This is a 'one day only' flower. It like a special special sale that only lasts for one day, and if you miss it---you miss it for the entire year! Talk about precious....The day I took this picture their were three plants that have these one day people on them that were ALL open, that day. I had been watching them because I didn't want to miss them...and in fact I have a few shots of these blossoms before they opened, from the day before and in one case two days before...then, more while they were open on their special day and then after they closed, the following day. Here is the flower from the second plant....
The reason you see water drops on these flowers is that we water down below on Friday mornings and I had to wait till the watering period was done...and therefor we have little water beads on these delicate beautiful flower beings.
Here now is the third flower on yet the third plant that was blooming on that one-day-only-blooming! You have no idea how unusual it is that all three of these plants, that as I said are related, would ALL bloom on the very same day....how delicate these petals are...in that top picture they almost look like a huge fan that a woman might have used 'on stage' in the 1920's...or something from a Busby Berkley Movie Musical of the '30's....
I LOVE LOVE LOVE these flowers....And just to show you a little bit more of this amazing phenomenom...here is a shot of each of these flowers from a little further away....
There were two blossoms open on this plant, both pretty drenched by the water....but, if I hadn't taken them at this time, I would not have gotten them at such an open-arms point in their day. Blossom #3 is the bloom on this plant...And then, here below, is the plant that goes with Blossom #2...the slightly pink tinged one...
And then...the Blossom #3's plant...(these are all in the same family but as you can see the flowers are all slightly different...)
I have another one of these plants further down almost at the very bottom of my garden. I fear I missed it's flowers completely because I don't see any evidence of "fuzz balls" or any remnants of the dead flower...But I do have a photograph from a few years ago and as you will see this flower is a beautiful soft pink!
This was taken on a day when the water did not come on...so there are no pretty little beads...this flower is such a lush beautiful color, and again...it is a one-day-only-bloomer...So, here are a few pictures of the day before the flowers up top opened, taken quite late in the afternoon---close to 5:30pm....
And another beauty....
And this, too....
And since I am doing this all backwards....here we have a picture of one of the flowers two days before it actually opened....the day I saw this I knew that the "opening" was near....
So....to confuse you even more....here is one more picture of one of the blossoms the day it was open....
And the very next day....it is all over....
It is sad that the window of time to really enjoy this flower is less than 24 hours....And because I don't want to leave you with this very sad image...Here is something else to cogitate on....Beauty comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes...here is another entirely different thing of beauty in a whole other package...
More To Come.....
***A NOTE: I have had great difficulty trying to post people's comments here on my blog and also being able to comment on other people's blogs---the wonderful blogger problems even included the eating of comments....so, I hope blogger gets itself together soon, and I apologize for this problem and sure wish I knew how to fix it, but I don't. So bear with me please....***
- had this to say:
gosh they are beautiful Naomi!! You are very fortunate to have caught them... if you had my luck you'd see them "the day after"! heh.
yes blogger has been not so user friendly lately! even with the crazy letters below to post a comment, I always have to click to leave a comment twice for the letters to show up. The first time is always a little red x..it's beginning to drive me crazy!- Thursday, June 8, 2006 at 5:05:00 AM PDT
- had this to say:
I LOVE these pictures - thank you so much. The desert plants are so beautiful and to be able to experience their blooming is sublime.
So, here we are counting down the days until our birthdays. This time of year is always a time of reflection for me - and since we both have significant birthdays this year - it is even a more reflective time than usual.
Thank you again for sharing this wonderful part of your life. S.- Thursday, June 8, 2006 at 5:56:00 AM PDT
- had this to say:
Wow! Gorgeous flowers! One of my little cactii actually sprouted a flower last week. I was so surprised, and my first thought was, "Oh, you look like George!" :-) By the way, after a couple of days working on it, I finally got all my "V" words posted. Stop by and have a look.
- Thursday, June 8, 2006 at 6:36:00 AM PDT
- had this to say:
Lovely shots. It's particularly beautiful right before it opened to me.
- Thursday, June 8, 2006 at 6:57:00 AM PDT
- had this to say:
We have some of those too. I've got to try and get out and get some photos. It's just been so hot I don't want to go outside...lol! And as you say, you have such a short window of opportunity. :)
- Thursday, June 8, 2006 at 9:09:00 AM PDT
- had this to say:
Naomi, they are magnificent photos of suce gorgeous flowers! I think the fdact that they are only open for a day teaches us about the fleetness of time and that we should stop and smell the roses - because tomorrow - they might not be there!!
I cannot get into blogger to post my meme for you. I will do it ASAP, okay?- Thursday, June 8, 2006 at 3:21:00 PM PDT
- had this to say:
Blogger has been down for maintenance or so they said. I finally gave up, but now it's working again!
Lovely flowers Naomi. That is so amazing. One day and that's it. Simply amazing and you took great pictures of them.
Yet another great post!!!- Thursday, June 8, 2006 at 5:19:00 PM PDT
- had this to say:
Love, love, love the pink. So delicate. I see what you mean about the fans used in the twenties and thirties. Wouldn't it be something if all of them bloomed in one day, what color. But, then we wouldn't have that surprise for the day would we.
- Thursday, June 8, 2006 at 8:14:00 PM PDT
- had this to say:
Michele sent me, Naomi.
Even by your high standards, these are excellent pictures. It's so amazing that something as uninviting as a cactus can produce such beautiful--and large!--blooms. I especially loved the pictures of the pink tinged blossom. It's amazing how many stamen are in those flowers.- Thursday, June 8, 2006 at 8:41:00 PM PDT
- had this to say:
im normally not big on flowers but those are just beautiful! Breathtaking..And your photos are wonderful!
Michele sent me tonight!- Thursday, June 8, 2006 at 8:56:00 PM PDT
- had this to say:
Awesome pictures! Coincidentally, I just bought a new macro lens for my camera so that I could take better close ups.
Visiting from Michele's!- Thursday, June 8, 2006 at 10:53:00 PM PDT
- had this to say:
So much intricacy and variation.
Your photos are really marvelous. You have a good camera and a good eye!
The water droplets look cool too.- Thursday, June 8, 2006 at 11:00:00 PM PDT
- had this to say:
Hi Naomi, I was by earlier & read your post. As I'm sure you know, Blogger was down....AGAIN. Anyways, here is the comment I tried to post earlier, but was unsuccessful:
Oh my gosh, those are such beautiful flowers. The white ones remind me of snow, I don't know why, they just do. And how wonderful that you were able to see all 3 of them in bloom! Fantastic photos, Naomi.- Friday, June 9, 2006 at 12:17:00 AM PDT
- had this to say:
Wow! It's a pity to be a one day flower with all its beauty. They really are very beautiful.
- Friday, June 9, 2006 at 1:21:00 AM PDT
- had this to say:
blogger was having fits again earlier so am just posting now. once again, you've proven that beauty can be seen in the most unexpected places. love those flowers! am sure they're a much more wonderful experience when seen up close. ;)
- Friday, June 9, 2006 at 2:12:00 AM PDT
- had this to say:
That first bloom reminds me of a wedding...dunno why. It's gorgeous. A friend of mine had a huge plant that had an enormous bloom like that...opened up for one day...it actually scared her since she didn't know it could bloom at all. How gorgeous and what an event...Glad you could capture it! Here from Michele's today!
- Friday, June 9, 2006 at 2:18:00 AM PDT
- had this to say:
michele sent me. Those are really beautiful flowers. And awfully big. My wife has a bunch of day lilies that only bloom for one day, but there are so many, we get a week or two of blooms.
- Friday, June 9, 2006 at 2:33:00 AM PDT
- had this to say:
lovely pictures Naomi
Blogger seems to have finally sorted itself out.
Michele sent me today :o)- Friday, June 9, 2006 at 3:07:00 AM PDT
- had this to say:
I wouldn't have guessed it's a cactus' flower from the close-ups...beautiful!
- Friday, June 9, 2006 at 6:31:00 AM PDT
- had this to say:
All the photos are beautiful. I especially love the white blooms in the first and third photos. I love the water droplets on the petals. You got a beautiful shot with them.
- Friday, June 9, 2006 at 7:49:00 AM PDT
- had this to say:
Oh honey these are beautiful! What a lovely thing to share. I appreciate being taken to somewhere sunny and dry right now, even if it's only for the length of a post. Michele sent me, but I would've popped in eventually anyways.
- Friday, June 9, 2006 at 8:02:00 AM PDT
- had this to say:
Hello, Michele sent me.
Like everyone else, I like the photos too. My wife (photojulia.com) takes lots of flower pictures and they help me to really appreciate their beauty - especially the macro pics.
I'd heard about the blogger comments problem but it seems to be fixed now. As free blogs go, I still recomend blogger but with popularity comes wide-spread problems. Of course I now host my own site with Wordpress but my Blogger account allows me to post on sites like yours.- Friday, June 9, 2006 at 8:09:00 AM PDT
- had this to say:
Naomi, those are such incredibly beautiful flowers! Thanks for bringing us our touch of nature for the day.
Hope you have a great weekend! Michele sent me. I'm sure I'll be back soon!- Friday, June 9, 2006 at 8:25:00 AM PDT
- had this to say:
You're like the Annie Liebowitz of florae!
Thanks for the visit yesterday.
p- Friday, June 9, 2006 at 8:43:00 AM PDT
- had this to say:
I would NEVER have known they were cactus. Gorgeous.
Here from Michele's!- Friday, June 9, 2006 at 9:24:00 AM PDT
- had this to say:
You always have the most beautiful photos!
- Friday, June 9, 2006 at 10:28:00 AM PDT
- had this to say:
Oinkity, oink, oink!
That translates as, "Hello, have a good day."
Message from the little piggie, who will try and not be a piggie today!!!! :-)- Friday, June 9, 2006 at 10:44:00 AM PDT
- had this to say:
Oh my those are absolutely gorgeous!!!!! I love that you caught them in stages. It is awesome! You know me, I love anything floral! :)
Sending you lots of hugs my friend!- Friday, June 9, 2006 at 11:06:00 AM PDT
- had this to say:
Beautiful flowers !!
Refreshing thing to see... since it's been raining non-stop for the last 3 weeks over here !!
Michele sent me. Have a great weekend !- Friday, June 9, 2006 at 1:15:00 PM PDT
- had this to say:
Wow. Those are incredible. I probably would've sat out there till they bloomed. Just beautiful!
Hello from Michele.- Friday, June 9, 2006 at 1:37:00 PM PDT
- had this to say:
Hi Naomi!
Thank you for visiting my blog and inviting me to see these wonderful flowers. They are indeed amazingly beautiful! I enjoyed them a lot, although I now wish I could see them for real. the pink bud series going backwards is great! ha!
Have a great weekend!!!- Friday, June 9, 2006 at 2:06:00 PM PDT
- had this to say:
Popped in to say 'hi I'm home' and just breathed 'WOW' at your first picture. You're right, it is like a Broadway fan. I've rarely seen anything that beautiful. Absolutely stunning.
Thank you, honey....
oh - and hi! I'm home!
cq- Friday, June 9, 2006 at 2:43:00 PM PDT
- had this to say:
Michele sent me back to see your gorgeous photos again. I think my favorites are the ones of the buds opening. Such good photos!!
- Friday, June 9, 2006 at 7:25:00 PM PDT
- had this to say:
Your picture taking ability is just awesome. I have meant to go out and get some close-ups of my spring flowers and you just inspired me.
Blogger has been really boogered up all week. I noticed the first day, my blog was having trouble loading up and all week it seems they had problems with the comment system. It seems to be fixed now. They said they had to overhaul some hardware.- Friday, June 9, 2006 at 7:52:00 PM PDT
- had this to say:
Yep, Blogger's been a royal pain off and on (mostly on) all this week.
Your blooms are so pretty!
(My list of "L" things is up.)
:)- Friday, June 9, 2006 at 9:50:00 PM PDT
- had this to say:
darling these are just so beautiful! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for sharing such lovely pictures. how precious.
i also loved you letter t post below.
have a lovely weekend babe. i came via michele but i was due a visit. i did actually come last week too but the comment thing drove me nuts everywhere so i gave up even trying!- Saturday, June 10, 2006 at 2:28:00 AM PDT
- had this to say:
Naomi the photos are gorgeous, marvelous! You have such an awesome garden! It's looks a beautiful dream!
Have a wonderful weekend surround by such beauty!- Saturday, June 10, 2006 at 7:47:00 AM PDT
- had this to say:
Beautiful pictures of the flowers. An absolute 'moment in time'.
I spent some time in Arabia, and there was an amazing effect there at the time of the rains, when the desert would momentarily burst to life with plants which were small but special.
It was commonplace for the Arabs to head out in such times to look around and to wonder at the tiny and often short lived beauty.
rashbre- Saturday, June 10, 2006 at 9:40:00 AM PDT
- had this to say:
Such beautiful flowers! My family is from Arizona and those cactus pictures make me feel homesick.
Here from Michele's- Saturday, June 10, 2006 at 10:20:00 PM PDT
- had this to say:
So beautiful.
- Saturday, June 10, 2006 at 11:02:00 PM PDT
- had this to say:
Lovely pics Naomi. Just what I needed to see on such a gray dismal day.
- Sunday, June 11, 2006 at 10:40:00 AM PDT
- had this to say:
those flowers look like they came straight out of an enchanted forest! and just having one day for them to bloom is sad. ;)
- Sunday, June 11, 2006 at 11:41:00 AM PDT
x4
