Calla Lily in Black and White

Calla Lily

Zantedeschia aethiopica

(zan-te-DES-kee-uh) (ee-thee-OH-pik-uh)

Synonyms: Arum Lily, Large White Aethiopica, Varkoor

This is my little attempt at an ‘art shot’. It is easy to get caught up in the macro world of flowers and to a certain extent live there. That is forgetting the brilliance and beauty that flowers can lend our lives. A single white Calla lily in a vase is a bit of an interior design cliché but it still works. This picture (and all the black and white flowers on this site) was shot with the monochrome setting on the camera. No color picture of this flower exists. My only little secret is to turn the contrast setting up to +2 on the camera menu, which seems to give a better range of black and grey tones. The micro-Nikkor 60mm/2.8 lens and the D700 camera produced this picture.

Since it is Sunday again here is a bonus snapshot. This seemed like a very lonely rose. All it’s neighbors had bloomed months ago and had turned to mushy hips by now. The color and shape of this rose was slightly distorted but beautiful in its own way.

Calla Lily

Calla Lily

Zantedeschia aethiopica

(zan-te-DES-kee-uh) (ee-thee-OH-pik-uh)

Keeping with the California theme of yesterday here are a couple more Californian plants. The Calla lily was blooming all over the place and when I came upon this one I was reminded of the Calla I found growing way, way out in the woods on Kauai. It was such a perfect specimen and so beautiful but 3 miles into the woods.

A friend of mine once took a couple of Callas home from work and planted them in his garden. I was like “good luck with that” since they aren’t hardy in this area. The plants seemed to beat the odds and have lived in Norwalk, Connecticut for several winters. I was at his house the other night (band meets there) and I noticed his Cairn Terrier butt deep into one of his flower beds and sure enough he had totally dug up the Callas. We carefully put everything back together and will hope for the best.

This plant was almost a little alarming looking. Kind of a “Seymour” look to it. Its geometry was stunning as was its color.

Variegated Century Plant

Agave americana var. marginata

(a-GAH-vee)

White Dogwood

White Dogwood

Cornus florida

(KOR-nus) (FLOR-ih-duh)

Here are a couple of abstract shots. The Dogwoods are just starting to come out here and this picture was snapped of a half open flower. There is a little greenness to the flowers when they emerge and also when the flower is fully out they keep a slight green tint never really becoming pure white. It is one of my favorite flowering trees and Dogwood season is always special here. One reason I love them is they are a slightly smaller tree than most growing to the perfect manageable size of about 20 feet (sometimes taller). The mixtures of colors on the native trees are usually amazing to me also. Some have more green; others have a little pink and or cream color.

I hope the flowers make it through tonight’s forecasted scattered frost. We can’t seem to win with this weather. It is so dry right now that it is causing distractions like holding up our installation and transplanting schedule. It is not often you find me praying for rain but this is one of those times.

Here is another abstract of a flower making its debut on Digital Flower Pictures.com. We used to grow them as annuals but gave up after several years of mixed results. I love the flowers and boldly shaped and spotted foliage. Not sure what flower petals are stuck inside the flower but thought the pink added a little pizzazz to the photo.

Golden Calla Lily

Zantedeschia elliottiana

(zan-te-DES-kee-uh) (el-ee-ot-ee-AH-na)