Finally, I’ve given a quiz that’s fooled everyone!
Believe it or not, this is a foxglove flower mutation:
Often, species with irregular flower will have flower which revert to a more primitive form. In the case of foxglove, the bilaterally symmetrical flower reverts to the ancestral radial form – a phenomenon called peloria. Apparently foxglove floral variations are pretty common and have been reported in the literature for many decades.
Having now depressed my Michigan colleague with my earlier post, here’s a little lighthearted fun for the long weekend:
This photo is from Brandi at Fine Gardening. Can you figure out (1) what it is and (2) why it looks like this?
Monday’s photo will reveal more, and we’ll discuss the second question in more detail.
Have a great holiday – enjoy yourselves!
Ha ha hahahaha
*mad scientist-type cackling*
Purslane? Nyet! (but good guess).
It’s an Impatien! Specifically, Impatien repens, common names variously Ceylon Jewelweed, Golden Dragon Impatien, etc. Ours is actually pretty small – can form huge clumps and cascading torrents in warmer zones.
Flower is typical of many members of the genus, and they ALL have the little spur in the rear.
For more weird, wild species impatiens, visit the Cistus Nursery website (I’m pretty sure they used to sell this, but I don’t see it listed currently). … Continue reading this article “Quiz Plant Revealed”
Ooooh, this is a good one.
Factoids:
– Tropical, but doing well in our campus garden (Blacksburg, VA).
– Succulent stems; alternate, lima bean-shaped leaves.
– Rampant scampering.
– Very cute yellow flowers. (Hee hee, that really won’t help.)
– I hesitate to say this, ’cause it may just give it away: a couple of other members of this genus are common as mud.
Guesses, anyone? Or maybe this one’s already common as mud for you Pacific Northwesterners…
(and P-Dub, do refrain until others have had a chance 😉
I’ll post the "D’oh!"… Continue reading this article “Quiz Plant!”
Lots of good, thoughtful answers from you over the weekend about these trees. Here’s another photo from a bit farther away:
As Laura pointed out, there’s a relatively new parking lot here. The creation of the parking lot both compacted the surrounding root zone, then covered it with impermeable surface. The dogwoods are huddled on their little island, which is unirrigated, unmulched, and indeed hot in the summer as Daniel said. All of these environmental insults, in addition to the mature age of these trees, have led to what we call a “mortality spiral”: trees are environmentally stressed and then become more susceptible to opportunistic pests and diseases. … Continue reading this article “Dying dogwood diagnosis”
Here’s a photo of two mature dogwood trees that are obviously on their way out:
What happened? There’s been no construction in the area since the parking lot was paved several years ago.
Answer on Monday!
Just back from a quick vacation to Little Cayman island. Truly a dot on the map – the whole island is about 7 miles long and a mile wide. Only 150 locals and a couple hundred tourists are on island at any one time. It’s beyond laid back, with few attractions other than the resident iguanas and red-footed boobies (booby jokes abound).
Airport terminal/post office/fire station.
The big draw is diving – LC is the home to Bloody Bay Wall, one of the most famous dives in the Caribbean. … Continue reading this article “Pigmented Mulch in Paradise”
Sorry to be late with my post this week – I was away reviewing grant proposals. It was interesting and useful work, but really drains your brain. So with that being said, my post is long on pictures and short on words.
One of the things that bugs us GP types is poor plant placement. Why bother planting a tree if you’re not going to allow it to grow naturally? Here are some photos to mull over the weekend. … Continue reading this article “Why bother having trees?”
Small dog snout + normal-sized cucumber provided for scale.
This problem is self-explanatory and probably not at all atypical for our readers. Pattypans became UFOs; grey zucchini, footballs. Note that it’s been very dry here in the Blue Ridge. I shudder to think what would have happened with normal rainfall.
Beans amuck! Scared the hell out of Joel when he opened the fridge. But they wouldn’t fit in the bucket!
If you haven’t tried yard-long beans, give them a shot sometime.… Continue reading this article “The Importance of Not Leaving Your Veg Garden Unattended for a Week in July”
Some good and creative guesses about why the Clematis leaves had interveinal necrosis. While iron and manganese deficiencies both cause interveinal chlorosis (veins are green, areas between are yellow), the necrosis indicates tissue death between the still-living and green veins. Very simply, this has been caused by water loss.
During transplanting of the vine, I had to remove them from the fence and lay them out on the ground. They remained this way for a couple of days. … Continue reading this article “Clematis calamity solved”