Flowers for Friday – my uncle’s sunflowers
When I was back in Indiana for my cousin’s wedding (recall that last week I posted wedding flowers), I took a whole ton of photos. A bunch of them were flowers, another bunch of them were farm related, and a third bunch of them were an attempt to archive &/or at least get copies of older black and white family photos.
My uncle showed me his flower garden, which included a bunch of different types of sunflowers.
Only three types (all yellowish) were currently in bloom.
I was also fascinated by the one that he told me would end up being a purple sunflower when it bloomed. Sure enough, when I looked really closely, I could see a tinge of purple in the greenery surrounding the closed bud.
Last year, I remember being at a flower store or a grocery, and seeing sunflowers that were orangey-red. I remember wondering if they were real (or if they had been made by putting them in water that had red food coloring in it).
Tangent
Did you ever do that as a kid? You know, take a celery stalk that still had the leaves on it, or a white carnation, and put it in water that had food coloring in it? I did. I preferred to use blue food coloring… and if you wait (days?) for the celery or the carnation to soak up the colored water, the veins will turn blue and can make a very pretty contrast against the rest of the cells that haven’t changed color yet.
End tangent
Anyway, come to find out, I guess those red sunflowers must’ve been real. Because my uncle was telling me that he has seeds that will make purple ones, red ones, and the more traditional yellow ones.
And even the yellow ones are different from one another.
This one, for example, is all yellow, but the ends of the petals are pointed.
I particularly like this photo for the unopened buds in the top half of the photo… but also for the light that highlights the hairs on the stalks, the edges of the edges of the leaves, and the shadows that are cast on the larger leaves.
It also makes me feel a bit like I’m walking through a shadowed wood, or a jungle… or somewhere a bit secret….
… or that I’m just really short.
Notice how this yellow sunflower has petals that are curved on the tips.
I guess I had never really noticed before how many different varieties exist.
It was a fun time. Can you tell I was happy, amidst the flowers?
I (and my uncle) took these photos with Tweedledum, my Cyber-shot DSC-P71.