Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: maroon

I often tend to post a photo of a vibrant flower when our weather is overcast and grim. Today's (9 March 2016) forecast is for a mainly sunny day, though it is fairly overcast so far. The next few days should be between +10C and +14C, so our spring-like weather will continue. It is so dry here - not good for farmers, of course, with so little moisture during the winter months. Also not good as far as forest and bush fires are concerned, with everywhere being so very dry. I always enjoy seeing Cosmos flowers - these were growing at the Reader Rock Garden on 24 June 2015. I liked the colour combination of these three flowers. "Cosmos is a genus, with the same common name of Cosmos, consisting of flowering plants in the sunflower family. It is native to scrub and meadowland in Mexico where most of the species occur, as well as the United States, as far north as the Olympic Pennsula in Washington, Central America, and to South America as far south as Paraguay. The genus includes several ornamental plants popular in gardens." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmos_ (plant)

As it is an invasive species, maybe I should whisper that I love this plant, LOL! The tiny flowers are so pretty, as are the seedpods when open. It is a member of the Borage family, was introduced from Europe, and grows in pastures, roadsides and waste areas, June-August. In Alberta, this plant is listed as Noxious. I had hoped to post a few photos from a most enjoyable hike I did today, but I only got back home around 6:30 p.m. (half an hour ago) and am too tired to go through my photos from today. A few of us hiked the Ptarmigan Cirque Trail in Kananaskis, off Highway 40, a favourite place of mine, though I have only ever been to it maybe half a dozen times. A steep climb up to wonderful alpine meadows surrounded by impressive mountain peaks and scree slopes. Seeing alpine flowers for a change was such a special treat.

This weed has quite pretty little flowers. Some of the flowers are a darker pink than these. Seen at Nose Hill yesterday morning.

This enormous tropical flower was blooming in the butterfly room in the ENMAX Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo. It is Aristolochia, also known as Dutchman's Pipe, Calico Flower, Birthworts and Pipevines, a fast growing vine with large heart shaped leaves. It has a carrion smell – rotting meat - to attract insects. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristolochia