A noun. A verb. A blog.
The one with the red star and the feathery foliage is Ipomoea quamoclit Oh, botanical names. How you confuse us! These two climbing cousins have a network of colliding names. One (with star-shaped flowers) can be called cypress vine (Ipomoea quamoclit but also Quamoclit pennata). The other one (with multiple tubular florets) can be called […]
Easy to see why Epiphyllum anguliger is also called the zigzag, ric rac or fishbone cactus I’ve had a crush on this plant in the Allan Gardens cactus house for ages. A big crush. Look at those cool leaves! Well, not leaves, actually – as these are in the cactus family, they’re flat, zigzaggy stems, […]
It has become so common, you might pass invasive Phragmites without recognizing it as a problem With all the excitement over ornamental grasses, you might not even recognize this towering escapee growing in many of the city’s wet spaces as an invasive species. The picture above is of a huge stand of European common reed […]
Star-of-Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum) looking dainty among some Hosta ‘Golden Tiara’ Sometimes you need plant thugs like the disarmingly pretty Star-of-Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum). A difficult spot (dry, maple-root-filled and shady, perhaps) might thank you for the toughness that brings on these bright spring flowers. Luckily, their enthusiasm has been held in check by the sandy, dry […]
On their dark twigs, the green and yellow leaves of the grey birch (Betula populifolia) look like floating daubs of paint Some autumn leaves are show-offs. You know who I mean. The big reds and oranges that stand out in a crowd. Now that the early winter storm has blown many of the leaves away, […]
Green veins, yellow between them – a symptom of chlorosis It was on a lot of hydrangeas I saw around town this year – yellowing leaves, with the classic green veins that signal chlorosis or lack of chlorophyll. Unsure why this happened more often in 2014, but when it did on my own Hydrangea ‘Quickfire’ […]
The nose knows the “ripe” aroma of the ripe fruit of Ginkgo biloba An early morning walk brought me nose-to-no! with a delightful (not) smell – the slightly sulfurous stench of the ripe Ginkgo fruit. This is the one real problem with this otherwise interesting tree. While not natives, ginkgo trees are great in cities […]
Isn’t it splendid? This November display of scarlet pineapple sage (Salvia elegans) is massive As long as the hummingbirds are wearing their woollies – or are indoors in my dining room – there’s pineapple sage aplenty for their nectar-sipping needs. This Salvia elegans really only got going just before the weather threatened frost. I worried […]
Fall is a great time to spot the red berries of climbing nightshade (Solanum dulcamara) We always knew this as “deadly nightshade,” but that’s not the right name. Deadly this plant can be, but only if you eat the berries when they’re green before they ripen – not when they’re temptingly red like this. These […]
Cutleaf Japanese maple (Acer palmatum var. dissectum) Even at dusk. Even with a shaky phone camera. Even in November. The multilayered fall colour on this cutleaf Japanese maple is just otherworldly, like a picture by the Hubble space telescope. I wonder if it might be Acer palmatum ‘Seiryu’ which, according to the Missouri Botanical Garden, […]
The race is on, to beat the frost. It’s always a last ditch rescue mission for me, this late in November, when I’m madly trying to bring in every last plant from the cold. Most of my container plants have been hauled indoors, but I still have a few things growing in actual soil that […]
Call this salt and pepper: peppery-tasting nasturtiums in one of our grandmother’s saltware jugs It’s feeling kinda frosty outside, but some plants are still chugging along – even those fleshy ones you’d think would be susceptible to chilling. Nasturtiums (Tropaeolum) for one. They’re the biggest-bang-for-buck annuals in my garden, and I always have room for […]