Flowers

Chives

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I miss our chive plants that have gone dormant for the winter and have been buried in snow for the past week.  The name of the species derives from the Greek σχοίνος, skhoínos (sedge) and πράσον, práson (leek). Its  English name, chives, derives from the French word cive, from cepa, the Latin word for onion. Chives are a commonly used herb and can be found in grocery stores or grown in home gardens. In culinary use, the scapes and the unopened, immature flower buds are diced and used as an ingredient for seasoning dishes. Chives have insect-repelling properties that can be used in gardens to control pests. The flowers area pale purple and star-shaped with six petals 1/2″ – 3/4″ wide, and produced in a dense inflorescence  of 10 – 30 together. Before opening, the inflorescence is surrounded by a papery bract. Holbein watercolors on 140# Fluid 100 cold press watercolor paper.

2017-01-12-chives

Foxglove

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The Foxglove Flower is native to western and southwestern Europe, western and central Asia and northwestern Africa. The scientific name means “finger-like” and refers to the ease with which a flower of Digitalis purpurea can be fitted over a human fingertip. The flowers are produced on a tall spike, are tubular, and vary in colour with species, from purple to pink, white, and yellow.  This biennial plant is often grown as an ornamental plant due to its vivid flowers which range in colour from various purple tints through various shades of light gray, and to purely white. The flowers can also possess various marks and spottings. Holbein watercolors on Fluid 100, 140# cold press watercolor paper.

2016-12-28-foxglove

Poppies

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California Dreaming – 2016-12-27-poppiesThe California Poppy is a species of flowering ornamental plant that is native  to the United States and Mexico. It is used medicinally and in cooking, and it became the official state flower of California in 1903. It is a perennial growing to 5–60 inches  tall with alternately branching glaucous blue-green foliage. The leaves are alternately divided into round, lobed segments. The flowers are solitary on long stems, silky-textured, with four petals, each petal 2 to 6 cm ) long and broad; flower color ranges through yellow, orange and red, with flowering from February to September in the northern hemisphere (spring, summer, autumn). Holbein watercolors on Fluid 100, 140# cold press watercolor paper.

Poinsettia

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2016-12-23-poinsettiaThe poinsettia is a commercially important plant species of the diverse spurge family. The species is indigenous to Mexico. It is particularly well known for its red and green foliage and is widely used in Christmas floral displays. It derives its common English name from Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States Minister to Mexico, who introduced the plant to the US in 1825. Holbein and Daniel Smith watercolors in a Stillman and Birn Beta sketchbook. Merry Christmas.