in my secret life -- PIP added

An intimate look inside a backlit iris in my garden, the way a pollinator would see it as it comes in for the landing.

A small miracle of natural "architecture", the iris flower starts out as a compact lance and slowly unfurls into a complex three-pronged pavilion, with entrance ways lined with a strip of pollen-bearing stamens and equipped with an upper lip that ensures the pollinating insects must rub on the stamen to gain entry to the nectar chamber. This delicate inner structure is protected by outer petals that curl upwards and towards each other to form a sort of graceful "roof". No architect could wish for a more elegant yet effective design!

P.S. I added a PIP to show the complete structure of the flower. To the right of the full blown flower, a second one was still tightly furled into a lance-like shape (it is already half unfurled today, less than two days later).