The virtues of stubborn repetition

[pecunium]

I was over at Maia's, cleaning the mice, feeding the snakes, and lying in wait for squirrels.

I went to let the goose out, and give him run of his yard (April is the last of the geese, coyotes got the others, so he is in a cage in the evenings, and only released if there is someone to return him at night).

Which was when I saw the crocus. There are number of them in pots. They are stunning. A really nice shade of purple, with a hard gloss on the outer petals, and a wonderful veining. This was a saffron crocus, just opening. So I watered them (there were others, not in bloom) and set up the computer, and everything else.

Then I spent time shooting the flower. After which I went to the computer, and watching the birds, and listening for squirrels (of which there were none). Every so often I went back to the flower, and shot some more, trying to catch the essence of it, as it opened.

This is the way my first glimpse looked.

A Study in Saffron


There are more.

Comments

[txanne.livejournal.com]

How gorgeous. I think this one and "Spirals" would make a beautiful diptych.

[georgiamagnolia.livejournal.com]

oh. *sigh*

I took pictures of the crocus blooming in my garden and those pictures cry for not being as beautiful as yours.

;)

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

Um...

I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to make you feel less than competent. :)

But you had the crocus, which was probably every bit as nice as the one I shot.

[georgiamagnolia.livejournal.com]

oh, no, you don't make me feel bad, really! I have never pretended to have photography talent. ;)

The first flowers of Spring should always be celebrated, I think. Your series is quite lovely and wonderful.

[soul-diaspora.livejournal.com]

This just made my day (and lord, my day needed making...) Excellent use of the water droplets, and that purple is so shiny it's almost metallic.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

Thank goodness for RAW, because I had the WB set for Sun, and the light was deep shade.

What I really wanted was the stamens to pop. THe purple was just a grace note (because it gives the needed contrast).

[kightp.livejournal.com]

*blink* Your saffron crocuses bloom in the spring? How interesting - mine bloom in the fall (and I get down on my hands and knees and carefully harvest their three aromatic stigmas, bloom by bloom, and dry them for culinary use. I'm such a freakin' food geek).

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

They do. If these were all mine, I'd be plucking the stamen, you bethca.

I happen to really like the flowers, and they (being a mediterranean plant) do all right here, so I will be (even if in pots) cultivating them.

Food, Flowers and Fotos... they provide all sorts of sustenance.

[kightp.livejournal.com]

I recommend putting them in the ground, if you can. They naturalize like crazy. The first year I had them in my garden I harvested perhaps half a teaspoon of saffon threads, once dried. Last fall, four years later, I got nearly three tablespoons. And the show is lovely while it lasts, too. (-:

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

I'd prefer putting them in the ground. It depends on how long I expect to be there. I relly hate the thought of leaving plants to be neglected.

My Not Jonquils have been really good at pot culture. I am going to have to remove them, again, because they are going to break the pot. I planted four, and, two years later, I have something like 25 (so far).

[kightp.livejournal.com]

I hear you. I've been digging up bulbs and taking them with me when I move for years, with varying degrees of success. It's still a novelty to own my own house and garden.

[kateyule.livejournal.com]

After reading of the mice, snakes, squirrels, geese, and coyotes, I was briefly trying to figure out what kind of critter "crocus" were.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

Like hyacinths, they feed the soul.

:)