Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Passion Flower

This photo was taken six days ago. This morning, we are having our first SNOW in the city! Not a welcome sight at all, to say the least. Yesterday, I went and washed my car to get rid of all the dust from all my recent gravel backroad driving, just in case the weather forecast turned out t be correct. Unfortunately, the weather people got it exactly right. So, winter is here, at least for now, leaving me feeling so grateful to have had the chance to go to these gardens and photograph a good variety of cheery, colourful flowers. I was absolutely amazed to see Passion Flowers growing in our city - I had only ever seen them in the Calgary Zoo Conservatory a few years ago! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passiflora_edulis On 1 October 2016, I finally had my very first visit to the Silver Springs Botanical Gardens, thanks to friend, Sandy. I first heard about this beautiful place from my daughter, but I had never been, because it is way out of my city driving comfort zone. In the morning, it was raining, at least in my part of the city, and I wondered if going would turn out to be a big mistake. However, the rain stayed away while we were there and, though the sky was overcast, I was still able to photograph to my heart's content. I was surprised at how many flowers were still in bloom on the first day of October and I was extremely impressed with how meticulously these gardens are kept - every inch of them. So many different kinds of trees and plants, and it was very obvious that each area had been planted with so much thought and care. Amazing that dedicated volunteers have been, and continue to be, the ones to thank for these gardens. Thanks so much, Sandy, for giving me the chance to spend an afternoon in such beauty and peace! We all knew that snow wasn't far away - it has fallen in parts of the mountains, and now today it has reached the city. So thankful that I have been able to get out to quite a few interesting places before having to deal with roughly seven long, dreaded months of winter. "The Botanical Gardens of Silver Springs is without doubt one of the Seven Wonders of Calgary, Alberta. It boasts 1350 square meters (14 600 square feet) of gardens which includes a spectacular Wall Garden that runs an uninterrupted 1300 feet. In the gardens you will find an endless variety of annuals and perennials ranging from artemisias to zinnias. Here indeed is a place to stop and smell the roses and the peonies and the delphiniums and the chrysanthemums and the … What makes these gardens so very special is that they were created and continue to be maintained by a band of green-thumbed enthusiastic volunteers. These hale and hearty diggers, planters, seeders, weeders, mowers, waterers, pruners and community builders work two to three mornings a week to keep the gardens in primrose shape and their efforts are truly appreciated by the many walkers, joggers, and cyclists. On any given day, hundreds of people walk the wall garden with their families, friends and out-of-town visitors. It has become a treasured destination site for many. For anyone who has spent time in the gardens, it is hard to believe that they have only been here since 2006 when a humble ornamental garden (400 square feet) was developed within the existing BirthPlace Forest tree beds. The BPF, by the way, saw 7000 trees planted in the area. The project was accomplished through a partnership of BP Energy, Calgary Parks, Regional Health and Golden Acres." From the gardens' website. www.botanicalgardensofsilversprings.ca/

This beautiful Passionflower vine is growing in the Butterfly House at the Calgary Zoo. It belongs to the Passifloraceae family.

If ever there was a day when I needed to see something brightly coloured, today is the day, LOL! It started off reasonably fine, but by the time I had walked all morning and it was time to drive home, everywhere was covered in snow and the roads were absolutely treacherous! Coming down a hill towards one of the main, busy roads in the city, I found myself sliding, despite my hand brake being on, and I crashed quite hard a couple of times into the curb. Nothing happened to me, other than my adrenalin soaring! I'm really hoping that the sun will shine tomorrow and we'll have blue sky - but I won't hold my breath : ). Anyway, this is a gorgeous Passion Flower (Passionflower) that was growing at the Calgary Zoo before the Conservatory was demolished.

These Passion Flowers at the Calgary Zoo Conservatory fascinate me - sorry, bear with me while I post yet another photo : )

These are such fascinating flowers! This particular vine is growing in the Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo. "Passion" does not refer to love, but to the Passion of Christ on the cross. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Spanish Christian missionaries discovered this flower and adopted its unique physical structures as symbols of Crucifixion. For example: the 72 radial filaments (or corona) represent the Crown of Thorns. The ten petals and sepals represent the ten faithful apostles. The top 3 stigmata represent the 3 nails and the lower 5 anthers represent the 5 wounds. The flower has been given names related to this symbolism throughout Europe since that time. In Spain, it is known as Espina de Cristo (Christ's Thorn). In Germany it was once known as Muttergottes-Schuzchen (Mother-of-God's Star). In Israel they are referred to as clock-flower (שעונית). In Japan, they are known as clock-faced flowers, and recently have become a symbol for homosexual youths. In North America they are also called the Maypop, the water lemon, and the wild apricot (after its fruit). Native Americans in the Tennessee area called it ocoee, and the Ocoee River and valley are named after it." From Wikipedia.