Sunday Selections was originally brought to us by Kim, of Frogpondsrock, as an ongoing meme where participants could post previously unused photos languishing in their files.
The meme is now continued by River at Drifting through life. The rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent. Post some photos under the title Sunday Selections and link back to River. Clicking on any of the photos will make them embiggen.
Like River I usually run with a theme. This week? Beauty. Moving from delicate to dramatic and back to delicate again.
Starting with delicate.
Starting with a hoya - which a blogger told me looked like cake decorations. And I would agree. Very, very pretty cake decorations.
And then to a double lilium. I do love its blushing pink petals.
Then to a blazing sunset which had me, the smaller portion and a new neighbour standing in the road.
And back to a subtler kind of beauty. Our honesty (lunaria) plants have gone to seed. The seed pods don't look like much, but the outside cover peels away to reveal perfect silver discs...
The meme is now continued by River at Drifting through life. The rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent. Post some photos under the title Sunday Selections and link back to River. Clicking on any of the photos will make them embiggen.
Like River I usually run with a theme. This week? Beauty. Moving from delicate to dramatic and back to delicate again.
Starting with delicate.
Starting with a hoya - which a blogger told me looked like cake decorations. And I would agree. Very, very pretty cake decorations.
And then to a double lilium. I do love its blushing pink petals.
Then to a blazing sunset which had me, the smaller portion and a new neighbour standing in the road.
And back to a subtler kind of beauty. Our honesty (lunaria) plants have gone to seed. The seed pods don't look like much, but the outside cover peels away to reveal perfect silver discs...
So beautiful flowers and wonderful sky.
ReplyDeleteI saw these kernels in Germany a long time ago. They are wonderful and you can keep them in a vase. I heard that they are called Judas penny. I do not know the real name of the plant. It was really nice to see them here in your blog.
orvokki: I have never heard them called Judas Penny. Thank you for expanding my knowledge. Here they are commonly known as Honesty or sometimes as Money Plants.
DeleteI too thank Orvokki for that new information. Honesty dried and in vases is sweetly retro - a Nana thing.
DeleteEl Chi those photos are wonderful and isn't HOYA just like a flower would be on the Moon.
Annie ODyne: I haven't (yet) brought it inside. Lots of the garden is oldfashioned, which suits me just fine. Retro is a nicer way to put it though.
DeleteA hoya on the moon might even reconcile me to travel...
What a delight of a post. The images, the words. Thanks. We need beauty in this world now. There's too much ugliness. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteGreetings from London.
Greetings from London.
A Cuban in London: Way too much ugliness. Way, way too much.
DeleteThe sky is on fire. What an amazing sunset. We are so very lucky to witness such beauty,
ReplyDeleteCountryMum: We are lucky aren't we? A step (or a look) outside and beauty abounds.
DeleteThat is a stunning lily!
ReplyDeleteYou certainly do get some staggeringly gorgeous sun skies down there.
dinahmow: I really like that lily. We have some more vivid ones (deep pinks and orange) but that one has a charm of its own. And I watch for the sunset (and usually the sunrise) every day. And am often bounteously rewarded.
DeleteI love hoya, and hope my sister's hoya traveled safely to her new home. The little blooms dropped sap, and when that happened we had a constant stream of what we called "sugar ants" visiting. Tiny little things, came in from outside and had a route to the hoya, up it's tall stand, through the hoya, back and out. We never saw them except when the hoya bloomed.
ReplyDeleteJoanne Noragon: This hoya lives on the veranda. You are right about the ants attracted by its sap. Lots of them.
DeleteThe beauty of Nature never gets boring...and we should never take it for granted.
ReplyDeleteI hope you have a great week, EC...cuddles to Jazz. Take care. :)
Lee: I hope I don't take it for granted. I marvel at it daily. We are in for a hot week. A very hot week. Jazz and I will be hunkered down inside. I hope you and your furry housemates have some cooler air.
DeleteYour yard is so beautiful and so varied. I never tire of looking at the photos you come up with.
ReplyDeleteAs for the sky... all I can say is wow! Simply gorgeous.
River Fairchild: The garden is a work in progress. Always. And some bits of it are definitely not beautiful. I have been outside this morning, ripping and tearing.
DeleteWow was what we said to the sky too. I was amazed at how many people appeared oblivious to it though.
Your photos, as usual, are gorgeous!!
ReplyDeletefishducky: Thank you.
DeleteYour sunset shots are amazing. Wow the colours!
ReplyDeleteI've never seen hoya before, they look like little furry pin cushions.
LL Cool Joe: There are lots of different hoyas, but this one is happy on our veranda. Some day I will successfully grow some of the others. Including the 'twisted rope' hoya which has amazing foliage.
DeleteLovely lovely interludes
ReplyDeleteCloudia: Thank you. I thought so.
DeleteA then much older workmate used to save banana skins for her hoya. A recent immigrant new to the job wondered what sort of creature was this hoya that ate only banana skins. I've seen those seed pods and now I know what they are called. It's a bit of angry sunset.
ReplyDeleteAndrew: Did you see that Honesty is known in Germany as Judas Penny? I wonder whether our hoya eats banana. And yes, those colours do look angry but 'you look so beautiful when you are angry' is true on this occasion.
DeleteThat is a very colourful sunset.I once had a hoya, the flowers feel like velvet.
ReplyDeleteMerle.........
Merlesworld: I haven't stroked the flowers. It drips sap and I suspect it is sticky. I might try and find a dry spot later.
DeleteDear EC
ReplyDeleteAmazing sunsets and beautiful photos. The hoya is so lovely it almost doesn't look real. I like the 'silver pennies' too and they fascinated me when I was little.
Best wishes
Ellie
Ellie Foster: Thank you. It is an 'old-fashioned' plant now. My mother always grew honesty and I have continued the tradition. And am still intrigued by them.
DeleteYour photos made me smile. Such lovely colour. We've had lots of gray lately!
ReplyDeleteMarie Smith: Thank you. We are still getting pockets of colour in the garden, but as the heat continues the landscape is rapidly changing from green to gold. Next stop dust.
DeleteThe sky blazes though.
Well I thought the flowers were pretty but the sunsets were spectacular.
ReplyDeletedonna baker: Definitely fire in the sky. It was unexpected too. At first we thought that the sunset was going to be low key. How wrong we were.
DeleteAgain, I am sighing over your flowers and sunsets. I find them both endlessly beautiful. Thank you.
ReplyDeletemshatch: We do too. I am so glad that you share my love of these things.
DeleteThat is an amazing sunset! So beautiful - and you take such great shots. Hoya time again - as I think I have said before, my mother's hoyas wound their way around the sunroom when I was a child. They bloomed profusely, and dripped everywhere. Your pink icing one is particularly pretty!
ReplyDeleteAlexia: You have mentioned it, and I would love to see a sunroom festooned in hoyas. It would be an incredible, albeit sticky, sight.
DeleteThat sky! I would be standing with my jaw on the ground ... and it makes an electric background for the twin trees, doesn't it? Lovely pictures of the flowers, too. I've seen the honesty plant before in my mother's garden. I think she called it something different; I must ask her. (And it wasn't the name orvokki used)
ReplyDeletejenny_o: There was definitely some jaw swinging. It just got better and better and better. If you remember to ask you mother I would definitely be interested in yet another name for honesty.
DeleteI remembered it! "Silver dollars" was the name she called them and I've verified it's the same thing on a gardening site.
DeleteI love how the memory works ... put in a request, think about other things for awhile, suddenly the answer floats into view. It's happened too many times to me for it to be a coincidence or an accident. :)
Of course, I'd love it even more if I could remember the thing in the beginning!
Deletejenny_o: Thank you. And Ellie Foster knows it as silver pennies. Isn't it fascinating? The same plant, known by so many different names. I hear you on the memory front too. I really resent the way some things escape me, and then surface later. And we won't talk about the things which won't surface. Things which I know are in there...
DeleteNature is so amazing. Thank you for these beautiful reminders.
ReplyDeleteMartin Kloess: Such generous gifts she gives us...
DeleteI was talking about you and your birds the other day. Were your ears buzzing? Turns out a gentleman in the home was from Australia and he was telling me about boa constrictors that lived in the attic of his house. He said he left them up there to eat large rodents. Ack!
ReplyDeleteBirdie: Ack indeed. I suspect your Australian lived in a rural area. I am not a fan of rodents, and would definitely prefer that snakes lived elsewhere as well.
DeleteThose sunset photos took my breath away. I love the hoyas. mine has almost flowered twice, then someone unknown cut off the budding heads both times. I've heard there's a woman living in the flats who wanders around taking bits and pieces for dried flower arrangements. So at least the flowers are being appreciated somewhere.
ReplyDeleteRiver: Hiss and spit. Taking bits and pieces and not leaving enough for the owner to enjoy is just so wrong.
DeleteAll are lovely and I do like your sunset colours - the hoya always has pretty flowers.
ReplyDeleteMargaret-whiteangel: We were surprised by just how bright the sunset was - and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Deletean amazing sunset... I love hoya's - somehow I'm not very lucky at growing them though...
ReplyDeleteAnna: There are plants I am not good at too. Maidenhair ferns. Gardenias. I love them both, but have killed too many. So these days I admire them from afar.
DeleteHi EC - loved seeing the Hoya - a waxflower - and with a delicious scent. What a treat to have around ... despite the sugar ants ... but if they disappear when the blooms fade, then that's fine ... Your lily with its pinkish air ... they are gorgeous ... and Honesty with its silvery seed pods I just love seeing.
ReplyDeleteThat sunset is amazing ... glorious colours ... we live in a wonderful world ... cheers Hilary
Hilary Melton-Butcher: We do live in a wonderful, and very beautiful world. Ants and all.
DeleteHoyas. Incredible looking flowers, they look like cake decorations yes, or as though someone has stuffed small pieces of velvet. I want some! And your sunsets look like it is the end of the world (let's hope it isn't a prophesy at present), such fire in the sky,blimey I envy you both getting to see skies like that. It's grey here day after day. x
ReplyDeleteAll Consuming: I would like a bit of grey - particularly if there was moisture attached. Hope your health is improving.
DeleteNow that sunset is amazing Sue and I also love the bloom shots.
ReplyDeleteMargaret Adamson: Thank you.
DeleteMy mom grew those silvery disk plants only she called them money plants. I think they only formed the silver disc every other year. I don't see them grown here any more. I had a hoya carnosa (loved the name) years ago when I had lots of house plants. I loved the delicate velvety flowers.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful sunsets
Sue in Italia/In the Land of Cancer: I am amazed at how many names honesty travels under. Ours certainly flower and seed every year. They are an old fashioned plant and I don't remember when last I saw them for sale.
DeleteYour Sunday Selections are so beautiful and so are River's. Maybe this week I will try to take some scenery photos for next week instead of the strange things I posted.
ReplyDeleteGranny Annie: I loved your Sunday Selections. And variety is the spice of life.
DeleteYou have such a good eye for details. The close ups are amazing. That first flower doesn't even look real. (Cake decoration, maybe.) The sunset shots - stunning!
ReplyDeleteAlex J. Cavanaugh: Thank you. The little things are huge in my world.
DeleteSuch beautiful photos. I agree with Alex, you do have an eye for details. I especially love the flower photos as we're still in winter here and no flowers to be seen. You give me rays of sunshine through your photos. Thank you...:)
ReplyDeleteMason Canyon: Thank you too. It is so hot and dry at the moment that flowers are disappearing fast. Those that remain are very welcome.
DeleteBeautiful, and they're right about your eye! It is cloudy, cool and rainy here and I should be in bed...Have a good week!
ReplyDeleteLove the picture of the Silver Dollar plant (or Monks Money)....
Deletee: Cloudy, cool and rain? Sounds blissful to me. I hope that you are starting to feel better. Rest up.
Deleteonly slightly confused: Monks Money? Another new name. Thank you.
Deleteflowers in the first photo is great I have it on my windowsill
ReplyDeleteGosia k: Isn't it nice that they thrive the world over?
Deleteawww . . . you'll always get me with skyscapes
ReplyDeleteAuthor R. Mac Wheeler: As you do me with trees and water.
DeleteOh those sunsets are magnificent, the colours just gorgeous
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
Lowcarb team member ~ Jan: Thank you. It really was an incredible sky. We watched in wonder. And awe.
DeleteHoya very unique...but the lunaria caught my eye. For years my Granny had a fistful of them in a vase on the TV. She called them her money plant!
ReplyDeleteBookie: My mother always grew them, but I can't remember her bringing them inside. A truly nostalgic plant for me...
DeleteThat sunset is too beautiful for words.
ReplyDeleteHope you're having a colorful day.
Hugs
Sandra Cox: Wasn't it amazing? A rare treat. I hope your world is treating you kindly.
DeleteLove that sunset! It's always wonder to visit Oz with you. :-)
ReplyDeleteDJan: As it is to visit your haunts. I am so grateful for the wonders I have found in the blogosphere.
DeleteWhat a wonderful sunset! I have only seen one this color. I still have trouble believing that the colors are real even though I saw it with my own eyes and have the pictures. I have a verigated hoya plant. Very slow growing, at least mine is. Some day it may actually bloom! As usual your pictures are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteTeresa Hennes: I know what you mean about the colour. If I saw it in a painting I would sniff and say 'exaggerated'. But it wasn't.
DeleteHoyas are slow growing and like to be pot bound. We picked this one up cheaply at a market because its original owner was tired of waiting for it to bloom.
Beautiful sunsets EC. It seems like about 10 years that I've seen it. Lovely scenery.
ReplyDeleteBob Bushell: I hope you get to see the sun soon. Feel free to take ours. Rather a lot of it.
DeleteMiraculous.
ReplyDeleteTo observe SUMMER in Winter. xx
My Inner Chick: I am revelling in photos of winter from your side of the world. Cool bliss.
DeleteBeautiful photos, as always. A welcome bit of beauty and light.
ReplyDeletePaper Chipmunk (aka Ellen): We ALL need beauty and light. Often.
DeleteGorgeous! Just when I thought they couldn't get better you found even more beauty to share :o)
ReplyDeleteHBF: I need that beauty to counteract other things. And fortunately it is rarely hard to find.
DeleteFlowers and the sky. What a treat you've provided. I enjoyed these so much. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteMyrna R: It was my pleasure. I need to see beauty and I am glad to share it.
Deletefelt deeply in love with the enchanted skies of your's friend!
ReplyDeleteflowers and seed covers are so lovely to eyes!
thank you for the treat !
baili: Weren't those skies amazing? And I do love the garden too. Thank you.
DeleteLots of beauty here, it's nice to be able to rely on that :)
ReplyDeleteI hope you are managing in this heat, do you have aircon?
kylie: Beauty is a gift. And I appreciate it. We have evaporative cooling which mostly is enough. This year? No. We are hotter than usual and more humid than usual. The cooler and I are struggling, but this too will pass.
DeleteThat sunset. My goodness!
ReplyDeleteJenny Baranick: Definitely my goodness. The three of us stood in the road and marvelled.
DeleteOh my, you have such beautiful flowers (and skies) and critters especially from the bird family that freshen my soul! You are living in a very wonderful place, and trust me, this Minnesota girl knows!
ReplyDeleteMore wonderful photos.
ReplyDeleteLove all these photos! The delicate flowers are so pretty and different from what it looks like here (it's snowing right now). Nice to see some color!
ReplyDeleteThe sunset series is mesmerizing. Such vibrant colors! Wow!
Thanks for leaving us with a little of nature's magic. :)
~Jess
I tell people all the time, look at what's around us, nature is free entertainment, free joy, free beauty.
ReplyDeleteThe first flower is from my childhood, how I liked it.
I missed you, Child.
I've been having blog-tremors.
Oh my goodness EC! I was thinking about honesty today as my beautiful grandma used to have some at her home, not growing, just displayed in a vase. I found it so beautiful and fascinating, and now you've shared images that have made my memories even sweeter - thank you
ReplyDeleteI love that you stood with a neighbor and looked at the sky. Nice.
ReplyDeleteThose flowers still remind me of a cake decoration!
Karen S.,the Happy Whisky, neena maiya (guyana gyal, Kim and Lynn: Thank you all so much. Blogger is refusing to let me reply to you individually but I am grateful as always for your comments.
ReplyDeleteThose seed pods look so delicate and gorgeous. It's so wonderful that you take nothing for granted.
ReplyDeleteJenny Baranick: If I was silly enough to take things for granted I would miss out on a lot. Which my greedy self refuses to do.
Delete