I’ve never met a lily that I did not love. Never!  Outside of oriental & Asiatic lilies, calla lilies are my favorite. Especially large white calla lilies.

Calla lilies are romantic, regal, art inspiring, delicate, complex yet so simple and African.

I recently posted on Twitter that I find calla lilies to be beautifully vaginal and phallic at the same time.

One the surface, I see an erect penis with a large head. Inside, I see a soft warmly lit vagina with a carefully protected clitoris ready to be loved.

When I see & photograph flowers, sometimes my mind wonders. I see many things almost like when I gaze at clouds. Maybe it’s my artistic mind but I’ll let you figure that out.

See more of my recent calla lily photos here.

I made a quick trip to Cousin Dee’s house the other day & noticed how beautiful & lush her begonias were.

I was hesitant to ask for a few clippings but I got over it quickly because I just had to have a few.

I LOVE begonias!!!

You can see more of the images here. There were 3 flowers & 8 totally different looks.  It was hard to choose a favorite.

When it comes to my macro floral photography, the closer & more abstract the better.

Meet my new garden friend, a “panter pink cone flower.”  The panther pink cone flower is supposed to be hardy in zones 5-8 so Im hoping that it actually makes it through the winter & flourish next year, especially after paying big bucks for a small plant.

Don’t get me wrong cause I love the rain. When it rains, I don’t have to water my plants or grass, which not only saves me money, but it saves me time. And my lawn looks amazingly lush right now.

But……. Most recently, the rain has been tapping into my pocket because I’ve had to cancel a few outdoor photo sessions.

Sure they were all rescheduled but all this time shuffling is a bit much & has been putting me in a time crunch.

I’m sure in a few months, I’ll be complaining about it not raining enough as my water bill starts to skyrocket. On the other hand, I hope to be happy with scheduled & executed photos sessions.

My day started off with a little drama that was quickly dissolved, then my photo shoot planned for this afternoon was canceled. Just bad news all the way around.

I decided that the drama was not worth me being all pissed off & I let it go, which is not always easy for me to do. After the shot was canceled, I looked at it as an opportunity for me to relax & get my mind right.

As I post this, my mind is clear & I’m excited about the weekend, which kicks off tomorrow with my partying at the Bravo Bravo charity event dressed in my look for less. My look for less consists of $18 jeans from Old navy, $22 blazer from Macy’s & am $20 graphic V-neck tee also from Macy’s. The shoes, a different story & I will not reveal how much they cost.

I think I have the most popular hosta plants in my neighborhood. Throughout out the summer without fail, random neighbors ask for a piece & ask how I got them so big.

Usually, I will give them a plant or two because they seem to multiply like rabbits. Just yesterday while out gardening someone asked about the hostas & I surprised her by digging one up for her. When I say I have many, I really mean it & I don’t mind making someone’s day with items from my garden.

The variety of hosta that I have is called “Big Daddy” and the size is almost giant alien plant like, which makes them fun.

Suite Suzy hates them because they take over the walkway but these babies ain’t going nowhere!

The fragrance: Sweet
The petals: Many & delicate
The color: Bright & vibrate
The history: Rich & wide spread

When my poppies are in bloom I get so excited. I don’t know what it is about them but they make feel like a kid. I wish that they bloomed all summer but that’s not the case, so I will enjoy them for the week or so that the will be around.

I planted violas in one of my gardens last year & the bloomed throughout the summer.  To my surprise, this lonely yellow fellow greeted me today while I was weeding.

What a nice bright surprise.

Coincidentally, it’s my grandmother’s birthday; we called her Mommie.  Everyone called her Mommie. Her kids, grand kids & people in the neighborhood all called her Mommie.

No one dared to call here Essie Mae!!!

Mommie was a very mysterious woman.  She never told me why she moved to Detroit from Birmingham, AL way back when, she never revealed her age, she NEVER talked about my grandfather who was rumored to be a Detroit pimp back in Black Bottom.

What I did know about Mommie was the love she had for me, her high regard continued education, the enjoyment she received from selling World Book Encyclopedias & her influential unique artistic abilities.

Mommie once told me that being cultured was a necessity for a successful Negro (she actually said Nigga but I thought I would clean it up a bit).

Recently, someone asked me who my muse was, I said my muse is my Mommie. She’s been gone for many years but her influence is ever present!

I sure miss Mommie!

Some of the best things in life are pink; like my favorite Egyptian cotton socks, cotton candy, strawberry ice cream & dogwood flowers.

When I see gladiolus flowers I always think of my momma because they are her favorite.

I also love photographing gladiolus flowers because they are rich in color, diverse in patterns & other external complexities that can only be seen when viewed closely and careful.

My momma is as beautifully complex as the gladiolus flower that she loves so much.

Her love knows no limit, her personality is as colorful as a field of wild gladiolus & that is what I love about her.

She is full of life & experiences that are inspirational when viewed closely though conversation or by looking at her hands.

She’s my momma!

OK, enough of the corny stuff!

So, I’m announcing my 1st blog giveaway for Mother’s Day.

The prize is a 6×9 matted print of the image above titled “Edge of Reality” ($65.00 value).

If you’re still trying to make it out the photo, it’s a gladiolus petal.

To Enter:

• You must live in the United States
• Leave a brief comment (no essays, please!) by 11:59 p.m. EST on Wednesday, May 5, 2010 telling me your momma’s favorite flower and or the last time you gave your mom flowers.
• Make sure comment has a name and your email in the appropriate fields when commenting.
• Anonymous entries will be disqualified.
• If the winner is contacted in time, the prized will be shipped Thursday, May 6, 2010 for a Saturday delivery (fingers crossed)

The winner will be selected randomly so let’s get this party started!

BTW, if you love gladiolus flowers as much as my momma & I, you will enjoy this presentation.

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Update:

My Mother’s Day contest has ended & the winner is……………….. Liz Dwyer aKa Los Angelista.

Thanks to all who entered, I really enjoyed your stories!

I find photographing some blue & or purple flowers to be challenging because my camera seems to not be able to render the actual color for some reason. Luckily, this can be corrected with a few quick moves in Adobe Lightroom.

This iris variety like my snow crocuses indicates the start of spring for me. After they are long gone, it will be weeks before I see my hyacinths, tulips & daffodils so I cherish each day that they brighten my day.

I get so excited by the little things in life!

In a matter of 3 short weeks it grew almost 3 feet in height. I was waiting for the day it said “feed me.”

As the flower started to get bigger & bigger, I became overly anxious to see one of the strangest flowers ever. You see voodoo lilies only bloom every other year or so (some bloom after 2 or three years, some even less frequent) & they smell like rotting meat & its VERY strong.

Barb had warned me that the smell would be raunchy, but I just was not ready for the true funk that came from the exotic beauty.

Fun Facts (I like fun facts):

- Voodoo lilies are pollinated by flies who are attracting by the stench
- Voodoo lily flower stalks arise from the bulbs and can quickly grow to 6 feet in about 2 weeks
- Voodoo lilies are cultivated, harvested, and processed as a food item in parts of southeastern Asia

If you interested in seeing a voodoo lilly bloom, check out this time-lapse video produced by the United States Botanical Garden.

I met Stella Rumple today when I purchased some of her son’s wonderful dahlia’s at the Ann Arbor Farmer’s Market.

During our transaction, I told her how lovely her display was and she thanked me. She also informed me that the flowers were her sons & that she was merely helping out.

As her husband carefully packaged my dahlia bouquet she pointed out a bouquet of BEAUTIFUL orange & pink dahlias. As I complemented them, she informed me that her son breed them & named them after her; the Stella R Dahlia.

Stella also shared with me that her son Tom Rumple, breeds many varieties of dahlia & participates in several dahlia societies etc.

After hearing that awesome story, I asked if I could take her portrait and without hesitation, she said yes. Before I hit the shutter button, she said wait, I want to take a picture with my dahlia. With the bouquet in hand she gave me a warm smile & the rest is history.

It was really nice talking with Stella & before I left, she invited me to a garden walk at her son’s home & of course I accepted!

When I got to my office, I Googled her son Tom Rumple & found a few great things such as:

• His Stella R dahlia was the dahlia of the year in 2006
• He has been selling his dahlias at the Ann Arbor Farmer’s Market for 14 years & is known as the Dahlia Man
• We both work for the same university & he has been there for over 21 years
• He is an accredited senior judge in the American Dahlia Society
• At the 2007 Chicago Dahlia Society Show he won 8 first prize ribbons

After my little research, I am super excited about the garden walk & you know my camera will be in hand!

Now after being up & running for a week now with Lightroom, I can say that am so happy that I decided to make the upgrade!

Lightroom 2 is so much more flexible & powerful than Camera Raw in Adobe Bridge & the keywording feature is absolutely bananas & since I am a keyword whore, I am so digging it. And best of all, I have saved at least 3 steps in my image processing & filing process!!!

Now I know what all the buzz was about in the Photoshop User magazine since I attended the Photoshop World Conference earlier this year.

The one & only downside to this upgrade is that I have to go through all of my old images so that I can keyword & catalog them into the new database. Since I have a ton of photos, I am pacing myself by doing 1 to 2 folders per week. If you knew how anal I am with my filing system, you would understand my pain. Nasa could hire me to catalog & they would love me!

By the way, the image above (Titled: Sweetest Tears) is a shot of a rose from my garden. It is one of 3 blooms that I have seen all summer. Those damn Japanese Beetles eat them before that get anywhere near blooming. I am so happy that it rained today because it seems to be the only thing that keeps those fuckers away.