h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Freewayriding:

The detail pops on this beautiful shot. Delicate petals really stand out against the dark background and stems.

Excellent contrast brings out the shadows on the flowers, intricate and soft. Lovely photograph.

I can almost smell them.

Lovely photograph indeed - the flowers are beautiful in colour, but in black and white the detail of the shape of each petal is much clearer, and the stamens really stand out

I love white lilies. Maybe their popularity at Easter has something to do with it.

I have a confession to make: I wasn't too keen on them in my youth. I think they made me sneeze in church. My mother didn't like them at all. But lately I've been planting different kinds, and now I can't live without them.

These lilies are yellow. But I know a funny story about white lilies, which in Romanian are called 'crin'.

1980. I had just arrived in Cluj after a 30-hour train journey. My professor picked me up at the train station and drove me the short distance to the dormitory. I was really tired. I deposited my luggage in the dorm room. My prof noticed that my roommate, whom I hadn't met yet, had put a bowl of white lilies on the table, a welcome gift from some local folk.

He pointed. 'Those are beautiful flowers,' he intoned in his Count Dracula accent. 'But you must take them out of the room before sleeping.' I thought that odd, but promised. However, after a three-hour outdoor Romanian meal (they take their time), I was so exhausted I fell into bed and forgot all about the 'beautiful flowers'.

Until about 5 am. It was at this time that I woke from a truly horrible nightmare. My mood was one of black despair. The room was filled with an insidious perfume...omg, the lilies! I rushed them out of the room and into the dorm kitchen, and opened every window I could find. Never neglect local warnings, especially about psychotropic plants. Talk about aroma therapy gone wrong...

That's a really good point.

Some flowers have such a powerful aroma that you don't want to have them indoors too much. Lilies and lilacs come to mind....

Personally, I can't cope with lavender.

Lavender?I've never tried it.

One of the best photographs of lilies seen for a long time. Simple but effective arrangement, brings out the detail and beauty of the flowers.

Excellent!

Thanks, Bob!

Nature did the arranging. Those were growing.