Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Amaryllidaceae

Yesterday's (15 February 2017) high of 16.4 C in Calgary broke a century-old record, beating the previous mark of 15.6 C set in 1916. Our crazy weather! Just the other week, we had windchills as cold as -34C. The last few days have been so mild and wonderful, and the snow is rapidly melting. Makes a wet mess on the roads and you can only drive for a few seconds before the car windows are filthy again. Now if only all the snow and ice could disappear before our next snowfall, it would be worthwhile washing the car. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-weather-record-hig... It's 11:30 am and there are only six new photos showing from my Contacts! Are there really so few people posting on Flickr today (and recently), or is it yet another Flickr glitch? This is a photo from my archives, taken on 6 April 2016 at the Reader Rock Garden. It is always such a delight to see these early spring flowers blooming after seven long winter months of snow and ice on the ground. Each year I go the Garden, I only find one plant of these dainty flowers and it is difficult to get a photo of just one single flower. This time, I managed to get the beautiful green heart shape. On this day, I wanted to see what flowers had started to grow already, as plants in general were blooming early last year, thanks to the mild weather. The main flowers were all the Hepatica, varying slightly in colour with some paler and others darker. There were also scattered tiny Squill flowers and this single Snowdrop plant growing in its usual spot. Funny how this plant hasn't spread anywhere else, at least not that I could find. I haven't been to the Garden since around May 2016 and this winter has been brutal compared to last winter. I must try and get over there this spring.

Photgraphed this Allium flower at the Reader Rock Garden on 24 July 2013. "Allium is a monocot genus of flowering plants, informally referred to as the onion genus. The generic name Allium, the Latin word for garlic, is said to come from the Greek αλεω, to avoid, because of its offensive smell. The genus, including the various edible onions, garlics, chives, scallion and leeks, has played a pivotal role in cooking worldwide, as the various parts of the plants, either raw or cooked in many ways, produce a large variety of flavors and textures. The genus contains hundreds of distinct species; many have been harvested through human history, but only about a dozen are still economically important today as crops or garden vegetables. Many others are cultivated as ornamental plants." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allium

This plant is growing in the Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo. "Amazon Lily is a plant that belongs to the family Amaryllidaceae. Native to Central and South America, Amazon Lily resembles a bulb in shape. The plant has shiny and deep green leaves. It produces a bunch of white flowers. An attractive feature of these flowers is their sweet smell. Something that makes it attractive for human beings is the fact that it can be grown indoors." From Wikipedia.

I've had this photo tucked away in one of my "Maybe post to Flickr" folders for a long time. When I looked in a couple of these folders yesterday, I was amazed at how many old photos I just never posted. A check of My Archives assured me that I had never posted this shot - so here it is, three years late : ) Makes a change from Owls, too, as I have quite a few of those to post in the upcoming days/weeks. Taken on 6 April 2010. "Narcissus is a genus of mainly hardy, mostly spring-flowering, bulbous perennials in the Amaryllis family, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. Various common names including daffodil, narcissus, and jonquil are used to describe all or some of the genus. They are native to meadows and woods in Europe, North Africa and West Asia, with a center of distribution in the Western Mediterranean." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissus_ (plant) Apologies to all my local friends - I finally washed my absolutely filthy vehicle this afternoon. Without fail when I do this, it either rains or snows. Just checked the weather for the coming week and guess what, snow is in the forecast, lol.

I had been hoping to see a Snowdrop again this year, and this one that was growing at the Reader Rock Garden recently was the first and only one I've seen this spring. Such dainty little flowers : ) Since I took this photo, the poor flowers have been buried by further snow falls!