tiny one, about a tenth of the size of the blue lily



These two groups below are carnivorous plants. The green one appears to be smeared with blood, so best not think too closely about what that is supposed to convey.


These are prettier but still a bit sinister.


No idea what this is. It looks a little disturbing to me, specially since it seems to be made of green knobbly rubber 


And talking of disturbing, what about the huge thorns sticking through this delicate white plant? It doesn't seem to mind and it is in fact full of pollen.


This one has its pollen laid out invitingly on its long thin "tongue" so the bees really don't need to go to any trouble at all.


More spininess - the familiar prickly pear has beautiful flowers, like satin.


And I like this cactus, too, with all its radial patterns.


What a contrast is this ethereal grass, waving in the breeze outside


And here is a little pond, reflecting a display of California poppies


There is a collection of orchids at Kew, and this curious little specimen reminds me irresistibly of a gnomish little bad fairy in a party dress which is too big for her.  She even seems to have green and black wings. 


I do like bonsai, so was impressed with this unusual Japanese maple, which is 100 years old and was grown by a Japanese master bonsai cultivator.


Finally, here's another shot of that lotus because I just can't leave it out.  To my way of thinking, lotuses are perhaps the most beautiful and mysterious flowers. 


48 comments:

  1. I would really love to visit the Kew Gardens. These are simply stunning and otherworldly.

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  2. I have found the blogger app for my phone to be very limiting. However, I am much happier with the app for my android tablet, Blogger-droid. Much easier to upload photos and to adjust settings -- and also I am able to work offline, which is much easier for me as we do not have any Internet at our French house and I have to use the French 3G network!

    Love the water lilies and the lotus is so beautifully mysterious!

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  3. Wow...there were quite a few oddities; all beautiful in their own weird way. Thanks for sharing. I do hope blogger straightens for you. It can be so frustrating. Hugs!

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  4. Don't worry about the names. The flowers are beautiful and then we can ask the fairy.

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  5. First of all, I'm sorry to hear that you're having so much trouble with Blogger. There's nothing more frustrating than not being able to have full control of your blog. If I couldn't change the colors or layout on my blog it would drive me crazy (or crazier than I already am.....).

    I love the flower photos - - some of them remind me of paintings by Georgia O'Keeffe. I especially love the lotus, the water lily, and the truly ethereal blowing grass. The poppy is the state flower of California, and when I lived there it was illegal to pick or "molest" poppies. I always wondered - - how does one molest a poppy......??

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  6. Like you, I love the lotus and enjoyed seeing them in India and Thailand. Great pictures. Nature's diversity never fails to astonish me.

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  7. love the flowers, I just had a beauty in my yard - a night blooming curus - which i keep in foor during the winter, beautiful night flower!

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  8. These are all very, very beautiful - and some look so Alien, they could just as well be creatures from another planet. Your pictures have come out so clear and sharp! Mine often turn out fuzzy.

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  9. OMG - Your pictures are stunning. I enjoyed reading the descriptions so very much too. What a wonderful trip that must have been to actually see these beautiful plants. Thank you for sharing.

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  10. "We are stuck with technology when what we really want is just stuff that works." ~ Douglas Adams

    Those are lovely pictures! The lotus is intriguing, it edges out orchids just a bit in my book.

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  11. I agree with you, the Lotus is such a beautiful, exotic plant. I have seen that described "sinister plant" at many flower shows and wish I could remember its name. I want to say it is or comes from the orchid family. I think I have forgotten more names of plants than I remember and it is frustrating.

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  12. Lovely flowers and so unusual. I spent hours one day, years ago, in the Marianne North room at Kew. I still remember it vividly.

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  13. I used to live in the Netherlands ages ago, and they have this huge flower garden called Keukenhof that they allow the public to come visit every year. There are flowers of all kinds and it takes most of a day to see everything. That's what this post reminded me of.

    Here's a website about Keukenhof: http://www.keukenhof.nl/en/

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  14. Beautiful flowers and photos thereof. We have a passionflower growing up our back wall. The flowers on it are fascinating. It often gets me thinking that the exotic aliens created by scifi writers have nothing on the strange and wonderful life-forms right under our noses.

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  15. Beautiful photos! I think my favourite is the blue water lily. I hadn't seen the fairy in the orchid until you pointed her out - now I can't stop seeing her! x

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  16. Fantastic photos.... I remember seeing that blue lily at Kew many years ago. I think I remember it's the only one in existence. Those dangly things look like something that was growing in a hotel I stayed in years ago in Tunisia. The lobby was three storeys high and the plants sort of cascaded over from the top floor.
    Then there's the pitcher plants. They look even more amazing under UV light because they have 'runway lights' that only insects can see. They guide in their victims until it's too late for them to get out. Then they dissolve them in a pool of juice in the bottom of the pitcher.
    All fascinating stuff. Thanks for the look.

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  17. I must say you have a great collection and interesting too.Keep up the good work :)

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  18. These are lovely - thanks for your persistence in posting these!

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  19. My dear friend, the first thing to greet you and tell you it's a lovely story, I love the flowers and the botanical garden is spectacular. Stunning images. A huge hug and good summer.

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  20. What wonderful pictures of some very intriguing plants, Jenny. The lotus - I have never seen one - is very striking and beautiful, and the hanging yellow blooms most attractive. They look a bit like orchids. And yes, the carnivorous plants are disturbing and a bit creepy - but fun to see. But best of all, I love the bad fairy, who is quite a character!

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  21. Enjoyed looking at all the unusual plants. Isn't nature wonderful in all its variety? The lotus is just magnificent

    Darla

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  22. Wow -- this is totally fabulous! I would love this spot -- I like the "weird" although I love the beautiful more! That hanging tropical one looks like a Tiffany window. Yes, I would like this spot tremendously.

    It's odd about changing the colors -- I can do that on my blogger template on the PC. Email -- maybe we're doing it differently. I know when blogger went to "new blogger" it took me awhile to figure it out. You have to go into advanced settings or something.

    And thanks for coming by The Gypsy! I love your visits and comments -- and the words about the French book on small museums!

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  23. I'm sorry about blogger. I have had a few run ins with it and I was always on the losing end! ;p
    Your pictures are stunning and I just want to pack up and explore. Thank you for sharing your travels and your troubles. Hope your page is on the upswing.

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  24. What a wonderful post !
    I too am amazed but the lotus. Also the water lily. I think they grow in murky water but have the most beautiful blooms.

    cheers, parsnip

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  25. Hi Jenny,

    Let's get this part out of the way.......Blogger equals Agggghhhhh!

    I was totally immersed in looking at the plant life. Some of those flowers look like they are from another planet. Incredible and some, a little scary looking. Actually, what planet is this? :)

    Thank you yet another thoughtful and colourful post, Jenny.

    Gary

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  26. Beautiful flowers shots. I especially like the lotus.

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  27. Lovely, especially the lilies! Super pictures!

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  28. Love! Love!! LOVE!!! your double rainbow header!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  29. Thank you for the comments! I have done a really thorough investigation into the "not-changing-colours" aspect of the blog, and tried every fix that is suggested in the forums - a number of people have had similar problems with a variety of solutions. In the end someone who knows about these things spent about half an hour examining the HTML on my screen and trying various things, said what was happening did not make sense. he thought junk was being generated from somewhere which affected the commands that were put in, and the results were unpredictable. That seemed to match up with the crazy and illogical way that it behaves - for instance, the values shown for the colours bear no relation to the colours that are actually displayed. My favourite flower is the fairy - yes, Joanne, she might have the answers to all kinds of things!

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  30. OMG! What lovely, fascinating pics! The maple bonsai trees are my very favorite.
    Blogger can be such a royal pain sometimes. I've had some trouble making comments on blogs lately. Sometimes they won't allow me to post and other times I get two. I've never written a post ahead of time. Guess I won't bother to try--LOL! I am sure glad you got this one up, though! :)

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  31. The white lotus is lovely and the blue water lilies, too. I chose a lotus flower as my icon from its symbolical meaning “spiritual growth from the muddy darkness to the light of the sun” because a lotus grows in muddy water, rises above the surface to bloom beautifully and radiantly unsullied in spite of the muddy long life. I like the cascading plant (No. 3) but don’t know the name. Like you, I often see a dwarf’s face in the center of an orchid flower – your imagination is interesting.

    These days have been too hot to go outside with the highest temperature 38 degrees C (so far) and tropical nights here in Nara. Enjoy your summer, Jenny.

    Yoko

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  32. Yoko,I did not know that lotuses grow in muddy water. I can see why some people believe it to be a sacred flower - it draws your attention to it. Star quality, if flowers can have that!

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  33. Amazing flowers and your photos are wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing.
    All the best,

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  34. This post just blew my tiny mind! Otherworldly to be sure! Thank you for the brain explosion! WOW!

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  35. Beautiful photos! Thanks for sharing!

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  36. My comments are still disappearing!

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  37. Oh, or maybe not! I said I liked the one with the pollen laid out invitingly for the bees. Most thoughtful! (the other flowers are being very selfish....)

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  38. I love this post and the photographs Jenny. It makes me want to get out my veil, stout books and trowel and become an intrepid Victorian Lady Naturalist! Jane xx

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  39. very cool....really like that dangling flower...and that is what is so cool to me about nature...so unique and creative....knobby rubber...ha...smiles.

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  40. Love all of your pictures, but I'm partial to lotus flowers and water lilies myself. We have tons of lotuses in bloom here right now. Our water lilies are white - your blue one looks fascinating!

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  41. Very beautiful! You take the most wonderful photos. I have never looked closely at a lotus flower before, but I see what you mean. The blossoms are enchanting.

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  42. Ooh..... I need to get down to Kew it's been an awfully long time.... gorgeous!!

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  43. You really need to publish your pictures. It would make for an awesome coffee table book. They are just stunning.

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  44. Agree with the previous poster. Those photos are exhibition material. Many thanks.

    Greetings from London.

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  45. Aren't flowers amazing little things? I saw some flowers in Florida last week that I had never seen anywhere else in my life! They are quite awesome!
    I changed my blog address so I'm no longer on any of your follow lists, please note my new address, it's http://www.tlcukjourney.blogspot.com ... I miss my blogging friends!
    xx Tammy

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  46. This bounty of botanical beauty simply blew me away Jenny. I can only but imagine how sensational it was in person. Nature really does provide us with wonders unimaginable. Now I'm on to see what other posts of yours I've missed of late.
    Enjoy the new week Jenny and thank you, I'm almost back in blogland properly, working on it!

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  47. Bad luck with Blogger - it can be super-temperamental on mobile devices...or so I've found. My iPad app has been extremely unreliable.

    But those are some more lovely photos, Jenny, so it's clearly working for you now!

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