A Quest for the Uncliche

Dream. Explore. Learn. Repeat.. Let's traverse on the paths less taken and explore whole new worlds

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Un-mundane Mondays – Part: XI

A new week has dawned upon us, and half of the year has gone by. But worry not, another half of the year still remains, full of hopes, dreams and optimism..

This “floral” post, though contains some “blues”, will definitely help remove some of those Monday blues which you might be facing while going for work today (as applicable). Plants indeed teach us about resilience and never to give up as they themselves don’t..

Photograph

Beautiful flowers sighted in UNESCO World Heritage Site of Kinderdijk, The Netherlands.. Copyright: Abirbhav Mukherjee

Where

Kinderdijk, near Rotterdam, in the South Holland province of The Netherlands.

Very close to the Modern Dutch Metropolis cum Port of Rotterdam lies the quaint and picturesque village of Kinderdijk. What’s so special about it? Let’s just say it’s related to a celebrated icon of the Netherlands in a big way – the Kinderdijk is home to the largest concentration of Windmills in the Netherlands. Some of those windmills may be several hundreds of years old. The concentration of the Windmills can be explained due to the fact that Kinderdijk is located in a podler which lies in the estuarine confluence of Noord and Lek rivers, which makes it extremely prone to floods. The area of those great windmills have been accorded with the World Heritage Site status by none other than UNESCO.

What

Flowers and plants always amaze me, and these beautiful purplish flowers amidst the arrays of Windmills amidst grassy wetlands, canals and podlers struck out elegantly.

As far as my understanding goes, these flowers are Lavenders (Scientific Name: Lanevdula angustifolia). Lavenders are beautiful ornamental plants native to Mediterranean Europe. Lavenders provide essential oils called lavender oils which find a plethora of uses as a relaxant in massage therapy or in bath oils, soaps, cosmetics, lotions etc. Lavenders also find use in some medicines. However, as the general safety rules go, one should not consume these plants or flowers without prior medical advice.

Update – 1:

As per Ms. Beate Gütl (https://linienspiel.wordpress.com/), these flowers are Larkspurs. Upon searching a bit about them, the closest possible resemblance seemed to be the Coastal Larkspur (Scientific Name: Delphinium decorum). The flowers are native to the USA. The individual flowers resemble a purple star. Though they are beautiful, yet, the plants belonging to the Delphinium genus are toxic. Some varieties of larkspurs are used for making blue ink. These plants also contain alkaloids which find use in a variety of medicines. Thank you for the update.

Do you know the exact name of these flowers? Do let me know in the comments section below to help update the same.

When

The picture was taken in June 2019 CE

Equipment

Sony DSC-H300 / BC E32 Camera

Hope you liked these beautiful flowers welcoming the visitors to this beautiful Dutch landscape.

Plants or flowers are perhaps the symbols of resilience which nature tries to teach us. One can find plants growing in supposedly inhospitable conditions and showing beautiful flowers, as if to tell that if they can defeat their obstacles and thrive, why can’t humans with an array of resources in hand?

One can never be bored of the allure of such flowers ever..

Looking forward to interacting more with you and “Make Mondays un-mundane”..

Cheers..!!

© Abirbhav Mukherjee. All the pictures / videos posted in this article are my own unless otherwise mentioned.

18 comments

    1. Yes, you are very much right. Lavenders have a nice aroma.. 😊😊
      The Netherlands is a big country and has lots to offer, only if one ditches Amsterdam and sets afoot exploring this Country.. 😊😊 Thank you once again Kritika.. 😊😊

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  3. This is a very nice photo! 😍❤
    The plant in the foreground seems to be a larkspur. A flower, which I also love very much and have painted several times before.
    Thanks for this nice blog post. Cheers! 😊😊

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you so much Madam for your lovely comment and your suggestion.. 😊😊🤗🤗
      I am glad you liked it.. 😊😊
      Let me add your suggestion as well to the post.. It seems like Coastal Larkspur to me..

      Like

      Reply

  4. Beautiful and refreshing flowers! You said it right, flowers are an epitome of resilience. It can be connected to the life as well. We should learn from nature to be selfless and tough in any situation. 😊😊

    I am amazed to know about the windmills at Kinderdjik. Got to learn something. Thank you for sharing! 😊

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you so much Madam for your lovely comments.. 😊😊
      Kinderdijk is quite often ignored by non-Dutch tourists, mainly because it’s unknown and the one in Zaanse Schaans in Amsterdam draws a heavier number of tourists.
      I shall write more about the windmills of Kinderdijk sometime soon.. I am glad that you loved the flowers and some of the lessons they try to give.. 😊😊
      Thank you so much Madam.. 😊😊

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  5. ah, here’s my wonderful friend with a lovely post about the beauty of flowers and all we can learn and get from them. I have put a lot of lavenders in our garden. French lavender too. As well as being colorful, they are very hardy plants, the bees love them and I make lavender fudge from the flowers. A great post. The boss lady approves.
    xx

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Wow..!! So glad to know that the Boss Lady herself approves this one.. 😊😊
      Nice to know that you make lavender fudge..!! It would be lovely, I am sure.. xx
      Please share the recipes too.. Shall love trying them..!! 😊😊
      I love lavenders for their fragrance and colour.. I am sure that they will look lovely in your garden.. xx

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

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