Flower Fest - Round-up for 'A'

A

I am very excited to present our very first round-up for the letter 'A'.

We had so many emails expressing support and interest in the Flower Fest that we are quite overwhelmed! We're hoping that we will be able to convert this enthusiasm into more entries for subsequent letters of the alphabet. There is a lot of learning to be had here, as has been so eloquently expressed in the emails we have received. Thank you again for all your support!

We had 7 superb entries for the letter 'A'.

Achillea

Gini of Salt and Pepper loves Achillea or yarrow for being low maintenance plants. Achillea is named after the Greek mythological character Achilles whose soldiers used yarrow to treat wounds. Achillea belongs to the large Asteraceae family. Take a closer look at Gini's picture to get an idea of just how teeny these flowers are!

African Lily

A beautiful watercolor of an African Lily, 7 in by 5 in, from Nature & Me displays subtle purple tones against a yellow background. Also known as the Lily of the Nile, this fleshy rhizome is hardy in US Gardening Zones 7 to 11. In Zones 4-6, it is better to grow it in containers and bring it inside for the winter. Known also as the Agapanthus Africanus (its botanical name), this member of the lily family is a perennial evergreen plant.

Alcea Rosea

Alcea Rosea or the Common Garden Hollyhock is a much misunderstood flower. Not only is it easy to grow, it is also gorgeous in shades of pink to dark chocolate. Manisha has submitted photographs of Alcea Rosea, which is a biennial that is treated more like an annual in the colder zones.

Amaryllidaceae

Paavani has sent in two flowers, both from the Amaryllidaceae family. She has chosen to use mixed media in her art, canvas as well as Photoshop.

Paavani has a touching write-up on what flowers mean to her. The Amaryllis, says she, is a flower of splendid beauty and represents pride.

The Spider lily or Hymenocallis caroliniana, also in the Amaryllidaceae family, is a perennial plant that only has basal leaves.
It has often been described as a large spectacular flower that is exciting to come across unexpectedly. Exciting is what this round-up is about so this is a perfect fit!

Amaryllis

Sree has also decided to regale us with an Amaryllis that she calls the Loudspeaker Lily. She has painted with oil on canvas (8in by 10in). Native to South America's tropical regions, it is very popular worldwide because it is the easiest of flowering bulbs to bring to bloom. Efforts are rewarded with large colorful striped blooms over a flowering period that lasts 7 to 10 weeks. Its botanical name is Hippeastrum and there are about 80 different known species.

Anthurium

Digital art is of great interest to our next participant. Vin of Avlokana has experience with watercolors that he wants to take to digital art.
Vin chose the Anthurium because it makes him nostalgic for the colocasia leaves that are abundant in his native city.

That's it for the very first ever Flower Fest Round-up!

If you missed getting your entry in for this round-up, we still have 4 more days before 'B' becomes the letter in focus. So send in your entry to flowerfestival[at]gmail[dot]com as soon as possible and we'll slip it into this round-up.

Clarifications: A couple of clarifications that need to be made based on the emails we received: You don't have to participate for every letter. It can seem like quite a daunting task to have to do all 26 letters. If you have a flower that is dear to you and you would like to participate just in that round, please do so! You can paint, sketch, doodle, photograph, use digital art, mixed media - anything to create your favorite flower for the Flower Fest.

Please ensure that you have the right to use the images you submit to Flower Fest for each round-up. Flower Fest cannot assume the liability of ensuring that the image you submit is yours or that you are licensed to use the image.

All images submitted remain copyrighted to their respective creator or owner. Flower Fest reserves the right to reproduce these images in digital and printed media, without ever assuming copyright on these images.

With that out of the way, we have just 4 days before B takes over the Flower Fest - the A-Z of Flowers!

Flower Fest, Flower Fest Round Up, Round Up A