Strophanthus gratus - Rose Allamanda

This flower made me think of a poem I learned in School in my youth. On my mind right now is Tithonus, lover of Aurora who was the Goddess of the dawn. She granted him his wish for immortality so that he could be with her eternally.

How come these poems that I did, long and tedious they were, left such a deep impression on me so much so that the explanations seemed to be as fresh as if they were made yesterday. It has to be the Literature teacher who made the subject so interesting. She never used games, never even heard of the term 'edutainment' but in each lesson, she held our hearts and our souls in her hands and wrapped our attention around her expressive voice that was filled with passion for her subject. To this day I can still picture her feeling so sorry for Tithonus because he had unwittingly lost the ability to die when he was given the gift of immortality by the Goddess.

In her quick response to his desire to live forever, she had missed out a very important detail. She forgot that he was not in the same league as herself as he was not a God. So, he continued to age unlike her because as a Goddess she was eternally youthful and it was sheer torture for him to have to "dwell in presence of immortal youth, Immortal age beside immortal youth". So Tithonus lamented:

"I ask'd thee, "Give me immortality."
Then didst thou grant mine asking with a smile,
Like wealthy men who care not how they give.
But thy strong Hours indignant work'd their wills,
And beat me down and marr'd and wasted me,
And tho' they could not end me, left me maim'd
To dwell in presence of immortal youth,
Immortal age beside immortal youth,
And all I was in ashes. Can thy love
Thy beauty, make amends, tho' even now,
Close over us, the silver star, thy guide,
Shines in those tremulous eyes that fill with tears
To hear me? Let me go: take back thy gift:
Why should a man desire in any way
To vary from the kindly race of men,
Or pass beyond the goal of ordinance
Where all should pause, as is most meet for all?"

(Excerpt from Tithonus by Alfred Lord Tennyson)

Flowers bloom and flowers fade
People live and people die
That is the order of nature
We cannot alter it even if we try
though scientists have succeeded
in some areas, they are pushing
their luck if they keep wanting
to play God to the highest level
One day, it will be game over
and we will be maimed forever

Strophanthus Gratus

I use my camera the way I use the brush to paint what I see before my eyes. The same flower but different time, different lighting and different approach. These are my references should I one day have a sudden inspiration to capture their beauty on canvas.

Flowers - simple to complex

When I first drew a flower as a child, the flower looked like this Kopsia flavida flower. My flowers always had 5 simple petals that are either round or oval in shape no matter how many times I drew them.

But in my child's limited view, I could not have drawn them to look like the flowers of the Ruellia brittoniana (Desert Petunia).

Like life, there is so much variety amongst flowers. Other than the shape of the petals, some flowers have distinctive features like the flower of the Strophanthus gratus(Climbing Oleander).When I first saw the flowers I thought that they must have come from some exotic land like Africa and I was right.

What I could not stop to marvel at is how the flowers of the Lagerstroemia indica (Crepe Myrtle) from Japan and China reached this level of sophistication where the flowers are many times removed from the basic form of the Kopsia flavida.

Finally, what more is there to say about the flowers of the Torch ginger - Etlingera elatior 'pink' here except that it impresses through sheer size and quantity of petals.

Strophanthus gratus - Climbing Oleander

I had wanted to bypass this shrub because I have already taken several pictures of these flowers and felt that I should exercise some restraint before I run out of storage space. In fact, I did walk pass it but then having thrown just a glance in its direction while doing so, I just had to back trek. Yes, I have seen these flowers many times before - the same shrub with the same type of flowers in the same place. But no, I just could not resist stopping by to admire their uniqueness. Actually every flower is unique because like us humans, each one bears a different form, a different look and a different allure. Looking at them was like looking at someone familiar and at the same time it also felt like seeing someone I had never met before. I was glad I gave these flowers my undivided attention for the duration it took me to appreciate them through my camera lenses. What I have in return is a lasting memory of a pleasant encounter.

Singapore Botanic Gardens - Strophanthus gratus

These beauties are also known as Rose allamanda and climbing oleander. They originate in West Africa and the seeds are poisonous. When you see one or two flowering shrubs, it's a pleasant surprise but when you see flowers in such profusion, it's a feast for the eyes.

Water lilies are next...