Sunday, September 19, 2010

Unusual Flowers of Maine

I was reading a wedding announcement in the Times, when this paragraph jumped out: the wedding was on September 4th...

During the cocktail hour, friends and family wandered through the garden’s riotous blossoms. Japanese anemones, giant yellow daffodils and blood red Spartacus dahlias competed for attention with mounds of fresh lobster meat and oysters on the half shell, while a bald eagle soared among the towering pines. 

Um, anyone else spot the giant problem here?

14 comments:

  1. Well, at a Rockefeller wedding, surely it is possible to fly in plants from anywhere in the world. Curious, though.

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  2. umm, daffodils, in September? that really is a riot!

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  3. Well, the daffodils will be a nice complement for the "purple prose."

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  4. the lurid palette is a problem, as is citing birds of prey in the otherwise celebratory context. . .

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  5. But what on earth could the yellow flowers be? I am assuming someone saw yellow and assumed...daffodils. Unless daffodils really were flown in from another hemisphere, which though possible, I doubt...

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  6. had the exact same thought this morning! could one really mistake a solidago for daffodils? what else is yellow in september? maybe Kirengeshoma palmata?

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  7. Anna, yes! Kirengshoma were the only ones I could think of. But 'giant' daffodil-like?

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  8. Oh seasonal flowers was the issue? I thought it might be the not-so-subtle sexual references...

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  9. The article must have been written by someone like me - who knows nothing of gardening - which flowers are supposed to bloom when, and where, the range of possible flowers for a certain colour, etc.
    I have to admit that my first thought was: who the hell are these people? (okay, so I live in SA, forgive me). And my second thought was: the entire article is way too flowery. No bare prose here, I am afraid. And my third thought was: "“Matt proved that he was really serious about me,” she said, still sounding grateful and surprised." Oh, my goodness ...

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  10. bald eagle hanging around for oysters on the half-shell?

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  11. Saw it, wondered silently, glad to have my feelings verified. What the hell?

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  12. Hellianthus? Could the writer possibly have thought swamp sunflowers were daffodils? Maybe he wasn't there. Is Devan a he? Maybe just saw pictures. Or do you have to be there to write a two page feature for the Times.

    Troy, the bald eagle? jajajajajaja

    Anairam, actually it's Matt I'm worried about. She says she keeps running away! I don't know know. Sterkte, Matt!

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  13. I assumed it was some crazy rich person who forced daffodils for the occasion, but maybe it was just a stupid, stupid writer.

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