Week 9- January 24, 2010- Picture contest

Welcome to Week 9. In the midst of a long run of grey days we must remember that January is almost over. I think of April 1 as the date when winter will be over. That is only about 66 days away. That is not so long.

In last week’s contest, blue won again. The Siberian Iris won two weeks ago.) The morning glory just edged out the wonderful daylily close-up that was one of my favorite pictures of last year.

The voting was as follows:
Morning glory 28
Close-up of daylily 23
Vanda orchid 10
Yellow Daylily 5
Total voting 66

In this week’s contest I start with a picture that was taken almost a year ago. I really mean that. This little snowdrop was out in the sun on February 14, 2009. Snowdrops can really cheer a person up. They can come up in the late fall, think about blooming, and then settle into some kind of dormancy. They must have antifreeze in their veins. I guess plants don’t have veins. Then a burst of warmth brings them out of their sleep and there they are.

The next picture is the orange poppy. If there is a color that personifies the Oriental poppy it is orange. Blow this picture up on your screen and immerse yourself in orange. (On the blog you should be able to click on the picture to make it big.) It is almost etched on the screen.

Then there is this enticing photograph. Do you know what it is? Well it is a close-up of something. The answer will come next week. Let us just call this entry the mysterious yellow close-up. It sort of looks like something out of an old Star Trek show.


Finally there is this Oriental lily called Sumatra. We found Sumatra as a cut flower in a garden center in Chincoteague Virginia, while on vacation about 5 years ago. It was so stunning that we asked its name. Miraculously we remembered the name. It has worked its way into lily commerce and now appears in out garden. This picture was taken on August 2.

So there are your voting choices this week.
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Katie update:
Our daughter Katie is now in the Dominican Republic helping coordinate relief to Haiti. She works for Episcopal Relief and Development. She was on the island this last week, going to Port au Prince twice during the week. She is scheduled to come back to this country for a few days this week. After that she will probably go back. She is involved at the moment in trying to figure out to provide nourishment to the 23,000 people in temporary camps around the local churches in the area.
She told us in her abbreviated blackberry messages that she is learning about helicopters and the lightest weight food with the most calories.
Here is the link to her organization:
http://www.er-d.org/HaitiEarthquakeResponse.
This link will get you to the latest press release from ERD
http://www.er-d.org/2010PressReleases

I am trying to think through what I can do here. I even wonder what I can do through these flower pictures. I have wondered about printing and selling big pictures (12 by 18) of some of my favorite pictures over the years, particularly ones that I know do well at that size. Stay tuned. I just know that we must do something and continue with those efforts into the future.

Have a safe week.
For your bonus pleasure on the blog I have another special post. This one is all about lilium (as opposed to daylilies.)

Philip