Flowers and Plants

Maple Leaves

A lot of people make a big deal of the autumnal equinox being the beginning of fall. Of course, that’s mostly just a marker and we don’t go from summer one day to winter the next. Also, the transition happens at a different time in different places (and there really isn’t a winter in the tropics). It’s been fairly warm lately, although the daytime highs are supposed to be down into the 70s by the end of the week. Some trees are showing some color here, but for the most part, it’s still green. This maple tree in our back yard just has this hint of red, teasing us with the prospect of what’s to come. I’m ready.

Physostegia virginiana

The Physostegia virginiana, otherwise known as obedient plant, is a North American native herbaceous perennial, hardy as far north as USDA zone 3. The Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder says that is it “easily grown in average, moist, acidic, well-drained soils in full sun.” It certainly is easily grown in our yard. They also mention that it tends to flop over “in rich soils, too much shade or hot summer temperatures.” I don’t know about the heat this summer but ours certainly did flop over this year. But that hasn’t prevented it from blooming very nicely, providing a welcome contrast with all the black-eyed Susans. The bees, particularly the carpenter bees, it seems, really love it.

Broccolini

Writers get writer’s block. I sometimes get photographer’s block. I just can’t seem to find anything interesting to photograph. In generally I’m interested in a wide variety of things and find it pretty easy to find some detail to look at. Occasionally it’s hard and today was such a day. So, as I was making dinner, I photographed the broccolini that I was getting ready to cook. It got me wondering what, exactly, broccolini is. Well, according to Wikipedia (which you cannot always trust, but in this case it’s probably right or at least close), broccolini is a hybrid between two cultivars of Brassica oleracea. One of those is regular, old broccoli and the other is called kai-lan or Chinese broccoli, which has been bred for it’s leaves instead of its flower buds. This gives broccolini it’s longer stems and smaller flower clusters. The way I like to fix broccolini is to parboil it briefly and then put it in a sauté pan with a little olive oil and some garlic and salt.

Rose ‘Perle d’Or’

I don’t think I’ve posted a picture of this rose yet this year. It’s such a reliable little rose and I’m really happy that I got one to plant just outside our front door. The flowers are small but quite beautiful, with a delightful fragrance. It had a tough time the last few winters. This last was relatively mild overall but there was a week when temperatures were below zero fahrenheit and that’s tough on plants that otherwise do well in our zone 6a climate. It’s bounced back pretty well and has had a few flowers on it pretty much non-stop all summer and should continue until the first frost. What’s not to love.

Water On A Leaf

I know that the title for this post is a little unimaginative. That’s sort of me, though. Generally straightforward and simple (mostly simple). I went out to take pictures of reflections of black-eyed Susan flowers in the water in our back yard birdbath. I got some that were reasonably nice but nothing I was excited about. I also took a handful of pictures of this leaf of grass, an ornamental grass growing in a container on the corner of the patio. I love water droplets on pretty much anything and I’m pretty happy with this picture. I hope you enjoy it, too.

Black-eyed Susan

We have a lot of black-eyed Susans growing in our yard. Mostly in the back but they self-seed and are here and there throughout the yard. I suspect our neighbors are not overjoyed with them, but they aren’t as invasive as some things we have (<cough>goose-necked-loosestrife<cough>). I love having all that yellow-orange in the back yard from early July on and even as they start to fade, they are still beautiful. Most of them are not looking like this, although they will be before too long.

Ginkgo biloba Leaf

From the Missouri Botanical Garden:

Ginkgo biloba is a deciduous conifer (a true gymnosperm) that matures to 100′ tall. It is the only surviving member of a group of ancient plants believed to have inhabited the earth up to 150 million years ago. It features distinctive two-lobed, somewhat leathery, fan-shaped, rich green leaves with diverging (almost parallel) veins. Leaves turn bright yellow in fall. Ginkgo trees are commonly called maidenhair trees in reference to the resemblance of their fan-shaped leaves to maidenhair fern leaflets (pinnae). Ginkgos are dioecious (separate male and female trees). Nurseries typically sell only male trees (fruitless), because female trees produce seeds encased in fleshy, fruit-like coverings which, at maturity in autumn, are messy and emit a noxious, foul odor upon falling to the ground and splitting open.

This one is in my mom’s front yard. It’s a tree that dad planted many years ago but which has grown very slowly. It appears to finally be starting to grow taller.