I spotted this flower at the Como Park Conservatory. I have never seen anything like it before.

It reminded me of a poinsettia in that the petals of the flower are almost like leaves with coloring. But it is different from a poinsettia in that the leaves of the flower are an entirely different shape and style than the petals. So, it is clearly not just composed of pigmented leaves.

I was particularly intrigued by how ruffly and disorganized the flower appeared. I couldn't really find a center to the flower; it was just one mass of ruffles.

But then as we moved along through the conservatory, I spotted this grouping that did have a bit more organization.

While the organized one looks very different from the first two photos, I still like it. I like it for its rounded, yet pointed petals and its 5-pointed shape.

I still don't know what the name of the flower could possibly be. If anyone has any ideas, be sure to speak up in the comments.

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How did you do this week?

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and in large

These were a couple of the amazing water lilies we saw in the ponds outside of Como Park Conservatory. There were some huge water lily plants with lily pads of over 1 foot in diameter and growing 6-8 feet (or more) in diameter. They looked like you'd be able to walk on them, they were so large.

But of course it was the flowers that really drew my eye. So many pretty flowers. The day was cloudy, so the lighting in this photo is subdued due to the clouds. Although you know what happened? The sun came out, so I rushed over and took a photo or two of the same two flowers. And...
... and I don't like those pictures as well. The light seems glaring. The shadows seem harsh. It is amazing what a little diffused light can do.

So my photography lesson for the day? Just keep taking pictures. In various light conditions, if possible. Because you never know which combination is going to turn out to be just right.

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How did you do this week?

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This rose was at the Como Park Conservatory. I like it particularly because the center of the rose looks so ruffly. I guess that ruffly-ness is different than what I've seen in most roses, and I like that uniqueness.

This rose, may be a better photo. I trust Sheryl's opinion on all photography matters, and she liked the light and textures on this one.

And to round out the rose photos, there was also a red one.

I'm not particularly fond of the photo. Well, let me rephrase. I"m not particularly fond of how the rose looks in the photo, but I do like the jaggedness of the leaves. Mainly, I think that the three colors seem to go together nicely, so I've gone ahead and included it.

Looking at these rose photos got me thinking of how my mom's rose garden usually includes multiple colors of flowers. It also started thinking about how we don't have any roses at our new home. I assume that roses can withstand the Minnesota winters (these were all indoors), because there was a rose garden at a local tea house. I seem to recall that the bushes were entirely covered with straw/mulch when we saw them in winter. Regardless of what it takes to keep them alive, I think I'd like to have a bush or two here at the house. I'll have to look into that.

Hope you enjoy the roses!

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Another week! Ours was decisively cooler which made outdoor activity much more do-able. How about you?

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When we went to the Minnesota State Fair last weekend, the very first thing we did was visit the horses. Well, maybe it wasn't the very very first thing. The very very first thing we saw were the restrooms which were conveniently located by the farm equipment so that you could see the latest in trailers while waiting in line to pee. But I digress. So, we went to see the horsies. And the first one that I felt an urge to photograph was the Clydesdale.

He was chomping down on the hay in the corner, and when I asked his owner/handler if I could take a flash photo, he kindly gave me permission and warned me that when the horse saw the flash, he'd probably be over to say Hi.

Well sure enough, I got a few shots off and then he stuck his big ol' head out to be scratched and petted.

You can imagine how well that went over with the kids. They suddenly flocked to the clydesdale's stall to see the beeeg horse. So, I left the clydesdale feeling like I'd contributed to the entertainment of the day.

I also really liked the braided mane on this horse.

It looked very Nordic or Swedish to me, which seemed to be fitting, considering the many Swedish ties in Minnesota.

Also note how once again the horse is eating. Come to think of it, most of the horses we saw were eating. We must've been interupting them at lunchtime.

The next stop was the sheep. The sheep are my favorite! If you view the slideshow of the fair pictures, you can see some extras that I'm not including in this post, including more sheep pictures.
The white sheep with the black faces are just adorable to me.

Although it seems like the all white ones might be a bit more sociable and are more apt to stick their heads at the rails to be petted. Heck, who am I kidding? I like them all.

One of the funniest things we saw were the sheep that were getting ready for the swimsuit contest.

I think the one in the pink with the purple bands has a decided edge over the solid green and blue, however, she seems to be the subject of a wardrobe malfunction in that she has bites taken out of her swimsuit. Perhaps that just makes it more risque, and she'll win points with the male judges. ;-)

We saw some pigs - although our time there was brief at best. I'm not sure if it is their lack of fur and hence lack of the cute and cuddly factor, or my penchant for bacon and ham that made me want to skip over the piggies.

We spent a while with the dairy cows and waited around the milking parlor to see a couple of them get milked. One cow came in with an udder that looked like she must've had at least 2-3 gallons of milk in there. It was pretty impressive. But they took her back out after having her wait a few minutes. Maybe she was going to get milked in the other demo area.

We also went into the new Miracle of Birth center. It is brand new this year. Interestingly, they'd had two sows give birth that morning. The piglets were quite active as they tried to stand and nurse or as they just wobbled around on their newborn legs. This is in contrast to the litters that were a bit older who were mostly just sleeping.

I saw some cows and sheep that were waiting to give birth and some other newborn animals.

These baby lambs were 5 days old.

After viewing the animals we ate lunch which included something called a pickle dog. It is like an appetizer that my family makes that we call Dill Pickle Doobers (for lack of a better name). The pickle dog was a pickle wedge covered with cream cheese and wrapped in pastrami. I know it sounds weird, but it was the best thing that we ate at the fair. I also had a crab cake sandwich. I'm a big lover of crab cakes and eat them whenever I can.

We viewed the bonsai trees and the orchids (pictures to be shown in future episodes of Flowers For Friday) in the horticultural building and after stopping by one of the radio stations, called it a day.

Finally, we ate a slice of key lime pie dipped in chocolate as we left.

All in all, it was a good experience at the fair. I'm glad that we went.

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and in large

This is another type of daylily that was living at the Como Park Conservatory. I decided that putting the two types of daylilies on sequential weeks might be nice.

I like the delicate pink color of this one and the way the spots stick out so much. The funny thing about this photo (or at least funny to me) is that I didn't remember taking it. When I got home and saw the flower photo, I was surprised - pleasantly, of course.

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How did you do this week?

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This was one of the hot pink daylilies that made the Sunken Garden at the Como Park Conservatory smell so good.

In the large view. you can see some small white flowers nearby. You can also see that the spots of the daylily look like physical bumps (as opposed to painted-on looking spots) which is interesting, I think.

Hope you have a lovely Labor Day weekend. I know I'm looking forward to the three days off.

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