Category: Friday puzzle

Mysterious glowing object identified!

Ed, Wes and Paul all correctly identified Friday’s flower as a morning glory, probably an Ipomoea spp.  (They also made me feel rather soiled for pedaling flower porn.  Sheesh.)

What I find fascinating about these flowers is the unearthly glow at the center.  They’re pollinated by bumblebees among other species, and bees see best in the blue-violet-ultraviolet range.  If we were able to see this flower under UV light, you’d see those white areas become completely dark, creating a bullseye for bee approach.

Here’s why the white areas turn dark.  The pigments in a white flower are flavonoids, which absorb UV radiation and reflect visible light.  We don’t see into the UV range, so to us they look white (all that visible light bouncing back).  But bees and some other insects do see UV light, and these flavonoid pigments create patterns to help them find nectar and pollen.

Glowing mystery

Here’s a snippet of a photo I shot this summer:

What is this mysterious glowing object?  (I did not manipulate this photo in any way other than to crop it) Answer Monday!

By the way, Lynn asked if we could do a posting on how to make our landscapes more wildlife friendly.  We’re doing even better than a posting – we’re doing a whole week’s worth of blogs on the topic!  Thanks for the suggestion – and the rest of you feel free to suggest topics as well.

Tricky tricolor leaf

Well, this was a tricky puzzle! Here’s a more complete picture of this interesting plant:

This, believe it or not, is a weigela – specifically, a patented cultivar named Kolmagira. You can see part of a tag in the lower left part of this photo:

 

As the patent description reads, this shrub possesses “…yellow green and dark green variegated leaves with purple-colored margins…”

Some of you guessed that the leaves might be variegated due to fall senescence, or disease, or drought stress – all very good guesses. And now I’m going to reveal one of my biases (yes, I am opinionated!  I know you’re surprised!)

I dislike these types of cultivars because they look environmentally stressed and/or diseased. I’m a plant stress physiologist by training, and that’s just the way I look at abnormal leaf coloration. And on a more aesthetic note, do our gardens really need these tarted-up plants?  Let’s discuss it!

Autumn leaf? Or is it?

It’s that time of year – leaves are turning all shades of yellow, orange, and red – so I thought I’d use this leaf for today’s puzzle:

I had to photoshop this extensively so it’s a little rough looking.  But it does have a toothed margin.

So – is this an example of autumnal coloration?  Or something else?  Extra bonus points if you can identify the genus of this plant.

Answers and another photo on Monday!

Big time Friday quiz

Got bogged down with various and sundry items earlier this week and missed my regular post.  I’ll do my penance by taking Linda’s spot on the Friday quiz while she heads out for a cross country meet (her son’s, not hers). 

The photo below was sent to me this week by a homeowner in Grosse Pointe, MI.  Two part question: 1) What is it? (not that hard)  2) How did it get so freakin’ big?

Mystery shoot identified (no big surprise, apparently)

Readers were too smart this week!  Yes indeed, this is a coconut, improbably found at a Home Depot in Seattle:

Unfortunately, in our climate this can only be an indoors plant, and even a McMansion won’t be able to contain it for long.

Gold stars to Ed, Deb, John, Jess, Jimbo and Ginny!

Pruning perpetrators

Just when I thought I had you all fooled, Judy slipped in at the last minute with the correct answer – the “pruners” in question are deer:

The pruning ends when the deer can’t stretch any further, giving the tree its odd bell-shaped crown:

This is also a great demonstration of how pruning stimulates new growth – you can see the dense healthy growth at the base of the “bell,” even though this part of the crown normally would be much sparser.

Thanks for all the guesses!