Sunday, January 15, 2012

Winter Flowers


It's that time of year that the ornamental cabbages are turning up in front of office buildings and stores. They are so crisp and beautiful, I am always drawn to them. A lot of them are actually ornamental kale, but both belong to the mustard family. Yes, they are edible, but they turn a kind of unappetizing grey when cooked. So much prettier to use them as flowers, especially when there are none in the winter. Of course they are done when warm weather comes. They only grow in the cold, and I have even seen them covered with snow and still looking so pretty.

"Then God said, "I've given you every sort of seed-bearing plant on Earth And every kind of fruit-bearing tree, given them to you for food. To all animals and all birds, everything that moves and breathes, I give whatever grows out of the ground for food."
Genesis 1:29

40 comments:

Joanne said...

Hubby and I were just commenting on the very same flowers! I think its so cool to have that pop of color when everything around us is a bit gray. Alot of the ones here I have never seen before.
Blessings, Joanne

SquirrelQueen said...

They are so pretty and really do add nice color to the drab winter days. I grew some last year but forgot all about them this time. I love the pink macro shot you used as a header Ginny.

Anonymous said...

When your page loaded I thought I was looking at close shots of a pink petunia. Wow, these are all so beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Pretty pictures, Ginny!

Remington said...

Hhhmmm....none of our flowers look like that in the winter....they are beautiful!

Tanna said...

They are GORGEOUS!! I am always amazed at how beautiful they are. You found the perfect scripture for them! blessings ~ Tanna

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said...

I've never noticed those before. How interesting! Do they taste like regular cabbage?

Ruth Hiebert said...

WOW,they are gorgeous.

MadSnapper said...

them liking cold must be why we don't see them here. i have seen a couple but none like these. i love the lacy looking one. really beautiful and i bet they are bright colors in the snow. more of God's wonderful creation for us to enjoy

Melanie said...

Very pretty pictures, Ginny! It's nice to have a little color in the winter. Hope you have a good week. :)

Reanaclaire said...

What unique flowers! I have never seen these before.. :)

Mary Bergfeld said...

These photos are lovely, Ginny. I really love the scripture you found to go with them. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary

Tracy said...

Ginny,
those are beautiful and the one white one looks as if it could be a snowflake...very lovely!

Lynn said...

Oh Ginny, I love these cabbages and kale. Your header is stunning! The white kale/cabbage surrounded by the darker leaves is beautiful too. Each one has it own beauty. That verse is so perfect for this post. If you see any with snow can you post those too? I would imagine light snow on them would be a grand effect. Thank you for sharing and stopping by my blog too. Never thought of ice but yes, looking at it again they do look that. Think I have been away from winter and snow and ice way too long to remember those thing. Blessings my friend.

Fred Alton said...

Ginny, God has indeed given us a wonderful and awe-filled world to live in. I have seen these ornamentals before - but your shots here are especially beautiful...especially the white ones.

Karin said...

Those are simply gorgeous! The ones that grow around here do finish in the autumn and don't last into winter. You, of course, have much milder winters! My mom was always partial to them and this reminded me of her. Thanks Ginny!

Shug said...

I love seeing these during the winter months. Just adds to already beautiful landscape that God has given us. Your shots are gorgeous Ginny! Thanks for sharing them with us.
Have a Blessed day.
shug

From the Kitchen said...

I wonder if they'd keep their color in cole slaw? Your photos are beautiful. Around here, they are covered with snow. We have more snow on the way so I'm off to the grocery store to stock up just in case.

Best,
Bonnie

DawnTreader said...

Yes, we have those in winter plantations a lot too. I've sometimes had them in my balcony boxes.

Neal said...

I saw some of those when we were AK and they really are pretty.

Stephanie V said...

Yes, these are a lovely hit of that lovely pink just when we need it most. Nice finds.

George said...

These are beautiful displays, and you've captured them very well. It's always wonderful to see such beauty during these cold, gray months.

S. Etole said...

They resemble snowflakes in their leaves.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Pretty colors on a cold, winter day, Ginny...I bought an ornamental cabbage plant the first year we moved here. It didn't make it through the winter.. The frost killed it. I was so disappointed --so have never bought another one. Pansies are the only things we can grow in winter here on the plateau.

photowannabe said...

Ornamental cabbages are so beautiful. They certainly dress up the blah winter grey.

Cheryl @ TFD said...

So pretty! Good shots, Ginny. Have a wonderful day!

Marie said...

You're header is so pretty n pink! And so are all of these pics. I've never seen anything like them. They are so very different and attractive. Thanks for sharing this wonderful post. :)

FilipBlog said...

That is very pink but beautiful.

Greetings,
Filip

Glenda said...

Gorgeous photos, Ginny!!

Thank you for your concern and prayers recently! John David is recovering well . .. and we were able to finish celebrating Christmas with our family.

Anonymous said...

Lovely colors on these flowers! Nice post today:) Have a lovely day! Eva

Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise) said...

They are so very beautiful, you did them quite proud with your wonderful pictures sweetie.

You are a very talented photographer. 'Just sayin'....

God bless ya and have a marvelous week my friend!!! :o)

BlueShell said...

Ho no...no...The title should be something like "beyond the wanting", because it is about wanting someone we do love and that we are afraid of loosing!
the poem says that there are dreams that turn into moments of making love! (a poets thing...you know!!!)

You have there so many beautiful flowers...God shows us all the beauty we have to enjoy life!

God bless you both, dear!

Chatty Crone said...

They look like cabbages - they have these in north Georgia at Babyland General - where the cabbage patch dolls are born! They are very pretty. sandie

Shanda said...

Who knew a cabbage could hold such beauty!
And, no, I didn't take the photo of the shepherd with the sheep.

Lynn said...

Ginny, On my blog post for Monday, Jan 16, if you click to open the larger size you will see my "little bear" sitting on the right side of my rose valentine plate. The small cross is on the left at the bottom of the plate. Little bear has on a pink hoodie! He was inside a box, inside another two boxes. Terry can make the smallest gift such fun to open. He is like those tiny dogs you can carry in your purse, hehe. Blessings my friend.

Ann said...

I thought they resembled a cabbage. So pretty, I've never seen any like those before.

Rose said...

Beautiful!

Reena said...

They do add so much color in winter. Great photos.

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

These ornamental cabbages are popular here too. I didn't known they were edible but turn grey when cooked. You find the most interesting facts, Ginny!

Ann, Chen Jie Xue ι™ˆζ΄ι›ͺ said...

I love this, I once bought them so I could blog about the,

Here, traditionally everything closes on Christmas. But now, we have a lot of immigrants, they open their stores.

What about in Florida, Immigrants too?

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