Stages of Flowering

I was out with the dogs well before the rain set in here today. As there was no sunshine the petals on the Californian Poppies remained modestly furled. No sun to show off to!
I have photographed this clump of poppies in order to show the stages of their flowering. It is a bit of a messy looking image but you should be able to pick out the following. There are tight flower buds which look like Dunce’s Hats, all pointy and with a little rim of reddish colour where they meet the stems. Then there is one of my favourite stages….. This is just when the flower is about to discard its little pointy cap in order to fully bloom. I rather enjoy this stage as when I see poppies looking like that I cannot resist pulling the little caps off to hurry the flowers along. It is my inner child at play. After that we have the flowers themselves all furled up today under the cloudy sky. Finally you may be able to spot the final stage…the flower stalk after the petals have had their fling in the sun and dropped away.
This is one of the things I love about photography and the BlipWorld. I have sharpened my senses and delight in finding the magnificent in the mundane.
Have a great weekend my Blip friends.