Daisy Day

(This post was originally published in June.  Editing of picture sizes caused reposting by blogger at this later date).

(Reading Time: ~5-10 minutes)

In our backyard is a small rectangular bed cut into the brick floor. It is home to a low shrub of daisies. The bed erupts with flowers every April. Late spring it is. For a whole month, the daisies become the life of the backyard.

The daisies have a short season. Within weeks the flower density falls. This repeats every year.  Daisies are part of the Asteraceae family. These flowers show different moods depending on the time of the day. Here they are, all in the course of one day.

                           

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Dawn
Daisies are beginning to open their petals. Wake up, wake up, it is time.

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Morning, around 8 AM

Feeling the sun's rays. (The sunlight takes a while to stream into our valley).

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Mid Morning, around 11 AM

The daisies are fully open and smiling at the sun. 

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Post Noon, around 2 PM

Looking tired. Notice some of the petals bending backwards, perhaps because of the living and working in the strenuous heat. 

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Around 4 PM

By this time we start losing sunlight in this north-east corner of the yard. These pictures show the bed at a demarcation between sunlight and shade from different two angles. It appears as if the daisies in the shade are finished for the day, letting relaxation set in and the ones in the light are still working on their photo-chemistries.

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Around 5 PM and 6 PM

Closing shop.

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Dusk

Good Night.

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The weather in our area on the day I took these photos was-
Saturday, Sunny with Partial Clouds
Humidity: 24%
Wind:  N at 12 mph 

Temperature : 56F - 73F
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Genetic coding in the daisies enables them orchestrate their movements with the sun. While the family of asteraceae move in a dramatic manner with sunlight; other species of plants and animals, and sea-life that dwells in water layers that sunlight penetrates have evolved to synchronize their food procurement and rest patterns with the sun's energy in less obvious ways.

Technological advancement and the thrust of civilization has put us in a place now where we can eat and sleep, have light or darkness whenever we wish. How this gradual change in behavior manifests in our biological systems is a personal curiosity. 

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