Flowers have spoken to me more than I can tell in written words.
They are the hieroglyphics of angels,
loved by all men for the beauty of their character,
though few can decipher even fragments of their meaning.
~Lydia M. Child

Not only is this large white flower an angelic hieroglyph, it’s common name is Angel’s Trumpet, and from start to finish the cherubic things hold me captive in “the beauty of their character.”  Though the flower itself is not new to me, until recently I hadn’t had one growing in my yard so that I could observe its habits from beginning to end.  Now that I’ve planted one, I’m continually fascinated that the flower begins life in what looks like an unassuming okra-like pod and ends its cycle in a curious spiny capsule.  When the plant emerges in the spring, it leafs out some before the okra-like-pods begin to appear.  Then the tiny buds grow longer and longer until they reach about 4 inches in length.  At that point the tip end splits open to reveal about an inch of a tightly wrapped, almost beige bud. Then the next morning the still tightly wrapped flower fully emerges from the pod and turns white.  Later in the day when it’s almost dark, the exquisite blossom finally unwinds and opens into the whiter-than-white glorious “trumpet” you see in my photograph.  Sadly its completed ascent into glory lasts for only a wee while because when the first rays of light hit it the next morning, it withers and dies.  After the withered “trumpet” falls away, the flower’s calyx is replaced by a large and very interesting prickly pod.  If left to dry and split, the spiny capsule spills seeds which fall to the ground guaranteeing that next year more “angels” will have trumpets to play.

Also at your times of rejoicing–your appointed festivals and New Moon feasts–you are to sound the trumpets…  ~Numbers 10:10