2013 Tulip Series – 03

“Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.” – William Shakespeare

Interest, Mystery and Details…

“The beauty and mystery of this world only emerges through affection, attention, interest and compassion . . . open your eyes wide and actually see this world by attending to its colors, details and irony.” – Orhan Pamuk

Same flower, same light, different angles, different effects, all green.

Cheerfulness

“Cheerfulness is the very flower of health.” – Proverb

Cheerfulness

Christmas Flowers

“Let your intentions be good – embodied in good thoughts, cheerful words, and unselfish deeds – and the world will be to you a bright and happy place in which to work and play and serve.”

– Grenville Kleiser

The flowers in the images below are from a Christmas bouquet I have.  When I read the quote above I felt like it paralleled the Christmas spirit of love, selflessness, and giving. The flowers are Leucadendron.  They are of the evergreen family with a cone in the center and leathery petals or leaves.

Leucadendron

A Christmas Flower

Leucadendron

Leucadendron

 

Dignity

“One’s dignity may be assaulted, vandalized and cruelly mocked, but it can never be taken away unless it is surrendered.”  – Michael J. Fox

The Dahlia Represents Dignity

A Favorite Flower for a Favorite Friend

A dear friend once sent a hydrangea plant to me.  On the note was the statement ” A favorite flower for a favorite friend.”

A Favorite Flower for a Favorite Friend

Intrusion of Beauty

Unexpected intrusions of beauty. This is what life is. – Saul Bellow

A nice surprise.

Sunflower Power

You’ve all seen the silly smiley faces cut into sunflowers, yes?  Or the singing smiley faced sunflower, how about that one?  Well, as ridiculous as I think they are, and I would never spend a penny on one of them, there is something to be said for them.  Sunflowers do have the power to make a person smile.  The warm glow of the yellow petals warms the heart.  Once the heart is warm, a smile is automatic.  If you’ve ever driven by a field of sunflowers, you know exactly what I am talking about.  Do you agree?

The Legend of the Dogwood

All my life I have loved the Dogwood Tree.  As a child growing up in Southern Illinois, we would see them amongst the Redbud, Oak, Maple, and other trees along Interstate 64 and marvel at their beauty.  My parents told my sisters and I the legend of the tree when we were young.  Since that time, the trees have had even more meaning to me.  My husband and I have had them at both of our homes and enjoy the blooms every spring.  Below is the legend as well as some links that you can visit to learn more details about it.  Over the next few days, I’ll post images of the Dogwood tree in our front yard.  You’ll understand why it gives us such pleasure when you see the pretty flowers it bares each spring.

The Beautiful Legend of the Dogwood Tree

Legend has it that at the time of Christ’s crucifixion, the dogwood was comparable in size to the oak tree and other monarchs of the forest. Because of its firmness and strength it was selected as the wood for the cross. To be put to such a cruel use greatly distressed and saddened the tree. Sensing this, the crucified Christ, in his gentle pity for the sorrow and suffering of all, said to the tree – “Because of your sorrow and pity for My suffering, never again will the dogwood tree grow large enough to be used as a gibbet. Henceforth it will be slender, bent and twisted and its blossoms will be in the form of a cross — two long and two short petals. In the center of the outer edge of each petal there will be nail prints, brown with rust and stained with red, and in the center of the flower will be a crown of thorns, and all who see this will remember.”

http://www.promiseofgod.com/dogwood/

http://www.angelfire.com/ga/sweetgeorgiapeach/dogwood.html

Happy Mother’s Day

A few quotes to celebrate all of the amazing women in my life who have inspired me as mothers. 

“A suburban mother’s role is to deliver children obstetrically once, and by car forever after.”  – Peter De Vries

“I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me.  They have clung to me all my life.”  – Abraham Lincoln

“Some mothers are kissing mothers and some are scolding mothers, but it is love just the same, and most mothers kiss and scold together.”  – Pearl S. Buck

“All women become like their mothers.  That is their tragedy.  No man does.  That’s his.”   – Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest, 1895

“A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.”  – Washington Irving

 

 

Butterfly or Moth? Flower or Weed?