To the naked eye Bip had only the clothes he stood up in: trousers, jacket, soft ballet shoes, striped jersey, and a crumpled opera-hat topped with a red flower.

ECONOMIST: Bip

Ohana Gingergrass Bamboo Scrub, from the line Red Flower, may not be pretty (overlook its resemblance to dirt) but the crushed bamboo is both gentle and effective in sloughing off dead skin, while the ginger and bergamot work to increase circulation.

WSJ: Maintaining the Gloss | Outer Beauty

Red carpet and flower welcoming ceremonies, banquets and gift-giving are all banned to "slam the brakes on extravagance and waste", the newspaper adds.

BBC: China media: Mekong justice

Medieval Piazza dell'Anfiteatro turns into a flower market, blazing with pink, red and orange azaleas and rhododendrons.

BBC: Best city for spring 2011: Lucca, Italy

But from the saddle and far into the heart of the Dixie Dude's 750 acres, I'm looking at a landscape crafted by Wayne and Eastwood: dried creeks, prickly pears, untamed, unpeopled hillsides of brush inflamed with a red-orange covering of the flower known as Indian paintbrush.

BBC: The perfect chilli con carne in the heart of Texas

The cat is now a trendy pink (it was red in its previous incarnation) and sports a flower instead of a bow.

CNN: PRETTY IN PINK SLUMP

But the endless meadows filled with a purple-blue ocean of lupine, or the sunset orange-red of the Indian paintbrush (Wyoming's state flower) will leave you speechless.

CNN: 7 stunning U.S. spots for wildlife

We would begin praying and sprinkling these rather ordinary implements with yellow turmeric powder, red roli powder, grains of rice, holy water, and flower petals.

NPR: In The Kitchen With Madhur Jaffrey

Enjoy the relaxed, open-air atmosphere of a 1920s Thai home at the Issaya Siamese Club, where local celebrity chef Ian Kittichai turns out dishes seasoned with herbs grown in the house garden, such as red chilli-glazed seabass (pla aob prik) and jasmine flower flan (kanom dok mali).

BBC: Business trip: Bangkok