"Flower!" -- Sketch Topic for 3/25-3/31

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Copping out with a photo instead of a drawing because I'm not feeling creative, and this flower is rad. I don't know what it's called, but it looks like a fireworks explosion to me.

That flower looks amazing! What is it called?

I'm calling it "fireworks explosion flower" because I don't know any better. I don't think I have ever seen one before, and there was no other one around. It may be considered a weed for all I know; it was in someone's front yard with some run-of-the-mill annuals, seemingly all by itself, unless those other things on stalks in the background are also that flower but in different stages of life. It is about the size of a golf ball, perhaps 1.25 golf balls. I had to set my phone camera to its crappy "macro" setting, and then pretty much set the phone down on the ground. I walk all over the damn place, so I see some pretty exotic-looking flowers, but this one was just too cool to pass by without taking a picture.

Also, I used to work at Home Depot, so between that and all the walking around town I do, I think I've pretty much seen every flower that can grow in this climate without ridiculous amounts of caretaking. EXCEPT THIS ONE! And maybe one other.

Ironically you almost never see sunflowers here in the Sunshine State.

fficial&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=9sFzT8PxGoHG2wWWyeWGDw&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CBcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1600&bih=750">https://www.google.com/search?q=Mimosa+Pudica&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=86k&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=9sFzT8PxGoHG2wWWyeWGDw&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CBcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1600&bih=750 It reminded me of a Mimosa tree's blossoms, so I searched for Mimosa and stumbled on that one. Even the lil leaves around it looked like the ones that grow on my tree, so I'd almost bet that's what you have there If it smells anything like the ones on the trees, definitely worth stopping to smell Love those flowers when the trees bloom.

Oooh, good detective work Eve . I never would have guessed that was a mimosa, but you're right, the leaves look exactly the same. The mimosa trees I've seen had very small yellow blossoms; kind of interesting that some varieties of mimosa would have complementary colors going on.

Oooh I've never seen any other than the pink variety, but I bet yellow ones are gorgeous, too! We had a pretty big tree in our yard back when I was a kid in East Texas. Always loved it when it bloomed. My mom decided while she was visiting one year, that my front yard needed a tree, so she bought and planted me one here. It's grown quite a bit in I think the three years we've had it there. Once it starts blossoming, soon hopefully, I'll snap some shots

Oh yeah, another cool thing about those that is like the tree from what I read, is the leaves. They call it the "touch me not" flower or "shameful" or something like that too, cuz when you touch the leaves, they close right up. Always thought that was the coolest thing when I was a kid LoL

Poppies...poppies will make them sleeeep!

And an extra - mimosa!

Those are the leaves you see when you learn about mimosa in science class, but I don't remember them ever showing flowers in the pictures Such a shame. I like your poppies; they remind me of those space-age chairs from the 60s (?) that make you want to climb inside and see what the hype concerning poppies and their extract is all about O_O. Also, they sort of have a Chinese silk painting feel to them, the way the stems are done.

Gorgeous!