The flowers of Digitalis purpurea, the purple foxglove, are tubular, pendent, arranged in a spiral around long spikes. Each flowers has 5 sepals, joined at the base, and 5 petals, joined in a tube, the lowest forming a lip as a landing area for pollinators. The lower petal also has markings to guide the pollinators … Continue reading Daily Sketches – June 30 Flowers – 11. Digitalis purpurea
Today's tutorial subject is the colorful flower of Gaillardia. Part of the Asteraceae family, Gaillardia grandiflora has the same floral structure as Bellis perennis that I sketched a few days ago: a capitulum composed of hundreds of disc florets forming a circle in the middle, and ray florets surrounding this middle. By definition, ray florets … Continue reading Daily Sketches – 10. Gaillardia x grandiflora ‘Fanfare’
Lamprocapnos spectabilis, formely known as Dicentra spectabilis (a scientific name still widely used) has this very easily recognizable heart shape, hence the popular name of bleeding-heart. Other common names include lyre flower, heart flower and lady-in-a-bath. The flower has 2 large outer petals (those in the shape of a heart) and two inner petals, narrow, … Continue reading Daily Sketches – June 30 Flowers – 9. Lamprocapnos spectabilis
In today's tutorial I'm sketching the gorgeous flower of Gloriosa superba. It is obvious that whoever saw it for the first time and name it made use of all the superlatives he remembered and rightly did so. Native to southern Africa and India it's also called flame lily or fire lily due to it's wavy, … Continue reading Daily Sketches – June 30 Flowers – 8. Gloriosa superba
In today's tutorial I will show you how I draw a typical daisy flowerhead, a capitulum inflorescence, with disc florets in the middle surrounded by ray florets that resemble petals. Join me on Patreon for 30 days of daily flower sketches!Every day of June I will post a video tutorial in which I will draw … Continue reading Daily Sketches – June 30 Flowers – 7. Bellis perennis
The blossoms of columbines may look complex but they conform to the model of 5-star flower forms. 5 lanceolate, petal-like sepals are interspersed with 5 petals standing upward, spurred or saccate at the base. In the spur, there is nectar on which bees, hawk moths and hummingbirds feed. Stamens are numerous (often more than 50) … Continue reading Daily Sketches – June 30 Flowers – 6. Aquilegia
This is one of my favourite flowers and this is due in part to the beautiful botanical illustration of Arthur Harry Church representing a cross-section of the flower and showing the grace of its curved filaments. So often an exceptional botanical illustration made me pay more attention to a botanical subject, which I would otherwise … Continue reading Daily Sketches – June 30 Flowers – 5. Geranium phaeum
Ornithogalum umbellatum or star-of-Bethlehem is a bulbous plant that can be found in Romanian meadows from mid to late spring and it is related with many familiar garden plants such as hyacinth, bluebells, grape hyacinths and squills. The petal-like perianth is radially symmetric and consists of six lanceolate tepals, 3 smaller than the other 3, … Continue reading Daily Sketches – June 30 Flowers – 4. Ornithogalum umbellatum
Shrub native to North America, Calycanthus floridus was brought to Europe for its decorative value, being appreciated for the brown-cherry flowers and for its fragrance with fruity notes of pineapple-strawberry-banana. As the flowers mature they start to smell like ripe apples or vinegar. Not only the flowers, but also the leaves and bark have a … Continue reading Daily Sketches – June 30 Flowers – 3. Calycanthus floridus
The blackberry (Rubus fruticosus) is now in bloom in the garden and its flowers are in a beauty contest with the Philadelphus flowers next to it. The name of the species does not, as some might imagine, mean fruit-bearing; in that case the name should be fructuosus. Fruticosus in latin refers to the bushy, shrubby … Continue reading Daily Sketches – June 30 Flowers – 2. Rubus fruticosus
