Getting up close

Today's outing was just a short walk away, the Beaulieu estate with its famous National Motor Museum. We had a lot of fun at the 'Top Gear' exhibition, every bit as crazy and funny as the TV show!

Close-up of a waterlilly

There's a lot to see. We walked through the Motor Museum, rode on the monorail, visited the remains of the 13th century Abbey, and explored the gardens.

I like nothing better than to take images that are close up and personal. It comes from several decades of microscopical research in the 1970s and 1980s. I studied flower development and pollination in fruit trees.

I can't get quite that close, of course, with my trusty old Canon G12. But I thought you might like this shot of a water lily in the rain.

The water drops bead up because of the water-repellent properties of the petal surface. The cells are coated in wax, often in the form of fine fibres and the water sits on top of these, barely touching the epidermal cells beneath and rolling off with ease.

The yellow structures you can see are the anthers that will produce pollen in the next day or two. Bees and other insects will come for nectar and pollen and will also carry away a dusting of pollen on their bodies, transferring it to other nearby water lily flowers. In this complex way, the life cycle of the water lily is completed and seeds are formed.

(If you liked this you might also like Journeys of heart and mind and Quote me on this.)