Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: interestingness#134

I'm always delighted to see a Straw Flower (Strawflower), of any colour. Just fascinated by how perfect they usually are when I see them. Love their paper or silk-like "petals", though actually the petals aren’t true petals at all, but in fact are modified leaves called bracts, that come in many colours, including yellow, orange, cream, pink, white, and purple. Photographed at the Reader Rock Garden on 14 August 2013. "Xerochrysum bracteatum, commonly known as the golden everlasting or strawflower, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to Australia." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerochrysum_bracteatum

I just HAD to post something that was vibrant, rich RED, to take my mind off how cold it is : ) It is -21C today with a windchill of -27C. It can get a lot colder than this - and I really don't want to think about THAT : ) This was one of the beautiful, shiny Anthuriums growing in the new Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo. "Anthurium is a large genus of about 600- 800 (possibly 1,000) species, belonging to the arum family (Araceae). Anthurium can also be called "Flamingo Flower" or "Boy Flower", both referring to the structure of the spathe and spadix." From Wikipedia. Just spent a good part of the afternoon copying four folders of nature images into a new folder, ready to burn to DVD. For some weird reason, it kept removing all my titles, leaving just the number of each photo, which is definitely not what I wanted. That's what I call a wasted afternoon : )

Yesterday, I spent the day in Banff with a friend, following part of the Fen Trail through the forest and walking the short distance to Vermillion Lakes. In the afternoon, we visited the Cascade Gardens at the far end of Banff's main street. I don't usually get a chance to go to Banff, in the Rocky Mountains, so this was a wonderful treat, thanks to my friend! The total driving distance from Calgary to Banff is 126 kms. A road trip from Calgary to Banff takes about 1 hour 37 mins. The two little White-crowned Sparrows that I was watching from maybe 5' or 6' away, were in one of the bushes along the edge of the lake, near the edge of the road.