Alas, the flower was a fraud

[asakiyume]

I should be less credulous.

I noticed in the photo I'd taken the other day that the stalk in the background looked spattered, as if by paint. This morning I went back and looked at the flower again. It's closed up now, and you can clearly see where the paint hit and where it didn't.

Ah well!





ETA: To see what genuine pigmented Queen Anne's Lace looks like, check out this photo by clarentine on Flickr:

Comments

[heliopausa.livejournal.com]

Well, phew, considering the concerns raised! :)
and you're not credulous at all! You observed, recorded, considered, rechecked and are now setting the records straight. This is highly scientific, non-credulous method at work!

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

((hugs))

Thanks for giving me a better way of looking at it!

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

thirded. :P

[cucumberseed.livejournal.com]

Seconded.

[cucumberseed.livejournal.com]

I wonder what the motive was behind the painting - prank, aesthetics, curiosity or "you know, I have this can of spray paint..."

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I wonder too! If only they knew how much excitement they stirred up.

[queenoftheskies.livejournal.com]

Aw, sad...but, hey, it was still beautiful. :)

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Yeah, and a fun adventure. And shows an interesting turn of mind on the part of the spray painter, too.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

It's extra lacy!

Anyway, the painted flower is still a story idea. :) Just for different stories.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Just for different stories--yes, and the more different stories, the merrier :-) Thanks.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

The real thing is jaw droopingly exquisite. As for the painted one, I still love the serendipity of flower art.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Isn't the real one amazing--like a coloring book, carefully coloring in here, here, and here, but not there.

And yeah, I like the art of the spray painted one, too.

[dark-phoenix54.livejournal.com]

The real one is so much better than the painted one! I didn't realize they ever came in color.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Me neither! I knew they could soak up colored water--we used to sometimes do that as kids--but I didn't know they could grow naturally that way.

[dark-phoenix54.livejournal.com]

I knew they could soak up colored water-

Every once in a while I get bored and do that with some daisies.

A kindly florist taught me as a kid how they did that with carnations. I think I was about 6. My mom went in to order a memorial bouquet for someone and the florist noticed I was fascinated with the green carnations so he showed me the jars of food coloring with carnations in various stages of coloring up.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I thought it was neat too!

[duccio.livejournal.com]

I like this painted one. I think whoever sprayed it took care not to get the whole place slopped with red. Maybe they took the caution of using a mask of some sort not to get the neighbors sprayed. In a way it could be thought of like a passionate message in a bottle (spray can) left along the pathway of some drifting love-full wanderer, and you discovered it. I think I would like to see more of these types of "frauds" as I travel my own trails.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

That is a lovely, beneficent, Duccio-esque reading of the situation, and I like it, and I think I'll adopt it. Thank you!

[amaebi.livejournal.com]

Yes, that care is what strikes me!

[sovay]

I should be less credulous.

Dude, you fact-checked your flower and found out it was spray-painted! That's being very skeptical!

I wonder why they spray-painted it. Memorial?

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

wonder why they spray-painted it. Memorial?

I wonder! As people have suggested, it's as pregnant with story material as a spray-painted flower as it was as a naturally red flower--just a different story.

And thanks, re: my credulity. I guess I was diligent, but I wish I had been before I deluged all my social media outlets with the picture. But I guess having people along for the adventure of discovery is pretty good, too.

[puddleshark.livejournal.com]

I was fooled. Spray-painted flowers - not something you come across every day. Hopefully.

*checks the red roses carefully*

Alas, the flower was a fraud is a wonderfully evocative line... I'd like to hear the rest of that poem.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

*checks the red roses carefully*

As yamamanama says, maybe the Queen of Hearts was wandering through.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

I need to get my mitts on some daucus carota dara for my Someday Home.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

It sure is elegant!

[amaebi.livejournal.com]

Well, that's very interesting-- whoever spraypainted it didn't get spraypaint all over, which care I find a little surprising.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Wakanomori was saying similar. And it's not like we get very high-quality graffiti in this area. Maybe this was a very unusual artist, with a light touch.

[amaebi.livejournal.com]

Maybe it was someone doing magic, as initially speculated.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Quite possible.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

An enigma replaced by a mystery...

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Maybe someone just really liked the color red.

[yamamanama.livejournal.com]

Perhaps the Queen of Hearts was there.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Let's hope no one lost their heads!

[yamamanama.livejournal.com]

Maybe that's not spray paint at all.

[xjenavivex.livejournal.com]

We all like to put on a costume every now and then.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I like this way of looking at it! Yes! Helping the flower try something different for a change.

[yamamanama.livejournal.com]

I'm going to go totally off topic here.

http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2015/09/burning-sulphur-rivers-reuben-wu/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+colossal+%28Colossal%29

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Beautiful stuff! I read about this earlier--very cool indeed (in a hellishly beautiful way).

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

What heliopausa said.

I am imagining some twist upon the card gardeners who tended the rose bushes for the Queen of Hearts in Wonderland.

Or, someone who knew that such a portent was needed and would be seen and noted. Sometimes prophesy needs a bit of help, after all.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Yes, maybe the Queen of Hearts was nearby!

And yes, prophecies sometimes do need help :-)

[amaebi.livejournal.com]

~~~and sometimes get it from attempted thwartings~~~

[purplefigtree.livejournal.com]

Oh darn! It's an orangey shade of red and not a purpley one too, I didn't notice it before. Hopefully you will find a real one someday, they're supposed to be common!

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

You have an LJ!

I hope one day to see a real one--they are so delicately colored!

[purplefigtree.livejournal.com]

Yes, I created it to comment once a couple years ago and then forgot about it :3 I'm not likely to post much here since I have other blogs, but it's nice to see more of your writing! You always have something lovely to say.