Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: explore2014June16

This macro shot of an Early Blue Violet is one of the few wildflower photos I took on 12 June 2014. I was surprised at how few wildflowers were in bloom when I drove W of Calgary, just a short way along Elbow Falls Trail (Highway 66), as far as Maclean Pond. We had a very late spring, so hopefully colourful flowers will be appearing before too long. These fragrant, bluish-purple flowers are up to 2 cm across. "Medicinally, early blue violet was used as a poultice for bruises, and a violet syrup was made to relieve epilepsy, inflamed eyes, insomnia, jaundice, and sore throats. In modern times, violets have been used to colour and flavour medicines." plantwatch.fanweb.ca/plant-information/early-blue-violet

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! Photographed at the Calgary Zoo on 10th September 2011., this enormous flower of the Sacred Lotus is so beautiful. "The lotus was of great significance to many ancient cultures, and in particular to the Eastern religions. From ancestral times, the lotus regularly appears as a symbol of purity, peace, transcendence, enlightenment, rebirth, beauty, and fertility. In India, the lotus flower is considered to be of divine origin and is viewed as sacred by both Hindus and Buddhists. Buddha was said to sleep on a lotus six months of the year, and Shambala (Buddhist heaven) is sometimes represented as a field of flowering sacred lotuses." Taken from the first link below. www.holisticaroma.co.uk/shp/TheSacredLotus.htm en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelumbo_nucifera