Flowers

I know it's been awhile since I last posted, but I really don't have a lot to say. Every now and then I'll have something on my mind to talk about. I hope you don't mind too much. :)

When I was young, before computers and cable TV, I used to go outside and play on nice days. There were times I would sit on the ground and gaze and wonder at nature. Clouds, grass, bugs, etc. It was all fascinating. Growing older, I discovered mysteries (Hardy Boys, Tom Swift) and logic puzzles (Who Owns the Zebra?). All of this gave me a never-ending curiosity to see how things work. I still love to study things and work out puzzles and I have a huge Ellery Queen collection. But nature and science still fill me with wonder. I love God's Creation.

In our backyard, my wife has planted a Mock Orange plant. She planted it some years ago, and it had an amazing fragrance the first year it bloomed, according to Jeanine. Since then it has never had a very strong scent. Yesterday I was sitting on the deck steps and studying the blossoms. I will often study the parts of plants and I especially like to see how they form as they grow through the season. Something about this plant really amazed me and I wanted to share it here.

Shown here are a few blossoms and you can see their relative size by my hand underneath. First I would like to concentrate on the small blossom in the middle.

It has 4 broad petals which overlap to form a bowl. The stamens which are yellowish, orangish, are spread, and they kinda form a square, with the corners aligning with the petal overlaps.

Here is a close-up. The arrows point out the stamens that make the "corners". The 4th one wasn't as well-defined as in other blossoms. These corner stamens look exactly like all the other stamens, but they are different.

In this photo, look at the stamen which is pointed out on the right. The white part is coming out of the orange bulb on the tip of the stamen. It will get bigger as shown by the arrow on the left. A new petal is forming from the stamen! As it unfurls, the stem of the stamen itself, continues to unfurl also, forming a new petal.

Here you can see 4 new petals, that have formed from the stamens. The arrow points to one not fully unfurled, but shows the spot where the stamen tip used to be. It's bent at that spot, then slowly unbends. As each petal continues to unfurl, it folds along the center, and each petal forms a sort of tent.

Here you can see the new tent-shaped petals, creating a new dimension to the young blossom! Just another spectacular design in God's wonderful florals. His works never cease to amaze me.

Addendum: I was looking at the blossoms again and found that new layers of petals will form! The picture on the left shows more forming from the "stamens" after the second round of petals flatten out from their "tent" state. The right picture shows the new petals on top of the other two layers. I don't know how long this process would keep up, but older blossoms are already falling apart. Still, it's quite an amazing botanical drama.

Thanks for reading!

rick