My Virgins

Lily:  "To the ancient Egyptians, the trumpet-shaped lily was a symbol of Upper Egypt, the southern part of the country. In the ancient Near East, the lily was associated with Ishtar, also known as Astarte, who was a goddess of creation and fertility as well as a virgin. The Greeks and Romans linked the lily with the queen of the gods, called Hera by the Greeks and Juno by the Romans. The lily was also one of the symbols of the Roman goddess Venus.

In later times, Christians adopted the lily as the symbol of Mary who became the mother of Jesus while still a virgin. Painters often portrayed the angel Gabriel handing Mary a lily, which became a Christian symbol of purity. Besides being linked to Mary, the lily was also associated with virgin saints and other figures of exceptional chastity."  The Myth Encyclopedia  


This Asiatic lily below is the first to bloom in my garden and has a little bit of blue in the red.  The petals are as smooth as a baby's bottom and the flowers open their faces up to the blue sky.

My second lily to bloom puts on a big show before opening her buds. The buds are large and full of interesting texture and almost look like an alien animal.  The petals remind me of red leather.  

When the flower actually blooms she is so full in your face that you must briefly look away before you move in for that longer study.

This lily is more orange and edgier, although it does not appear so in the photo above.  This lily must look sideways and not up to the sun. She is more demure.  Neither of these two lilies have that thick sweet smell of the stargazer lily.  But they are so beautiful, I do not mind.  The next to bloom is my tiger lily...which is still forming little buds.