Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: FLOWERSadminFAVE

Guess where I got this beautiful Strawflower - exactly, Safeway of course, LOL. The size of the actual flower is around 1" diameter. "The genus Helichrysum (pronounced hel-i-CRY-sum, or hee-li-CRY-sum) consists of an estimated 600 species, in the sunflower family (Asteraceae). The type species is Helichrysum orientale. The name is derived from the Greek words helisso (to turn around) and chrysos (gold). Common names include strawflower and everlasting. It occurs in Africa (with 244 species in South Africa), Madagascar, Australasia and Eurasia. Several species are grown as ornamental plants, and for dried flowers. When cut young and dried, the open flowers and stalks preserve their colour and shape for long periods." From Wikipedia.

I'm not sure of the proper, full name of this plant, but I think Centaurea is one of the names. I love the colour, and the patterns below the petals (bracts?). We saw this on a walk at Paskapoo Slopes in the city a few days ago. Part of the walk was down the hillside, through some kind of forested retreat, so there were garden plants near the top of the area, too. A lovely place to walk. Thanks, Doug, for the ID, Centauria macrocephala, 'Golden Globe' - much appreciated, as always!

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

I saw this plant for the very first time yesterday evening, on a Summer Solstice botany walk out at Bow Valley Provincial Park. The park is right at the foot of the most eastern edge of the mountains - a beautiful wetland area. This plant has a single whitish, yellowish or purplish flower, 15-25 mm long, on each stem. These are parasitic plants, attaching themselves to the roots of other plants because they lack chlorophyll and cannot produce their own food through photosynthesis. Also called One-flowered Cancer Root. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------