Beginnings and Endings

**Wicked Dark** · 06-25-2010, 11:30 AM

I found some chicory down the road from my house the other day. I had no idea it grew wild around here and so took some home with me for a bouquet. I learned each blossom only lasts a day and they get more insubstantial and pale as the blossom heads towards its demise. This is a fresh one that I shot this morning before my run -

I really like how the petals are stuck together and the stamens are still in their wrappers.

It's amazing how much color bleeds from them in the sun. At the end of the day, they start to wither. The stamens are released and they're all curly. After this stage the petals fall and dry and the next day another one blooms and it starts all over again.

Not the best photos ever, but I like the plant itself and am tempted to go dig it up (it's just on the side of the road) and put it in my yard.

**Mad Aussie** · 06-25-2010, 04:08 PM

Wow such a short life of colour. Interesting to learn. That 1st shot is a great colour palette.

**Wicked Dark** · 06-25-2010, 05:30 PM

It's the pebbled glass table top on the deck. I could take a couple shots of them all withered, dry and wrinkled, but I don't think it's terribly photogenic. Tomorrow I'll have a couple new blooms though.

Chicory is also a cheap and nasty coffee substitute.

**Marko** · 06-25-2010, 05:38 PM

Both nice captures! I favor shot 1 though!

**Rinkdaddy** · 06-25-2010, 07:20 PM

I never knew this about chicory. I will keep my eyes open for fresh flowers when I go for my walks.

**Matt K.** · 06-25-2010, 07:40 PM

Fantastic captures, all around excellent photography. Well done WD ... oh ohhh ... does WD always stand for : Well Done??

**Hillbillygirl** · 06-25-2010, 09:14 PM

Lovely pictures WD, especially #1 with the perfect DOF and creamy bokeh. Very nicely done.
I also really enjoy seeing the colour of these along the gravel roads around here. As you said, too bad they are so short lived, such as the Day-Lilies. (last a day)

**Wicked Dark** · 06-25-2010, 09:49 PM

thanks all. I hope you can find some, RinkD, the one plant I saw is the only one I've ever seen and I go by it often. It's in a patch of daisies and clover if that helps.