George Klass: Photographer

North Shore Gardening Life

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Days Until Last Frost

Faded Tulips

by Elizabeth Spence.

George Klass is our recently-appointed house photographer from Malagash. He sent us these wonderful photos of store-bought tulips past their best.

The tulips in our gardens haven’t even poked their noses out of the ground yet, so these images might seem a bit premature and sad. But they’re not really.

George says:

“These images show that we can admire and look beyond flowers in their prime. There is still so much beauty and texture in the blooms as they wither and the plant moves on to the next stage of its life.

“The way the colours fade and also the shapes of the petals and the wonderful textures of the blooms as they dry provide some delightful ideas for creating art, textiles, sculptures and much, much more.”

I find these photos artistically superb. George has choregraphed the colours to marvellous effect. They really hit the eye with their beauty.

They also tell us about the impermanence of our tulips, Indeed, these images can encourage us to make the most out of the flowers while they are at their best, and, by extension, make the most of everything else in our lives. Nothing lasts forever.

Perhaps these images are not so much a reminder to carpe diem (grasp the day) as carpe tulipam!”