Monday, June 24, 2013

Dreaming of Cleome ...

Today I would like to share with you a cleome flower.  These flowers are planted in my gazebo garden and it wasn't until I picked this one to photograph that my husband even knew they were there.  Oh my, does he need glasses or what?  How can you miss these beauties!

Did you know there is a heartbreaking legend about the cleome?  It's said there once was a butterfly that was searching for love.  One day he came upon another beautiful butterfly and it was love at first site.  The butterfly soon realized his love remained perfectly still on top of a flower.  His beloved never moved - not even an inch.  Even so he continued to woo his love day and night, while life slowly slipped away from him.  The butterfly eventually ran out of strength and fell to the ground.  Meanwhile his love's wings fluttered in the wind.  Although his beloved looked like another butterfly, it turns out it was in fact a flower.  A cleome that simply stood there with its petals swaying in the breeze ...

This heirloom plant was once a special favorite of Thomas Jefferson.  If you have ever been to visit Monticello in Virginia you will see them in his gardens.  I actually had the pleasure of viewing them.


I hope you enjoy viewing my garden flowers from a different perspective.  I added a Cream Bokeh Swirls Texture to this photo.  The flower name is a font entitled Wingsong.

This week I am joining ...

Macro Monday @ Lisa's Chaos
Bloomin' Tuesday @ Ms. Green Thumb Jean
Garden Tuesday @ Sidewalk Shoes
Cottage Garden Party @ Fishtail Cottage
Home & Garden Thursday @ Delightsome Life
Thursday Favorite Things @ Katherine's Corner
Open House Friday @ Bernideen's Tea Time
Fertilizer Friday @ Tootsie Time
Flower Art Friday @ Photos by LeAnne
Floral Friday Fotos @ Floral Friday  

14 comments:

Nellie's Cozy Place said...

Hi Donna,
This is a beautiful flower.....does it have any fragrance to it??

Liked the story about the butterfly,
the petals do look like butterflies.

Hope you are had a nice weekend,
Blessings, Nellie

byhooks4u said...

what a nice story..

Grandma Barb's This and That said...

It's beautiful and so is the story!

Unknown said...

I love the texture you used on this. The story is also beautiful.

Magical Mystical Teacher said...

Thank you for your contribution to Macro Monday 2. You are one of the many special people who make this meme a success. Hope to see you again next week!

Magical Mystical Teacher

Bicycle Seat Close-Up

Athena at Minervas Garden said...

Gorgeous cleome, Donna. I've tried to start these from seed in my yard, but so far to no avail--I will have to enjoy yours from afar instead!

Rosemary said...

Donna Have had these flowers in the past but did not know the story. Tho these are beautiful thorns are wicked..

MiamiKel said...

What a sweet,sweet story! I love how your post matches the beauty of the flower :) TFS!

Chris said...

Wow! I have never heard of it! How beautiful!

Terry said...

Beautiful! And what a great story. TFS!

Lisa Gordon said...

Really beautiful, Donna, and seeing these here brings back lots of good memories. For some reason , as a very young child, my son was fascinated with these flowers.

Cynthia said...

Donna, what a gorgeous story to go with a beautiful flower.

Cynthia

Hannapat said...

What a gorgeous flower and love your photo!! Such a beautiful story thanks for sharing this with us. Thank you also for your lovely comments over at mine. Wishing you a very winderful week xoxo

Susan said...

What a sad story for such a pretty flower. I like delicate looking flowers in the garden.

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