Love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena) is one of those rare flowers that looks as good (or even better) after it has finished blooming and has turned into a seed pod. If you need to remind yourself of the striking blue blooms of this remarkable flower, check out my posting from last week that I called Whole Lotta Love.
I was a little surprised to that these ones at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Maryland had already moved to this stage of development, but was quick to jump on the chance to photograph them yesterday. I like the way that the spiky portions of the plant are in sharp focus and how the background looks almost misty, as befits the name of the flower. As always, though, the plant looks vaguely alien to me, like it came from outer space.
Love is always beautiful and comes in many forms, whether in the mist on in a pod.
Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Mike Powell 
Alien-looking, indeed. It seems to be on the verge of extruding Something that might be better left undisturbed!
Great, soft colours really make this.
Thanks, Lyle. The sunlight was bright and harsh that day, so I used a hand-held diffuser to soften the light (and it worked).
Really cool plant, good rendering.
Thanks. I was introduced to this plant last year and it quickly became one of my favorites.
What an interesting subject! And well-done, too!
Thanks. As I noted in the posting, Love-in-a-mist is a really cool flower and its seed pods are amazing too–it has quickly become one of my favorite flowers.
Love it! What a bizarre structure.