Even More of Nature's Gifts...

Last November, I posted some photos of the my beloved Mama's garden. It was her birthday on the weekend, and I thought it was the perfect time to show you that she doesn't let the cooler seasons diminish the fabulous array of colours and variety of blooms she has on display, in fact I reckon what follows is even more spectacular than the Spring version! All these pics were taken at various times over the last four months, and I think you'll agree she has a gift for coaxing nature into revealing the most bounteous beauty...

Happy birthday Mama Kats ♥ 

(Warning: picture heavy post!)

Take care of you,
kats xxx

More of Nature's Gifts...

Allow me to introduce you to another fabulous female in my life - her common name is Queen of the Night (lol nothing common about that!), but her botanical name is Epiphyllum Oxypetalum. For most of the year, she is a rather tatty looking cactus, but once the warmer weather in September comes around, she produces several crops of the most magnificent flowers until about the end of March. Usually one or two at a time, but however many there are, there's a catch - they bloom...

...for one night only!

I'm so proud of this photo! - it was taken with my 8mpx phone camera, and my makeup light positioned behind her..

The whole concept of a plant that flowers under the cover of darkness (and withers by morning) fascinates me. Why does she keep her beauty hidden from all except her devoted followers? I'm saying that because unless you watch her closely, AND stay up late, you can easily miss the whole glorious event. As you can see, her flower is extraordinarily stunning, but that's only half the story - the fragrance she produces is like no other, potent, heady and sweet with a tinge of astringency, and it wraps itself around you, stays with you for hours after you've breathed it in...

Round one was about a month ago when she produced two flowers (which I missed!), but for her second attempt this season I was blessed with five blooms that opened on the same night - oh my, what an amazing show, and what a festival of fragrance! I could smell the perfume in every room of the house :-)

Here's how she starts - you know when she's about to pop because her alien-looking bud starts to swell, and the outer pink petals begin to curl backwards...

Photo taken around 8pm

These pics were taken roughly every 20 minutes or so, until she opened fully...

 

Here she is full-frontal, in all her glory...

Closeups of her inner beauty...

And the whole plant at around 11pm, when sadly I just HAD to retire...

All the above photos feature the flower on the left

And here she is next morning...

Her transformation from weird looking Triffid to magical bloom is nothing short of miraculous. Sigh...but all that effort and magnificence...just for a few hours?  Nature truly is mysterious ♥

M E R R Y   C H R I S T M A S   E V E R Y O N E !

Take care of you,

kats xxx

Natures Gifts...

I'm often asked how do I come up with my colourful looks, or what inspires me to put certain hue combinations together. Well I have to say that Mother Nature is my main source of ideas - she knows what works and what doesn't, and she's been doing it brilliantly (and modestly) for thousands of years.

But there's another Mother who has inspired me all my life - my precious Mum who is, amongst many wonderful things, a very keen gardener. She has both a green thumb AND a heart of gold. She's been known to pluck a dying plant from a rubbish bin, care for it as only she can, and nurture it back to good health. Her garden is magnificent all year round, and the pleasure it gives her is also shared by her appreciative neighbours, who often oooh and ahhh as they stroll past. In past years, she has won numerous prizes in competitions run by the local Council, and although she no longer enters, her little piece of Eden is always a blue ribbon winner in my eyes.

Every time I visit my parents' home, I can't help but take photo after photo of the fruits of her labours. Below is but a small selection of what blossoms from her loving hands, and her partnership with nature :-)

 

  

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

   

Is there someone or something that inspires you to be creative?

Take care of you,

kats xxx