I love flowers - Most beautiful flowers in the world

All of these beautiful flowers are really making me yearn for Spring! I'm so done with dirty snow and cold weather. I want my flowers back!

reply to post by elevenaugust


I love your post! You've made me melancholy for spring! Here's a question I have often pondered, but never had a chance to ask anyone: what is the biological purpose for the sweet smell that many flowers carry? It's obviously not universal - plenty of blooms have no real scent at all. But some, like the lily of the valley, the peony, the hyacinth, the iris, and the rose (especially the lovely blue-purple ones!) are nearly intoxicating in their sweet smell. Why do they need that extra boost for their continued well-being? I'd love to know if you know the answer!
BTW, those lilies of the valley can be insidious! I planted a handful of them from my mother's yard into mine. By the next summer, they had expanded by at least a factor of 10. Now I'm hoping to give them away just like she did!
Thanks for a lovely post, completely free from angst.

While searching for more example of beautiful flowers, Caroline O'Hagan's wonderful photos popped up.

Check out her Flickr portfolio: Top 50 flowers and Gallery that includes the most beautiful and colorful close-up shoot I've ever seen.

Some examples:


Lantanas


Roses, Daisy and Gerberas


Orchids

Morning Glory


Banana Blossom


Daisy

Amazing work!! I wish I could take such gorgeous shoots....

Ahh, a beautiful thread, and beautiful flowers to start my day! Thank you for this post. I love admiring nature's beauty as well.

There's something that bugs me though. As a photographer, I can't help but to wince at the second picture (of the lotus). Would it have hurt [the artist] to use some feathering?

Purple Crocus - when I lived
in Ky this was the first flower
of spring.

reply to post by elevenaugust


Luke 12:27 Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Originally posted by kaylaluv
My Mountain Laurel tree is blooming like crazy now. The blooms smell like grape soda!

I used to have a couple of mountain laurels in my front yard at my old house. Loved them. It's illegal to pick it or destroy it here in PA as it's the state flower.

I took this photo some years
back and can't remember the
name of the flower. It looks
like a lily but I think it has
another name. A variety of
the same flower in pink and
white. Does anyone know
the name of this flower?

Hi Crazydaisy,

It really looks like the "hyacinth":





White, yellow and orange:

reply to post by elevenaugust


Thank you - I have never seen
them in white. But I have a photo
of the pink variety.

reply to post by elevenaugust


I took these two the other day at work.

Your thread jumped to mind so I thought i'd share them here

Mini Grape Hyacinth


I'm not sure about these. I thought maybe Cyclamen? The lady wasn't home at the time so I couldn't ask her. Hopefully someone can correct me?

reply to post by SilentE

Hi! Those are crocuses, one of the first flowers to pop up at spring



Springtime here in France!!
Here are two shoots I took today in my garden:


Don't know the name of those, anyone?


Pomponette Daisies