Sprung From the Heart

Taken at the Rockefeller Park Greenhouse - Cleveland, OH

I couldn't take it anymore. The rainy, gray, dreary, barren days were getting to me so this weekend I planned a trip up to Cleveland to hit up Rockefeller Greenhouse and the Botanical Gardens. It was still cold and gray and dreary but being indoors, all by myself in the Greenhouse I got to appreciate the blooms that were bursting with color.

This is one of the many amaryllis they have in the Greenhouse currently, and the myth behind the bloom is that a maiden Amaryllis was in love with a man but it was unrequited and wanted to present him with a truly unique and beautiful flower. The Delphi offered sage advice and for 30 days she appeared at the man's door and pierced her own heart with a golden arrow. On the 30th day, a deep red amaryllis sprung from her heart to bestow to him.

I am really happy with this photo..there are some issues with it--the graininess and not noticing until processing that there was another bloom behind one of the petals that I could have avoided by moving to the left a little, but overall I'm extremely pleased with the outcome.