This gardenia flower was pretty much as close to perfect as nature could make it the day I photographed it. Gardenias are some of my favorite flowers, but they tend to get a little bit frayed around the edges if you don’t catch them at their prime. So why mess with perfection, you might ask. It’s my obsession with playing with colors. White flowers just lend themselves so perfectly to that, and gardenias are ideal among white flowers with all their petals, folds, highlights, and shadows. The purple and green combination seemed like a lovely way to celebrate spring.