Unfurl your cloak of silken white
Reveal your secret wand upraised at length
And not unlike a star you shine serene
To exalt the autumn-tide with silver cups
- Unknown
W&N watercolour on DalerRowney 300gsm
My Arums (Zantedeschia aethiopica) are in full flower in my garden after all the gorgeous rain we've had. It's also cooled down the heat wave we've been seeming to have so early in the summer and it's actually been a pleasure to spend some time in the garden this week.
These are the White or common Arum Lily (English); Wit varkoor (Afrikaans). The striking arum lily “flower” is actually many tiny flowers arranged in a complex spiral pattern on the central column (spadix). The tiny flowers are arranged in male and female zones on the spadix. The top 7 cm are male flowers and the lower 1.8cm are female. If you look through a hand-lens you may see the stringy pollen emerging from the male flowers which consist largely of anthers. The female flowers have an ovary with a short stalk above it, which is the style (where the pollen is received).
These plants are native to Southern Africa from South Africa north to Malawi.
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Lovely Maree! The blue/brown palette is so soothing yet your brush strokes are so dynamic! Wonderful combination. These are house plants in our area. We do have a native arum (Arum italicum)which I've been trying to naturalize in my shade garden. I'll have to look more closely at it's bloom.
ReplyDeleteThank you Paula! It would be lovely to see one of your italicums and I also yet have to take a magnifying glass to mine!
DeleteOh, so lovely...the poem goes perfectly with your delightful image.
ReplyDeleteThank you Kate, I also thought the little poem to be great.
DeleteLovely!! The compo is great. Also the balance in colours. Be carefull with the specs (on the left) Sometimes that works...sometimes that is just another trick that doesn't do justice to your painting. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot Krien! Will keep the tip in mind, but you know how it goes, sometimes one gets carried away and 'fiddling' takes over!
DeleteAnd it works here :-)
DeleteThank you Krien!
DeleteMaree, these are just lovely! We spent several months in South Africa and I wish now that I had been sketching then. Such beauty there. Thank you for this beautiful post.
ReplyDeleteThank you Suzie! Great to hear that you were here in South Africa and that you enjoyed it! You now need to do another visit and this time bring your sketch-book!
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