In the garden: what is it?

It looks familiar, Clive, but I don't know the name.
I really like how you have done that effect.

Very good Helen. Yes, potato flowers. The flowers are of the Mozart variety.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato

I am missing your reference to buffalo blur ... or buffalo blue. Not something I've heard of before.

Alas, Irish potatoes (that does differentiate them from sweet potatoes), are native to Central and Southern America. The species is Solanum tuberosum, but other wild species have been bred into Solanum tuberosum to improve varieties. (disease resistance, etc.) 

I'll explain the connection to my travels later. Remind me. Have an appointment now..) 

Happy Independence Day to you Helen ... and all of our American friends here.

Clive
aka Frank 

Thanks for your comments.

Helen, your app was correct in identifying the flowers as those of potato, but the reference to buffalo bur is definitely incorrect. "The Irish Potato a species of Buffalo-blur." They are indeed related, but it is not correct to say potatoes are a species of buffalo bur because they are two different species. Buffalo bur is the same genus (Solanum), but so is tomato and eggplant. The app's description of potato is good, but it is rather strange they would write that it is a species of bb.  Wiki has a good description of the solanums.
   
Solanum is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants, which include three food crops of high economic importance, the potato, the tomato and the eggplant. It also contains the nightshades and horse nettles, as well as numerous plants cultivated for their ornamental flowers and fruit....There may be up to approximately 1500 species worldwide. 

As for the story of "This flower, or the plant itself, took me to Asia many times and across Canada." (Grab a coffee. ) I was a crop specialist and worked in horticultural research and extension for 40 years. The last 25 years I only worked with potatoes doing applied potato research and extension. I worked for a public agricultural research agency here in Alberta and worked with our potato industry, including producers and processors. I "retired" early and formed a consulting company. In addition to working in several Canadian provinces, I also spent one month in Mongolia (the country) to create a potato-industry development plan for the World Bank, which was largely implemented years later. I also worked for a Chinese company in northern China and made eleven trips there. We established a once-successful potato seed company to provide high-end, disease-free seed tubers to major processors in China. So the "lowly spud" got me around to some interesting places. Was a good run for me.  The "lowly spud" is the world's fourth largest crop behind corn (maize), wheat and rice. They are a big deal.   

Fields are just starting to bloom here and, if I remember next week, I'll see if I can find some fields awash in blue or purple flowers. They are quite pretty. 

Clive