Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: houseplant

Just a close-up of part of a petal and buds from my Orange Star plant, using my little Raynox DCR-250 lens. Just liked the colours and shapes. Not the most inspiring images today - been busy all day, but wanted to still post my usual daily shots. Was out all morning (maybe three and a half hours) walking at Carburn Park. We saw a Merlin, and we enjoyed watching a little Black-capped Chickadee dive into a small cavity and then a while later, he appeared at the opening with a mouthful of wood chips, LOL. We also watched a Red-breasted Nuthatch, upside-down, excavating a cavity ready for nesting time. Saw a couple of White-tailed Deer and there were also four (?) Wood Ducks the far side of the Lagoon. Called in at Fish Creek Park on the way home. Something like -8C this morning ... brrr... so back to thick winter jacket, fleece jacket, long-johns and two pairs of mitts.

When I got home from my afternoon drive out of the city (straight after a morning's walk in Fish Creek Park), I took three quick shots of this beautiful houseplant (bought for one reason only, to take photos of it, LOL). I keep meaning to check the little tag that came with it - but I think it's called Orange Star. Spent about three hours this afternoon, driving the backroads south east and south west of the city, to try out a small GPS unit that I bought yesterday - bought in desperation, hoping to give myself a little more confidence despite my driving phobia that I have been battling for more than 30 years. Plus I have next to no sense of direction. The GPS was pretty good - I only got lost briefly once. The thing that complicates things is that some of the backroads have two numbers (street number as well as Range Road number, I think). At least the unit shows me just where I am at any given time, which is a huge concern of mine, LOL! Had to laugh - I had set the voice on British English (I grew up in England), but soon changed it to American English, after the woman with the first accent completely mispronounced one of the city's main roads! And wildlife? WHAT wildlife??? And it was SO windy, I could barely hold my camera. Didn't get round to backing up more of my photos on an external drive last night (partly 'cos I had Migraine, which thankfully I rarely get any more), but, if I'm wise, I will try and get some done this evening, as my computer is still making a very strange (and worrying) clicking sound, which seems to be getting worse. If I suddenly disappear from Flickr for a few days, you'll know why, LOL!

Macro photo of a potted Orange Star plant that I bought from my grocery store recently and that I finally got round to photographing on 12 April 2013. Such a gorgeous, vibrant colour - a welcome sight, especially as the sun that was shining just a short while ago now seems to have disappeared. If it stays overcast, maybe I will actually get on with my Taxes, which I started on late last night. Only a few days left before the deadline. "The Dubium flower, hailing from the Hyacinthaceae family of plants, blooms by a variety of names; The Sun Star, Snake flower, Orange Chincherinchee, Orange Star of Bethlehem or Star of Africa. Dubium flowers are endemic to the Cape Province of South Africa, meaning they are unique to that geographic region alone." voices.yahoo.com/ornithogalum-dubium-flower-5830300.html en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornithogalum_dubium

A macro shot of an individual flower of the Orange Star plant. It's quite a spectacular houseplant, with a cluster of these vibrant flowers at the end of a tall stem. Taken on April 6th. "The Dubium flower, hailing from the Hyacinthaceae family of plants, blooms by a variety of names; The Sun Star, Snake flower, Orange Chincherinchee, Orange Star of Bethlehem or Star of Africa. Dubium flowers are endemic to the Cape Province of South Africa, meaning they are unique to that geographic region alone." voices.yahoo.com/ornithogalum-dubium-flower-5830300.html

A Christmas Cactus that has bloomed way before Christmas : ) Or is this a Thanksgiving Cactus? Taken yesterday in my kitchen.

It's -3C (26F) this afternoon, so I yearn for warmth : ) Just another macro view of a Christmas Cactus flower with a lovely red, WARM bokeh, ha. Supposed to be -9C (16F) tomorrow morning when I plan on going on a walk - haven't been on a walk anywhere for about two weeks, which is not good! Of course, -9C is nothing compared to what we are in for during the winter months, but it still always takes a bit of getting used to.

Macro shot of a pink Christmas Cactus taken on November 4th. Seven of the next 10 days have snow in the forecast, so I thought I'd better get out this morning, just in case the weather forecast turns out to be right. Such a beautiful morning once the sun came out. Met a few friends down at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary and though there was not all that much to see, we did have a pair of gorgeous Hooded Mergansers fly in and land on the lagoon. I've only ever seen these from a great distance, but today they were a little closer and I think I have finally got a few closer shots.

This is a macro of the very centre (stamens, anther, can't remember what is what, lol?) of an Easter Cactus flower (Hatiora gaertneri), taken in my kitchen. I haven't checked today's temperature yet - not sure I really want to, lol, after our -36C (-33F) windchill temperature of yesterday! All I know is, I need colour - warm colour : ) And many of you do, too, no doubt. So, keep warm, everyone! "An Easter cactus is a unique, jointed cactus plant that blooms with brilliantly colored flowers once a year in the Easter season. It is a type of succulent cactus known as an epiphyte, which has adapted for survival in the jungle. The Easter cactus is indigenous to Brazil, and is commonly grown as a houseplant in cultivation." www.wisegeek.com/what-is-an-easter-cactus.htm It's back to saving more of my endless photos today. Having had to deal with three different computer problems the last 2-3 weeks, it has scared me enough to make me start on the long, monotonous chore of backing up photos to my external hard drive. I do it one small folder at a time, lol, which no doubt will have a few of you shaking your head.

Couldn't resist this small Easter Cactus plant when I went grocery shopping the other day : ). Thought it would make a change from the more usual photos of Christmas Cacti flowers. Such a pretty flower when seen up close, and such a gorgeous colour. Seem to remember it was snowing, raining and very windy when I bought it, LOL. "These plants are originally forest cacti, growing as epiphytes at elevations between 1000 and 1700 meters (3300 to 5600 feet) above sea level in the Organ Mountains north of Rio de Janeiro in southeast Brazil, South America.... Many modern holiday cactus cultivars are hybrids between Schlumbergera truncata and S. russelliana, first bred about 150 years ago in England." From Wikipedia.

I just had to take a few photos of the very centre of an Easter Cactus flower, of the stigma (with bokeh stamens) - I think it's so pretty. The flower itself is maybe an inch in length. We are in the middle of a dreadful Wind Storm, with extremly high winds and snow - definitely a day to stay home (Wind Warning in effect)!! In fact, I think I'll go and make myself a mug of hot coffee right now : )

Another photo of one of my Easter Cactus flowers - so different from the flowers of the Christmas Cactus. Later: just realized that, all being well, I should be going on a strenuous, full day hike tomorrow (as long as it doesn't rain), so thought I'd better add my Happy Mother's Day wishes to all of you now, instead of when I get back late tomorrow. Hope you have a happy day! cactus.biology.dal.ca/paulS/christmas/christmas.html

Gosh, I took this photo about a year ago, in the Butterfly House at the Calgary Zoo. At that time of the year, they had removed the tropical plants and replaced them with a wonderful, bright display of spring flowers for everyone to enjoy. The new Conservatory is coming along slowly - can't wait for it to be finished and open to Zoo visitors.

Oops, didn't do a very good job on focusing close, but at least half the flower is in focus : ) The flowers of the Christmas Cactus are so pretty when looked at from underneath. Sorry, everyone, I'm not getting a chance to comment much at all this week, thanks mainly to taking part in quite a few Bird Counts that are out of the city. They go from very early morning to late afternoon/early evening and I'm functioning (barely!) on two or three hours of sleep a night. I should have a chance to collapse for a day on Wednesday, but then I have two or three more busy Count days. By 5th January, I should have more time to do other things - phew!

A similar photo to one I posted quite a while ago, but not as close a macro. This is looking down on a beautiful red Christmas Cactus, which bloomed a good month too early for Christmas : )

I really realized how bright this photo of my Christmas cactus was when I accidentally hit a wrong key last night and ended up with this photo as my desktop image, LOL! I decided to keep it there and it helps give a (false) feeling of warmth as I sit here with cold draughts from my window gaps swirling around me : ). Not the sharpest of photos, but thought I'd post it anyway. By the way, Rebecca, thought of you when I saw how this photo turned out - RED for the birthday girl (well, for yesterday, but close enough).

"The crown-of-thorns, Euphorbia milii, is a shrub of arid regions, belonging to the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. It is native to Madagascar but is grown extensively as a houseplant. The slender stems are armed with spines, the leaves are dull green and fall off if disturbed, and the flower bracts are a soft salmon-pink with a pale center. The crown-of-thorns is grown as a hedge plant in the tropics, where it may reach a height of 1.2 m (4 ft)."