Sunday, October 25, 2009

TODAY'S FLOWERS ~ The Life of a Poppy

The Poppies, Papaver somnifera, are still magnificent.
From this shy curtsying bud bending her head,







to the proud young girl standing tall.



throwing off her shackles she invites in her admirers



and shares her bounty with all comers.



They come in droves, all hungering for succour
are sated at her breast.



At night she shuts her doors to rest.



Enduring wind and rain with fortitude and using it to
adorn herself with miriads of rubies


until, reaching the height of maturity and power,
she begins to fade yet increases in beauty
even as she fades away.


Please enlarge at least the last two shots to see the
the wonder of glistening raindrops.

Thank you to Luiz Santilli Jr. and the Flower team
for hosting this beautiful meme.

42 comments:

  1. The red of this Poppy is fabulous. Your poetic description and metaphors match it well - I did enjoy the enlarged photos, Arija.

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  2. What a beautiful set of pictures.Hope your day is filled with beauty.
    Blessings,Ruth

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  3. Love the first photo with the sun lighting up the petals. Really beautiful.

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  4. I love poppies and this is such a lovely sequence.

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  5. She is indeed beautiful in all her moods - I do so love her "middle" with all its stamens and the seed head too. Also I love the fragility of her petals, like the finest tissue paper. Lovely photographs Arija.

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  6. Beautiful colors. Great shots.
    Thanks for sharing
    Gunilla in Sweden

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  7. Absolutely wonderful....my favorite of favorite flowers, from bud to seedpod!
    Beautiful!

    XXOO!!
    Anne

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  8. These are wonderful Arija! I enlarged everyone of them - and they do deserve to be seen enlarged! I love the 4th and 5th, where the bees gather around that yellow thing (don't remember the English name!).
    Those are superb shots!

    Wish you a nice week!

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  9. beautiful pictures. I have a hard time getting good pictures up close, but these are fantastic!

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  10. The Poppy is like a gentle yet strong woman. Wonderfully written and your images are exquisite.

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  11. Glorious poppies - reminds me of the scene in the Wizard of Oz where Dorothy falls asleep among the poppies. Your photos capture their true essence.

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  12. Extraordinary set of photographs--and even more lovely the captions for each.

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  13. Wow! Your poppies are just wonderful, congratulations!
    Have a good week, dear!

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  14. Exquisite shots, Arija! And such beautiful words! And, of course, I say that every week, but it is true every week. I, too, love the progression. And the last two shots with the raindrops are so wonderful!

    Have a lovely week!

    Sylvia

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  15. Richer than rubies the poppies glow...

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  16. Arija, the poppies! They are incredible. And the RAINDROPS! Magical. So delicate yet strong.

    Oh my! I saw your drawings. I LOVE THEM, they are so gentle and deliciously elegant. Please, more, more, more!

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  17. Thank you one and all, your so very kind comments are much appreciated and very heartening.

    Bella dear,
    don't you mean tentative rather than delicate? I haven't drawn for so very long I hardly know which end of the pencil to use. Thank you so much for your encouuragement.

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  18. A wonderous progression of images and words!
    I loved the post!

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  19. Look at those bees feasting on the poppies!

    Here's my first TF entry. Hope you can come by!

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  20. Arija! Poetry and in motion in images that you show us! Beautiful!
    A very touching language in the flowers! Bravo!!

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  21. It is wonderful that you were featured with the beautiful flowers you post.

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  22. I enjoyed your images - photographically and verbally. You captured the beautiful heart of the flower well. I had a similar experience of enjoying the personality of the "Poppy Girl" on Aug.3rd - thank you for sharing!

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  23. Poppys are so beautiful and yours is especially lovely
    Loved the enlarged version as well

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  24. The flowers are incredible but I must say I felt I had the need to stand in attention and get the epinephrine shot ready!!!

    I am so glad the nightmares are over! God bless you my dearest Arija. TSUP!

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  25. A lovely post. The poppy is beautiful in its own right but your words give it additional beauty.

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  26. Bonjour Arija,
    Ces photos sont très jolies.
    J'adore la première, pour sa transparence.
    Bonne journée !

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  27. What a beautiful flowers! I love it! hope to hear from you soon

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  28. Arija: A beautiful series of the cycle of life, very nicely done.

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  29. love its vibrant red color. thanks for dropping by.

    my entry: http://www.altc5.com/

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  30. I thought I'd pop back and answer your question about my roses. Unfortunately I didn't save the name of the rose when I planted it over 10 years ago. I looked on line and my roses look exactly like Sutter's Gold so you may be right. However, my rose is a climbing rose. In the summer it practically covers the side of my storeage building and I read that Sutter's gold is a tea rose so I'm not sure.

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  31. lovely red poppies.

    my entry: http://www.myspnv.com/

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  32. So they close in the night? Wonderful life story of a beautiful rubic poppy.

    I've seen wild poppy that grows along the lakeshore in Taupo. But the flower structure is much simpler compared to this one.

    Thanks for showing us the flowering process. You make it very interesting especially with the poetic notes.

    Long time no see Ma'am Arija!

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  33. Oh, they are so beautiful arija, like the paper thin like of its petals and the center is just so wonderful. Thanks for showing these photos, they are a feast for the eyes.

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  34. Beautiful post and photos! I have never seen this flower up close. You captured the macro well!

    A delight to my eyes and a feast to the bees!

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  35. Arija, love the photos but I love the words and the idea even more! This is a poem and a parable all in one!

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  36. Oh Arija both your photos and writing are wonderful. The raindrops on the penultimate shot are wonderful. I love love poppies. My granddaughter is called Poppy Rose. What a great name.

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  37. A wonderful series!

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  38. A wonderful series!

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