This is a Porcelain dahlia photographed in San Francisco at The Dahlia Garden in Golden Gate Park. The sun had started breaking out the…

Cassia fistula photographed in South Lake Tahoe. (If I have misidentified, please kindly let me know in comments and I will change it.) “{It is} commonly known as golden shower, purging cassia, Indian laburnum, or pudding-pipe tree,” according to Wikipedia. “{It} is a flowering plant in the subfamily, Caesalpinioideae of the legume family, Fabaceae. The species is native to the Indian subcontinent and adjacent regions of Southeast Asia. It ranges from eastward throughout India to Myanmar and Thailand and south to Sri Lanka and southern Pakistan.

Man must be the seeker after the Reality, and he will find that Reality in each of the Sanctified Souls. He must be fascinated and enraptured, and attracted to the divine bounty; he must be like the butterfly who is the lover of the light from whatever lamp it may shine, and like the nightingale who is the lover of the rose in whatever garden it may grow. ~ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Excerpt from Some Answered Questions. Author: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Source: U.S. Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1990 reprint of pocket-size edition. Excerpt © Bahá’í International Community. Photo © The Flower Photographer of Silicon Valley. The quote in the photo has been shortened for artistic purposes only.

It’s Flowers on Friday on Twitter. All of the fanatical political battles should take a breath and experience all the beauty that flower-lovers post. Bright, lovely flowers that show the beauty of this fantastic world. Take a few minutes off from the doom-and-gloom and the “othering” of those with whom you may disagree. After all, we can all agree that we are human. It is my belief that most humans probably love flowers, so spread some of that flower power on Twitter and on Medium, where the same ephemeral political battles take form in often long-winded oratory worthy of the compost pile! Sorry, that’s just my opinion!

Wild oxalis that grew in our former home in Cupertino. Please share, if so inclined.

The White Licorice rose can surprise you with its light yellow to white. In the photos I took, the yellow was a strong, vibrant yellow. This disease-resistant Floribunda was registered as Wekdidusinra and its trademarked name is White Licorice™. Bred by Christian Bédard in the United States in 2009, White Licorice was introduced into the USA by Weeks Wholesale Rose Grower Inc. in 2011 as “White Licorice.”

California’s first state park remains closed because of the devastating CZU Lightning Complex fire sparked by multiple lightning strikes in August 2020. Big Basin Redwoods State Park’s headquarters was destroyed, and some ancient redwoods were felled by the fire’s intensity. The photo I have posted here shows an ancient redwood…