Thursday, April 7, 2011

Gothic Flowers

I'm making the hero of my story venture through a spooky and beautiful garden. I had the whole thing imagined in my head, but when it came to writing it down, it all seemed to generic. In order to describe the scene properly, I needed to look at some of the strange flowers I saw in my mind's eye. This meant a trip to the Botanical Gardens or searching online. I choose the lazy route, with promises to myself that I will go to the garden once my semester is complete.

Below are my favorites-- the fruits of my laborious online search. They are all real plants with real names (which I realize now that I should have noted as I gathered the images- would have been good to share). I remember a few of them, the calla lilies, the dahlia, the fiddlehead fern, and one looks like an iris. I know for sure that the last image is the corpse flower (and since I don't have a great fondness for the aroma of rotting meat, it's the only one that I would leave out of my real gothic flower garden, once I plant one, that is). If you know the names of any others, I'd love it if you educated me! (Especially the 7th picture, I love those!) 

But even without knowing their names, I fell in love with their look. They are dark and twisty, spiky and swirly, droopy and fuzzy, fierce but also quite delicate. They helped clarify what I wanted to write and inspired me anew, for now, instead of passing through, I have created a reason for my hero to spend a bit more time amidst the gothic flowers-- and these blooms perfectly set the eerie tone with their spindly shapes, strange textures and lovely shades of purple, blue and burgundy. 




















5 comments:

  1. Beautiful! The second to last one is borage - and FYI it's edible. Makes for an interesting salad!

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  2. 1. Alienostrus
    2. Green Kurli-nadrus
    3. Purple Kurl-nadronus
    4. Phillobloom
    5. Ferocious Beetle-eater (or fiddlehead fern)
    6. Cala-lily
    7. Bella's Drooples
    8. Puple Parasol
    9. Spiney Piney
    10. Grecian Dark-Daroad
    11. Pricklepandas
    12. Vulvastruss
    13. Dragon's Fire
    14. Witch's Fingers (or borage)
    15. Corpse Flower (or Deathstinker)

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  3. Lovely names, Matthew (and creative, too!) I might be able to remember plant names if they sounded more like the ones you come up with!

    And Marisa, I can't believe that flower is edible! It looks so tough and spikey! Have you eaten one?

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    Replies
    1. Many!!! Both the leaves and the blossoms are edible, and the blossoms really pick up a salad.

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