I love this picture. Buds and half-open flowers are floating toward me from nowhere, asking for attention and saying: Kiss me!
I love this plant. It's leggy, it's pretty thin, not bushy at all. It leans heavily and almost lies down on the ground. It grows under a big fir tree whose roots create a thick mat and steal water from other plants. You need to come close and look straight at the plant's face to see its beauty. It stretches toward me as if it wants to be noticed.
It's not easy to be noticed when your neighbor is this showy hydrangea with huge blooms. But, I do notice it and love it for its simple flowers and know that it is doing its best.
It's not easy to be noticed when your neighbor is this showy hydrangea with huge blooms. But, I do notice it and love it for its simple flowers and know that it is doing its best. 
This is a daisy chrysantemum.
A simple looking bloom is not so simple in this case. It is actually hundreds of flowers called florets, disk florets and ray florets. The center or eye is comprised of disk florets. The outer part is comprised of ray florets.
This particular plant grows pretty tall even if I do have to pinch it. There are other mums in my garden that grow compact, and I don't mind to have this plant swaying above the green grass, airy and disheveled, thereby distinguishing it from others.
I like its free spirit.
*** For more Blooming Friday pictures please go to Katarina at roses and stuff .
*** P.S. Searching for a name for this post, I showed my husband the first picture and asked - what is your first thought when you see this image? The answer was: Reminds me of Sooners* colors, and the plant is falling down like the team's record this year. I don't think I'll ask him again. * Sooners is a college football team of the University of Oklahoma.
Copyright 2009 TatyanaS
I love it too!! Free Spirit Mum, would be a great name for it!!
ReplyDeletei love the color combo in the second picture..gorgeous shots
ReplyDeleteI like the daisy chrysanthemum too but it is mighty hard to see past that AWESOME hydrangea. (But I'll try:)
ReplyDeleteI love the way it stretches towards the lawn - such a pretty fighter! -Thanks for joining in for Blooming Friday!
ReplyDeleteHello Tatyana, love the way you look around your garden and appreciatte the little ones, it´s a lovely flower and your pictures are awesome!!!
ReplyDeleteCariños
María Cecilia
Танюша, хризантемки, замечательные. Я не могу выделить любимые среди цветов, но вот хризантемы мы с мужем всегда дарим нашим мамам на праздники. К ним и астрам у меня особо теплые чувства) Фото красочные, спасибо за них)!!!!
ReplyDeleteГидрогения тоже красивая, но на мой вкус она притарная, слащавая слишком, если можно так выразиться) Да и не растет она у нас вроде;)
Hi Tatyana,
ReplyDeleteI think i have this same mum in my garden. Interesting about all the florets. I planted little 4-inchers last fall and they've proved to be such fun. I luv the short mounding ones and want more.
It's beautiful. I find it interesting when plants grow a little differently than expected, but still thrive. Your Hydrangea is stunning, and the garden is so lovely, so much colour and interest everywhere. :)
ReplyDeleteHello Tatyana,
ReplyDeleteAlthough I love Hydrangea, I also find beauty in the simple flowers. The color of this daisy is so striking.
Free Spirit...really nice for such pretty blooms. Beautiful sea of green at the back and the hydrangea...gasp!
ReplyDeleteWhat a pretty picture it makes with the hydrangea. The hydrangea leaves are dressing up for Fall.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful weekend.
Georgeous photo, I like your "Kiss Me" caption. The photos with their purple red colors are striking.
ReplyDeleteI just now noticed all the Blotanical awards you received, so big Congratulations from me in California.
I enjoyed your post. We do love all of our flowers, don't we, even if they aren't the showiest or if they are disheveled sometimes. I like that word, "disheveled". It has character.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how far I got down the list congratulating people for their blotanical awards. I'm thinking I may have told you, but will tell you now, just in case I didn't. Your writing and photography are awesome! Congratulations on your awards and various places you took.
It does just want to be noticed. And you did. Lovely photos.
ReplyDeleteThe color of those flowers are so perfect! I like it's free spirit too, and your husbands humor. You have to love a man's view of the world.
ReplyDeleteGreat colors! That hydrangea really does pack a lot of punch, but the dainty flowers are lovely, too.
ReplyDeleteCameron
I love single mums. That one is a particularly beautiful color.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! Have a nice week end!
ReplyDeleteYour free spirit has legs up to her buds, doesn't she?!! I think she's beautiful & not like the Sooners at all, lol. But then, I love pink!
ReplyDeleteGreat color! I love the way it flops over. I think it looks good next to the hydrangea.
ReplyDeleteI love that color. Very bold color...great photo with the various stages of opening.
ReplyDeleteI know I can always get a good dose of pink when I come over here. You are the queen of the pink, Tatyana!
ReplyDeleteVery nice!
And by the way, there is a new camera in a box for my older daughter, just waiting for Christmas! THanks for the tip.
Rosey
A very pretty mum; good for you for appreciating it!
ReplyDeleteI love the way you described it with such favor and appreciation. It was like a loving mother looking at her child and seeing the special gift she/he has to offer.
ReplyDelete*Smooch*
ReplyDeleteHey, you said kiss me!
Great shade of pink...I have a very similar, tall, leggy mum that blooms in purple in early summer...keep forgetting to pinch it back to keep it bushy.
Hi Tatyana great post as always. How do you get blogger to upload such large photos I see they are like mine 800x600 but appear larger on your blog than mine of the same size.
ReplyDeleteI read somewhere that a larger size can be added to blogger but mine only has three sizes. Small, medium and large.
Any tips greatfully received.
Beautiful! Very special post too. We're definitely flower lovers when we can appreciate every little thing. Gardening is such a great experience. Meeting other gardeners and learning from them is even better!
ReplyDeleteHey - how is your Double Otto doing this year? Mine never bloomed at all but 3 of my others did, Santa Claus, Brutus and Phyllis I think they were called.
Tatyana, Speaking of great photography! Wonderful shots. I have that plant too and could not get any portraits like yours. Lovely blooms! Carol
ReplyDelete