Fritillaria 1915 by Charles Rennie Mackintosh
"Art is the Flower. Life is the Green Leaf. Let every artist strive to make his flower a beautiful living thing, something that will convince the world that there may be, there are, things more precious more beautiful — more lasting than life itself." Charles Rennie Mackintosh
Should you head out on a warm, dry day to a meadow speckled with wild flowers, take a moment to stand still and listen. The air will be filled with life - bird song, bees humming, crickets chirping. Enjoy seeing the butterflies sipping nectar and watch the rhythmic swaying of the flowers and grasses as they catch the gentle breezes.
I had intended to visit the fritillary meadow mentioned on the previous post, but a couple of days ago we met up with our youngest son and his wife at Waterperry Gardens in Oxford for a picnic. The gardens have the R. Thame running along one side, a tributary of the R. Thames, and we discovered that they had a wild Snakes Head fritillary meadow.
We said our 'goodbyes' to our dear son and his wife.
How beautiful! Your Pasque flower (crocus) has the same fuzzy stems and outer leaves as the wild Manitoba crocus of my youth. It's a much deeper purple though.
ReplyDeleteIt's the same flower Debra - although it is called a crocus in Manitoba it is actually a member of the anemone family.
DeleteDearest Rosemary,
ReplyDeleteAll your flower photos are exceptional!
What a lovely sight to spot such a spontaneous mutation of that striped Fritillaria.
Glad you met with your son and his family!
Hugs,
Mariette
Dear Mariette - thank you for your kind comment - it was such a joy to see our son and his wife again - we have missed seeing all of our family so much.
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DeleteGorgeous flower photographs. I was out attempting to photograph the wild Pasque flowers on Therfield Heath earlier in the week.
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing wild Pasque flowers growing for the very first time on Therfield Heath.
DeleteJust love those fritillary photos; the first picture of the Mackintosh watercolour was the exact one I carried around with me for many years. I've also grown the narcissus bulbicodum (I prefer the name hoop petticoat daffodil :) ) in my last two gardens. It's top of my autumn garden list for this year so I can have them here too - they're equisite.
ReplyDeleteYes, that painting is found at the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery in Glasgow. I don't know whether you have visited there, but it also houses Rennie Mackintosh's actual Glasgow tenement house within the building.
DeleteHoop petticoat daffodil describes them perfectly.
Beautiful flowers!
ReplyDeleteThank you William.
DeleteIt's a wonderful post Rosemary, from start to finish, written with your usual flair and careful attention to grammar and style, and I am exceptionally happy that you capture the wonder of a wildflower meadow with the sounds of other creatures, the fragrances borne on the wind, in summary the sensory delight of it all, over and above the sheer beauty of the flowers alone. I am left with a really good feeling having read this piece.
ReplyDeleteThank you David - I am overwhelmed by your kind comment, and not sure how to respond, but you have definitely made my day.
DeleteHaving my week start with a bit of CRM means I know it's going to be a good one! Such gorgeous flowers and photographs you've selected for our delectation, Mary. The Pasque flowers, which I've not known about, have all the adorable fuzz of a field of (purple) kittens :) It sounds like you had a lovely family outing.
ReplyDeleteLast week is one that will live long in my memory - a sense of freedom, seeing family, and enjoying spending several days within beautiful surroundings.
DeleteIt is always lovely, I know, to discover new flowers. I am delighted that you enjoyed seeing these beautiful Pasque flowers, which also like kittens make you feel as if you want to stroke them.
Ho! You must beg my pardon, I left off a worthy Rose earlier today! How did that happen? :)
DeleteI present you with a 🌹 from me with love.
DeleteThanks for these beautiful flowers! Their growing right out in the open makes my heart soar.
ReplyDeleteThank you Barbara - they did the same for us too - all of us were delighted to see them. They were like little messengers of hope.
DeleteThank you for sharing that beautiful meadow of flowers, and what a great place for a picnic. I am happy that you are able to meet with family again, after all the lockdowns, which must be just lovely. Bibury is so quaint, I had to Google a few more photos and it is like a magical fairy place :)
ReplyDeleteIt felt like being liberated Patricia, but of course we still have to take care. Those wretched variants are popping up everywhere.
DeleteI am so pleased that you looked at some more images of Bibury, it is such a pretty place. It has everything, the R. Coln running through the middle, cottage gardens, and small stone bridges criss-crossing the water. I just literally wound down the window and took a quick snap as we drove through. Normally it is very busy, as it is a very popular destination for Japanese and Chinese tourists, along with the William Morris connection.
Love all the photos. Oh to be in England.
ReplyDeleteTo be in England is lovely right now - Spring is such a pretty time.
DeleteDear Rosemary,
ReplyDeleteNo need to have a different camera Your photographs are beautiful, every one of them.
You are extremely generous about my photographs Gina.
DeleteHello Rosemary, I think that Mackintosh's words are wise, although subject to a degree of interpretation. There are many things, both natural and man-made, that are so perfect that to alter or destroy them is a desecration. Rare flowers and well-preserved villages are high among these things, yet the pressures of the world work to destroy more and more of them, while replacing them with ever-increasing amounts of the ugly, uninspiring and worthless.
ReplyDelete--Jim
Hello Jim - your words describing the pressures of the world today on both the natural and the man-made are presented far better than I could have written - thank you.
DeleteSuch beautiful flower photos. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure hart.
DeleteGood for you, Rosemary, that you had a nice reunion with your son’s family at such beautiful place. The meadow of snakehead fritillary is awesome! Thanks for letting us see this perfectly lovely sight. Your photos are so nice that I felt as if I were seeing them in front of me. The #3 photo shows how flowers stretching far. White fritillaries gave me different impression. Bibury, the most beautiful village in England, indeed!
ReplyDeleteYoko
Dear Yoko - I have missed seeing my family so it has been very special to have the chance to see some of them again now.
DeleteWhat a beautiful place to picnic , makes you happy to see all the Spring flowers in full bloom .
ReplyDeleteSpring makes your heart sing.
DeleteA fine display of spring blooms. Most adults, being tall, fail to look at flowers properly,the way they did as young children, in intense close up detail, as artists have to do. Even when I'm in a place where I know there are damselflies every summer I never see them at first until I stay completely still, bend down, and just observe for several minutes as they are really thin and almost invisible unless in flight. Then they start to appear in the grass, same as green crickets,which are also hard to find and catch in summer. Now you mention it I can see fritillary type patterns in some of C.R.Ms design work.
ReplyDeleteI think that you are right, CRM took inspiration from the natural world in both his art and design work. What a wonderfully talented person he was, way ahead of his time, and not fully appreciated. One of Scotland's Greats.
DeleteWhat can I add dear friend - such a beautiful collection of flowers, some we never see here, and your photos are awesome.
ReplyDeleteLovely knowing you were able to get together with part of the family - I find mine have become strangers and often wonder when/if we'll ever get together as a large group again!
Yes, the variants are what are determining the cancellation of our May visit home, along with possible quarantines and lockdowns springing up who knows when! International travel just isn't in the cards yet I'm afraid.
Hugs - Mary
I am so sorry Mary that you have once again had to cancel your trip back over here, we would have loved to see you both again if that had been possible.
DeleteEven seeing and talking to the family on the computer is not the same as having them close, and being able to give each other a good hug.
I know of a Bibury resident who has to keep curtains drawn because of Japanese tourists looking in as though the whole place is a museum. What a nightmare to have such a beautiful home. Coaches continuously going over that little bridge.
ReplyDeleteThe day we passed through there were no foreign tourists which is very very unusual.
DeleteThe flowers are lovely.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
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