Peony

I love the sweet smell of Peonies and the size of these showy flowers. The Peony or Paeony (Paeonia) is the only genus in the flowering plant family Paeoniceae. They are native to Asia, southern Europe and western North America. There are many cultivars as well as shapes and sizes.

The most common are single peonies, which have one row of petals surrounding yellow stamen, semidouble types have additional 1 or 2 rows of petals, double which you see in this photo are very full with broad petals and the stamen are either absent or inconspicuous, and finally Japanese Peopnies have a single row of petals surrounding a central mass of thin, petal-like segments called staminodes. They also come in many colors and combination of colors ranging from red, to rose, to white, and yellow. Some smell like Roses, but are not in the Rose family.

This Peony (cultivar unknown) was taken in Oswego, NY at Ft Ontario overlooking beautiful Lake Ontario. It is by far my favorite variety because of its sweet fragrance.

I chose to create this image by allowing it to dominate the frame partially due to the beautiful lighting and to show it in all its glory.

Magnolia Blossom

If you have never smelled the sweet fragrance of a Southern Magnolia tree, then you've been missing out on something very special.

I found this tree growing in a church yard right next to the dumpster. In the summer in Florida, a dumpster can get pretty rancid smelling within a day or two. The Magnolia blossoms completely hid the smell of the rotting trash in the dumpster. It's the closest I've ever been to a dumpster in the summer.

Besides not having a sickening odor, the dumpster was painted beautifully. This church is not only beautiful, but the grounds around it were kept nice and trim and it was magnificently landscaped. Check out the photo of the dumpster! I've seen a few painted trash cans in my day, but never anything as well done as this.

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