Monday, September 21, 2009

Macro Monday – Protea at San Francisco Flower Mart


DSC02202 Telopia

It was Wednesday, the biggest market day of the week at San Francisco Flower Mart. I went to bed knowing that I would have to get up extra early to pick up my flower order for the Bar Mitzvah Tracy and I were decorating for in a couple of days. I was looking forward to bringing our creative visions to reality with fresh flowers from all over the globe. I woke up at 2:30 a.m., two and a half hours before my alarm was due to chime. I started thinking about my flower order. Did I order enough flowers?  Will I find something special for the bimah arrangement? Will I remember everything? The market opens at 1:00 a.m. Some say that the best flowers are gone between five and six, others say anything unique is gone by four. I’m wide awake now. What the heck, I might as well get up and go to the mart. Let’s find out when the good stuff really goes.

This is what I found:

DSC02203 Telopia

DSC02204 Telopia

Have you ever see a flower so delicious? These proteas were raspberry red and from far away they looked like they were flocked with velvet. Too bad this color is too feminine for a Bar Mitzvah. Many bundles were still available when I left at four thirty but I’m sure they would be gone by six.

When I got home I looked up what variety this wondrous protea was. Only days earlier, Tracy gave me an autographed copy of  Neotropica - Hawaii Tropical Flower + Plant Guide  by the very talented Hitomy Gilliam, AIFD and Lois Hiranaga AIFD. I learned that this protea hybrid is called Telopea (Waratah) speciosissima hybrid “Shady Lady” and that it is only available in limited supply.




This Macro Monday post was inspired by margie at soeurs du jour who was inspired by Lisa.

Happy Macro Monday to you all!

16 comments:

Unknown said...

I've never seen them before! Lovely!

studio wellspring said...

thanks for the intro to these beauties, pretty lady.

Jay said...

Wow, that's a most unusual flower! I've never seen one. Good for you for getting to the market in time! :)

Marilyn Miller said...

Just beautiful!

AphotoAday said...

Well, hello again Dutchbaby --
Noticed that you had stopped by one our favorite blogs -- FogBay...
And thanks for reminding me about the Flower Mart -- I haven't been there for years... Yes, that IS a most unusual flower, isn't it... Nicely shot...

Pretty Zesty said...

I want to eat those flavors! So beautiful.

Pretty Zesty said...

flavors=flowers. It's still early for me!

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous pictures

Dutchbaby said...

Dear lisaschaos,
Thanks for the inspiration!

Dear studio wellspring,
They are very architectural-looking, don't you think?

Dear Jay,
These exotic flowers come all the way from Australia.

Dear Marilyn,
I'm glad you enjoyed these flowers.

Dear AphotoAday,
How nice to get a visit from a FogBay co-groupie. I would love to see your shots of the flower mart. Wednesday is definitely the best day to go and be sure to go into the big hangar-like buildings.

Dear Kris,
Thanks for getting up early to leave a note :)

Dear Melissa,
Thank you! Welcome to dutchbaby!

paris parfait said...

Such pretty flowers! I saw some orange ones like that in Amsterdam.

My Castle in Spain said...

amazing red ! they make such a beautiful bouquet...

Dutchbaby said...

Dear paris parfait,
The orange ones are called pincusion proteas. They probably came from South Africa.

Dear My Castle in Spain,
I would love to see you make a bouquet with these!

Relyn Lawson said...

Delicious is exactly the word, the very first word I thought when I saw your images.

Dutchbaby said...

Dear Relyn,
Yes, yes! They looked like they could have been made out of red licorice!

Deborah Chang Di Bella AIFD said...

Hi dutchbaby,

I totally love your enthusiasm for this new medium.
I'm a friend of Lois Hiranaga and Hitomi and will send them to your site. Thanks for using the NeoTropica guide!

Dutchbaby said...

Dear Debby,
Please thank Lois and Hitomi for their very informative guide. I have seen Hitomi give a demonstration in Half Moon Bay once; she is so talented. Welcome to dutchbaby!

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