Colour for a dreary day

Not as sharp as it should have been, but last night I wanted to quickly find a vibrant shot to post today. The weather forecast called for rain and mixed precipitation for later today and light snow for tomorrow.

This beautiful Hibiscus flower was growing at the Calgary Zoo on 25 September 2012. They have quite spectacular flower centres, especially when photographed more sharply than this one (at least when viewed on a 24" monitor), lol!

"Hibiscus (/hɨˈbɪskəs/[2] or /haɪˈbɪskəs/[3]) is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae. It is quite large, containing several hundred species that are native to warm-temperate, subtropical and tropical regions throughout the world. Member species are often noted for their showy flowers and are commonly known simply as hibiscus, or less widely known as rose mallow.

The tea made of hibiscus flowers is known by many names in many countries around the world and is served both hot and cold. The beverage is well known for its color, tanginess and flavor." From Wikipedia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibiscus