Flora! Illuminated… Day 18

Anne Ophelia Todd Dowden. Rhododendron 'Holden'. 1974. Reproduction of original watercolor.

We were amongst the rhododendrons. There was something bewildering, even shocking, about the suddenness of their discovery. The woods had not prepared me for them. They startled me with their crimson faces, massed one upon the other in incredible profusion, showing no leaf, no twig, nothing but the slaughterous red, luscious and fantastic, unlike any rhododendron plant I had seen before. –Daphne de Maurier in Rebecca

In 2007, renowned artist, Anne Ophelia Todd Dowden died at the age of 99. Her obituary in the New York Times provides us with a glimpse of her life and legacy.