Monday, May 04, 2009

Rhapsody (and mystery) in blue

When I shared a "May flowers" photo of this flower earlier, I hoped someone would be able to tell me what it is. Guess I'll have to continue to enjoy it's unique form and shade of blue without proper introductions!

The other morning while I was doing chores some fog moved in. This is not our foggy time of year, but we're in the middle of a soggy weather pattern which is probably contributing. Anyway, the subtle beauty of our natives maples drew me in, so I snapped some photos to share the magic with you. Click on any image to lose yourself in the details. :-)

That's it for now from . . .

13 comments:

MiniKat said...

Absolutely gorgeous!

Mim said...

Your blue flower looks like a Bachelor Button aka Corn Flower.

Miss Effie said...

Yep -- that's what it is. I love the color too. So hard to find "blue" in flowers.

Franna said...

Well, Mim and Clink got it. Bachelor's Button. They come in several colors of blue, pink and white. They're one of my favorites.
- Franna

Jenny Holden said...

I used to call those "gas stove" flowers when I was a kid :o)

Michelle said...

Well, you guys were on the right track, except that Bachelor's Buttons/Cornflowers are most commonly an annual. Then I got an email from Penny who correctly identified it as Centaura Perennial Bachelor's Button. When I googled the above I found that it also comes in a beautiful white version with the same purple center; I might have to get one of those! Some report it as invasive, but ours hasn't been; just hardy, carefree, free-blooming, and deer-proof. Can't beat that with a stick!

A :-) said...

Looks like a corn flower to me, too :-) You just never know when some errant annual is going to reseed itself.

Claire MW said...

Hey Michelle, little secret, Penny is my Mom! :-) She's quite the flower expert - taught me everything I know about gardening! Gorgeous pictures!

IsobelleGoLightly said...

We have those pretty plants up at our person's house! They like to have babies every year! I want to go up to that garden and taste those flowers...maybe they would taste good! Goat kisses from Isobelle!

Carolina Trekker said...

Amazing detail in these photos..peaceful to sit and contemplate them with a cup of morning tea. Notice Jackson's whiskers on the left side of his face are white and the ones on the right are black in his sweet clown photo.

Allena said...

Nice pictures, I was all set to ask if it was annual or perinial lol.

Well everyone knew what it was except me, and here I thought I could spend an hour looking at flowers :D

Oh well.

Jamie said...

Bachelor Button does seem to be the right flower. I found this site & it was a big help, http://www.pnwflowers.com/ Just in case you find any others you need to identify.

thecrazysheeplady said...

I sent this to my botanist friend and she agrees. I was not aware of a perennial variety.