My title is a nod to the famous hymn How Great Thou Art and finding this little scene at Dunedin Botanic Garden (New Zealand) filled me with awesome wonder and my soul did sing! This wonderful tree cultivar has its share of fame in gardening circles too, Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’.
This is also my contribution to the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #146: Focusing on the Details.
My thanks to Chris Mosseau (Canada) for posting Raindrops on Tulips for the challenge – do have a look if you like tulips ~and who doesn’t? It was his post that inspired me to take part.
I came upon this dear little tree as I climbed the path heading up to the Rhododendron and Maple garden, in the high part of Dunedin Botanic Garden. Photos taken 28 April 2021 (autumn in NZ).
Click on any photo to enlarge.
Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’. Dunedin Botanic Garden, New Zealand.
I glanced downward and what I saw made me gasp with excitement …
~ water drops like jewels!
But for those who know how to listen,
the existence of every single thing in this cosmos sings,
“Love is at work here.”
~bishop jake owensby, in Why We’re Here
Text and photos by Liz; Exploring Colour (2021)
Exploring Colour 
How pretty!
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Thanks! Autumn offers some nice surprises 🙂
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Loved your choice on this one Liz – I remember Dunedin’s garden when we visited years ago. I think I also remember a farm where the sheep have coats of different colors – or did I dream that?!
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You would have seen coloured sheep for sure, some people have a coloured flock. Spinners love to have the coloured wool, in fact my own aunt was a spinner and owned a small coloured flock (childhood memories).
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Actually I purchased a blanket from the sheep farm which is one of my very favorite things Liz. I still use it as a throw on my bed.
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I love it you chose such a beautiful keepsake from NZ Tina! You’ll remember us with much warmth 🙂
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Hi, Liz. I love those autumn colors. The macro shots are marvelous! Great details.
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Thanks a lot Patti!
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I love all these warm autumn colors and the water drops. A great post Liz!
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Thank you very much Anita!
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Great selections. Love the water drops. Really love the backlit autumn leaves.
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Oh I’m pleased you like the backlit autumn leaves, they really were so very eye-catching and beautiful! Thank you.
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So beautiful, Liz – and what a fitting name! Never heard it before.
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Mike Powell in the comments has informed me that it’s also called Eastern Redbud, Confirmed at this web page which has excellent info and photos (link at the end of this comment). Native to eastern and central North America. I’ll give you a couple of lines and then the link: “Eastern Redbud is a low maintenance, ornamental flowering deciduous tree in the bean (Fabaceae) family. ‘Forest Pansy’ is a purple-leaved cultivar that has an attractive red-orange fall color.” More info: https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/cercis-canadensis-forest-pansy/
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Thank you for interesting info!
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I, too, like getting up close to leaves — so much color, veining, shape to look at. But add raindrops, and oh, my. Thanks for colorful photos with great details.
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Thank you for your visit and appreciation of colour and detail!
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How Great Thou Art was my parents’ favorite hymn–I grew up singing it. Your beautiful fall colors were delightful, Liz, especially with the glistening raindrops. This was definitely a day for raindrops and my posting today also included them. I was a little surprised to learn that the “Forest Pansy” tree is know here as the Eastern Redbud. They are in bloom right now with bright pink flowers.
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The various species of Cercis are lovely when in bloom, just wonderful! As are your iris photos Mike .. I thought the bud came out remarkably well with great detail. Anyone reading this who’d like to see some beautiful irises, just go to: https://michaelqpowell.com/2021/05/06/raindrops-on-irises/
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Thanks, Liz. The bud shot was my attempt to be “artsy” with the out of focus adult iris in the background. 🙂
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You did well as you’ve still maintained the detail in the main subject and that bud made me think of pictures of baby Jesus in ‘swaddling clothes’ – the way the bud looks like it’s tightly wrapped 😀
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That was one of my grandmother’s favorite hymns, and it was sung at her funeral. I’m glad your tree’s thriving — no need for a funeral for it!
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Rather an odd-shaped tree but seems to be doing ok. That hymn must be one of the most well-known hymns I would think, along with “Abide With Me” 🙂 Hey Linda, I’ll find a link for you that I got via Twitter today, you might be interested … about women and hymn writing. SBC focus but many of the hymns are ones I’m familiar with from childhood and I found it interesting: https://ftc.co/resource-library/blog-entries/women-in-sbc-hymnody/
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That’s very beautiful. Full of wonder. Thank you Liz.
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Aw, thanks Kay! it really was wondrous, I was full of happiness 🙂
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