Flowers on a Black background

[Horus]

Well first of all thanks very much for those of you who commented that you would like to see some photos of my Amaryllis flowers set against a black background. This got my photography creative juices flowing again, so today I set up my black backdrop on a table in the conservatory and in between throwing Annie her ball took a few shots of the flowers. It was quite cold so all the shots are hand held as I did not want to do a full set up of tripod and remote timers to get really sharp images, so I apologise in advance for any lack of detail. Also as a solid black background on its own can look a bit stark I have added some picture frames to soften the edges of the images. Each flower has several shots and also some taken with both flowers together, I have also thrown in a few of the currently flowering Moth Orchid, I hope you like them.

This is 'The Monster' correctly named Christmas Star


This one is 'Tres Chic' and is the bulb I purchased from Amazon


Christmas Star & Tres Chic side by side


One of my Moth Orchids but I don't have a name for this, it is about 10 years old

[Kiya]

Horus ..they all look so pretty but when I click on them all to get a better look just a big white box comes up with a little black cross in the corner.........strange & this hasn't happened before ?

[Horus]

Kiya, can you see the small image OK? if so it may just be you have a slow connection. Have you tried deleting 'Cookies' and refreshing the page by clicking on that circular arrow icon at the top of your browser page, that may help.

[LovelyLadyLux]

@H - Now that black background REALLY sets off the Monster and really really does provide a totally lovely contrast of the delicate veining and shades of colour in the petals. It really IS a Monster (and I highly doubt the creator & grower of this flower would appreciate us referring to it as "Monster" vs their own name!)

I think it an excellent idea to add the frame to soften the contrast and I like the touch of scroll work there too.

Much nicer to look at the Monster with the background as that really lets you appreciate it fully IMO.

As for "Tres Chic" it is also equally lovely in its own way. As you said somewhere more tubular flowers and really quite vivid colour too with a cute dab of white on the end of the petal.

I think I like the shape and display of Monsters flower bloom and petals more. Guess that is down to personal preference but I like the flower shape of Monster more.

Does Tres Chic have 6 flowers too?

I wonder which of the two are maybe MORE hybridized from the original? Wonder what the very original flower looked like prior to the Growers creating all the different varieties? Guess I'm wondering HOW hydridized there are from the original.

Orchids always amaze me too. So unique and the flowers so beautiful. Love to see all the veining in the flowers. In a way so delicate yet so strong so as to last so long. All of them really gorgeous.

Truly love Horus. I really appreciate the time you took to get these photos as I think they've really brought out the beauty of the flowers.

[Ruby Slippers]

Very impressive Horus. The orchid looks as though it's floating!

[LovelyLadyLux]

FYI - I enlarged all of them to get a better look and they all enlarged quite ok for me.

[Horus]

Thanks folks, glad you like them
@ LLL, thanks for checking the enlarged size I think it is just a short time glitch with Kiya's internet speed but if it persists I am sure we can sort it.
The Tres Chick flower is only partially open and yes it also has 6 buds, the norm for these flowers seems to be an initial 4 buds with 2 smaller ones that fill out later, even The Monster still has some buds to open. I took the shot of them together as I don't know if by the time that Tres Chic is fully open that there will still be a full set of flowers on The Monster or if some will have dropped off. I will take some more of Tres Chic when it is fully opened, maybe another week.

@RS, yes they do look as if they are floating, mainly because the rest of the plant is not very atractive so I tend to take just the flower frond and the stem. Surprisingly enough there are not a lot of angles that you can take the flower from to get a nice image.

[Kiya]

Horus I got cookies deleted and now see your photos enlarged, as I said very pretty, they would be nice hanging on a wall as a set of three or four

[Horus]

Thanks Kiya
Glad that sorted your problem out, often when you get white boxes it is because your Graphics card is struggling to load the image, not because it is faulty, but rather that the information is a bit slow comming in. This is often because your browser is running slow, this may just be a bad internet link which can often be cured by switching your modem off then on again after a few minutes as this resets the connection and you often find that things speed up again. Alternatively if your Cookies build up too high then your Browser keeps trying to update every site you have visited to get the latest data and this again can really slow stuff down.

[Grandad]

It is quite amazing to me that you have such lovely blooms on your Amazon plant Horus and mine was confined to the bin yesterday. It hadn't moved at all in over 6 weeks so out it went. The Tesco bulb that did show some movement stopped when the shoot was about 3 cm tall. That will be on its way to the bin shortly..

But at least I can admire your pictures that show how it should be done. They are lovely and I particularly like Tres Chic colours and shape.

[Horus]

Thanks Grandad, but like I have said before all these bulbs seem to have a mind of their own when it comes to flowering. Take my two Tesco bulbs, one is nearly 30” high and about to flower in the next week or so, the other one purchased and planted just one week later is barely 2.5” tall which is quite pathetic when the two are compared together and at this rate it will be February before it flowers.

I can only think that you did not talk nicely to them and say how well they were growing and keep blowing them kisses as you passed by the pots. Standing there and ranting at them and making threats to bin them must have put the poor little things into a state of shock, I bet if you visit your local tip in the Spring you may see a beautiful Amaryllis in full glorious bloom.

[Mad Dilys]

Well, I've got one that shows no sign of movement, but I won't bin it as I'm too curious to see what it will do.

Monte Carlo started to open yesterday, will take the usual pics tomorrow.

[LovelyLadyLux]

I'm essentially the same in that Minerva who I planted a full couple of weeks BEFORE Superstar is about 2.5" high whilst Superstar is now probably closer to 30"+ high and should be in full bloom for Christmas.

@Grandad - I don't know that I would have binned the bulb you did throw out. I've of been taking it back to the store and getting my $$ back. (Personally I've of just kept growing it regardless of the time it took) But amaryllis are the most fool-proof bulb you can plant. They are totally prepped to go so, to me, it is more than curious that your two have not moved. I've seen these bulbs still IN boxes coiled around like a snake in boxes in stores (the ones that did sell). When I grabbed Superstar there was another one in another section that was basically flowering on the shelf not even planted in anything........so.......I'm more than curious as to why yours didn't move at all. You DID plant the pointy part UP towards the sky? But it is really odd they didn't start to move cause, as I said, these will essentially grow in the dark in a box.

[Kiya]

Thanks Kiya
Glad that sorted your problem out, often when you get white boxes it is because your Graphics card is struggling to load the image, not because it is faulty, but rather that the information is a bit slow comming in. This is often because your browser is running slow, this may just be a bad internet link which can often be cured by switching your modem off then on again after a few minutes as this resets the connection and you often find that things speed up again. Alternatively if your Cookies build up too high then your Browser keeps trying to update every site you have visited to get the latest data and this again can really slow stuff down.

Thanks again Horus, I'll remember if it happens again