Category Archives: Plant Portraits
Occasional Daily Photo/Beschorneria 3/3/11
More impending drama. The first beschorneria to bloom in my garden. I think it’s B. septentrionalis but won’t know until it blooms. The narrow leaves look a little yuccoides, and there has been some wild hybridizing going on among the … Continue reading
Poppies Unbound
My first poppy of spring, P. setigerum, self-sown Dwarf Breadseed Poppy or Poppy of Troy. Nothing unfurls like a poppy. Sure, roses and peonies have more petals, so the process is more complicated and, therefore, some might say more thrilling. … Continue reading
Cue the Ice Cream Man
The twilight opening of the door to the enchanted photographic realm of “magic hour” is announced by the canned tunes of the ice cream man plying his cold confections 365 days a year. If I’m home when that tinny music … Continue reading
Pelargonium tomentosum ‘Chocolate Mint’
Temps dropped into the high 30’s last night, not enough to damage tender pelargoniums, but cold enough to need a blanket for the couch (Hitchcock’s Foreign Correspondent in the queue. If only Jimmy Stewart or Cary Grant had the lead … Continue reading
Weird Plants
It lives! Emergence of the aroid Pinellia tripartita, or ‘Dragon Tails.’ New shoots emerge almost a crime-tape yellow, maturing to a lurid yellow-green. The aroids seem to have weird covered, having in common, whether small or gigantic, jack-in-the-pulpit flowers. Amorphophallus, … Continue reading
Blue Intentions
In small gardens, a few feet of ground mean everything. This is not whining, merely observation. (Gardens, unfortunately, never respond to whining, but only to cold, clear-eyed observation.) I had some blue intentions for spring for the main garden border … Continue reading
Posted in design, Plant Portraits
Tagged alkanet, Anchusa capensis 'Blue Angel', Annies Annuals, borage, Boraginaceae, bugloss, Haloragis erecta, Lobelia valida
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Polygonum aubertii ‘Aureum’
The Silver Lace Vine. Or, as this one is called, the Golden Silver Lace Vine. The new growth in spring bears colors more often seen with Japanese maples. Shrimp-pink stems, lemony-tart leaves. Tangy. (Guess I’m still hung over from Sunday … Continue reading
The Tree Collard
Just another brassica, right? Let’s read the label, shall we? (Plant label: “Tree Collards. Evergreen. 8-10′ tall. Old American heirloom. Very nutritious, high in protein. Excellent steamed or boiled. Full-part sun, water regularly.”) No, that was not a typo. That’s … Continue reading
Agave ‘Cornelius’
When I got home last night, Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element was streaming from Netflix. (Sidebar: TV is amazingly complicated these days.) First thing this morning, I was of course snapping photos of the Agave ‘Cornelius.’ Or “Corneeleyoos,” as Mila … Continue reading
Foliage Follow-Up February 2011
This Salvia canariensis var. candissima from Annie’s Annuals is furrier than the species and has been incredibly difficult to photograph. Ever since I read a recent trashy news story on how beauties like Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe shaved their … Continue reading