lotus — 2017 — The 21st Century Matriarch

Kenilworth Gardens is full of blooming lotus ponds in July. We enjoyed our second trip of the year to the place last week. I realized that the curves of the flowers…the leaves…the flower parts (everything about the plant seems to be graceful curves) are what makes them so attractive and maybe why they became ‘sacred.’ There is something calming about curves. As I was taking pictures for the slideshow below I realized that the insects act as a punctuation for the curves because they interrupt the flow. I think my favorite images are of petals freshly fallen into the bowls of the very green leaves. There is something very appealing about the creamy white – often with a hint of pink – on the green background veined from the center of the bowl. Enjoy the slide show!

Our visit to Kenilworth Gardens last week was a little early for lotus flowers – which are the big summer show at Kenilworth. There were lots of big leaves and buds…a few more weeks and the flowers will be numerous.

I was surprised that there were quite a few seed ponds from last season visible in the ponds.

I took a series of bud pictures – surprised that none of the dragonflies were using them as perches as we’ve observed in previous visits (usually in July).

The leaves unfurl like a scroll rather than from the center like some water lily pads. They stand well above the water level as well.

Behind the visitor center and plant houses there was a demonstration pond that was full of blooms. Maybe they were started inside or the demonstration pond is somehow different than the main ponds. Enjoy the slide show from that small pond that is a few weeks ahead of the main ponds.