Crocus cartwrightianus

304_5113 [Crocus cartwrightianus]

 

Ideally, one of these days I would go to a nearby mountain and take some fresh pictures of Crosus cartwrightianus but this ‘scenario’ is not possible. The current circumstances of Covid 19 lockdown have confined me home. So, instead, I searched my photo archive and selected an old picture to share with you; and there is a reason for my selection. 

 

Some years ago, I found the flower above in the center of Ilioupoli (a major residential area, part of Athens). I wanted to see it from close before I took a picture of it but getting close was next to impossible because the area was fenced off all around. So, rather than missing the picture altogether, I used my long telephoto and took the picture from behind the tall wire fence. So far so good.  

 

304_5126 [Crocus cartwrightianus]

 

Then, using the same lens, I took a picture of another cartwrightianus, and left in order to go and visit a friend of mine.

Looking at the pictures on my computer screen at home, I noticed that there was only one red style in the second picture instead of three! Where are the other two styles? I still wonder. 

 

No tricks with the camera, no alteration of the picture in processing on my part, I assure you.

 

Anybody out there having a clue? 

 

Photographed on November 20, 2014

Crocus laevigatus

803_8112 [Crocus laevigatus]

A small, scented, widespread crocus with white or slightly lilac tepals.

Its purple stripes on the tepals attract your attention from a distance.

It can be found up to a height of 1500 m.

Photographed on Mt. Hymittos in November 2020

 

DSCN3040 [Crocus laevigatus]

This picture was taken on Mt. Parnonas in October, 2008

Sternbergia lutea

803_7998 [Sternbergia lutea]

803_8001 [Sternbergia lutea]

 

This elegant beauty appears yearly from September to November.

It loves stony grounds but I found it among pine-needles at the foot of Mt. Hymittos.

 

Photographed on October 16, 2020

 

 

Saint George and Saint Irene

Please click on the pictures for a better view. 

 

803_1101 [Saint George Papagou]

A Greek Orthodox church dedicated to Saint George and Saint Irene, found at the residential area of Papagos very close to the foot of Mt. Hymittos. It was opened to the public in 2011 but it was inaugurated in 2018. I found it architecturally attractive and photographically inviting, although it is very similar to many Greek Orthodox churches I had seen before.

 

803_1625 [Saint George Papagou]

 

The interior, however, is quite dissimilar to other churches. 

 

[If you want to see an example of a dissimilar church, please click HERE.]

 

What surprised me, however, were the stained-glass windows it is decorated with, which as far as I know, are not a common feature of Greek Orthodox churches.

 

Here follow four such windows:

803_1612 - 803_1611 [Kosmas + Damianos]

 

803_1614 + 803_1615 [Nektarios + Nikolaos]

 

All photographed on March 28, 2018