Category: Interesting Plants

Weird Plant Wednesday!

Inspired by Linda’s Euphorbia quiz last week – here’s another:

Euphorbia tirucalli ‘Firesticks’ in the Hahn Horticulture Garden at Virginia Tech (right before we dug it up due to impending frost). Am hoping for a "comment of approval" from Hap (Mister Cactus Jungle) on this nice specimen…not bad for Zone 6a!


Same funky little leaflets/antennae… just like Linda’s Euphorbia lactea ‘Cristata’

GP factoid: also known as "milkbush," the latex sap contains terpenoids – it apparently has potential as an energy source or "hydrocarbon plant."… Continue reading this article “Weird Plant Wednesday!”

Green candles identified

Not many guesses this week – too many Halloween parties?  In any case, Hap was correct – this is a closeup of the growing edge of Euphorbia lactea ‘Cristata.’  The "candles" on the edge are tiny leaves that appear whenever water is abundant but shed quickly during dry periods:

Thanks for playing, and Happy Halloween!

Friday quiz returns!

I’ve been remiss in getting quizzes posted – partially a time issue, but mostly a lack of interesting photos. But I’ve got one today:

Can you identify what this plant is, and specifically what the little green candles are?

Answers on Monday!

Weird and Wonderful Plant Wednesday: Threefer!

 

This is a tale of three plants in my garden that would make the cruelest of multiple choice answers. Heh. Hence the inclusion of all three in this post:

a. Manihot esculenta

b. Abelmoschus manihot

 

c. Abelmoschus esculentus

d. All of the above

e. Aaaargh.

Manihot esculenta is Cassava or Tapioca; worthy of an entire post on its own. But the choice ornamental version is M. esculenta ‘Variegata’ or variegated tapioca.  I first saw it (gawked and squealed, actually) at Allan Armitage’s fab trial garden at the University of Georgia.… Continue reading this article “Weird and Wonderful Plant Wednesday: Threefer!”

You guessed it…

The glorious Allium ‘Globemaster.’

Michelle and Laura B. nailed it, and Jennie had the correct genus.

A little taxonomic correction – it is NOT A. giganteum, as many catalogs and articles suggest, but rather a hybrid between A. macleanii and A. christophii; described by the breeder himself – Jan Bijl – in a 1990 issue of The Plantsman (vol. 12 pp 152-156).  Unless I’ve totally messed up and this is ‘Gladiator,’ not ‘Globemaster.’ They’re quite similar.… Continue reading this article “You guessed it…”

“What the hey?!” Friday

There was a flurry of great posts this week; no way I’m competing with Linda’s trip to the fabulous garden of The Riz. So I’ll put up a quiz pic.  Hopefully it will take you longer than 30 seconds to figure it out:

Eh? Eh? Family may be obvious, but…

Wonderful Plant Wednesday

[So I’ve veered off the “weird” track into “wonderful” already.
Whoops.]

“Mint!” is tantamount to the cry of “Bear!” to many gardeners.  Mints tend to run amok, in just about any environment, and are difficult to remove once established. A pot or hanging basket is useful for containment, but not always successful.  It wants out.  The upside to mint in your garden is, of course, cocktails. Essential for the mint julep and the mojito.  Also useful in lots of dishes – I prefer my tzatziki with mint, thank you.… Continue reading this article “Wonderful Plant Wednesday”

Weird Plant Wednesday – II

Okay, so it’s actually Thursday morning. We’re doing a "staycation" this week and my farm work to-do list dwarfs my usual work week. Not exactly relaxing.  One of the daily duties is dragging the hose around trying to keep some favorite plants alive. We’re in a drought, though not near of the awful and epic proportions of some parts of the country.  When our Floriculture Forum was held at the Dallas Arboretum this spring, horticulturist Jimmy Turner welcomed us to "Gardening Hell." … Continue reading this article “Weird Plant Wednesday – II”

Weird Plant Wednesday!

Greetings, all!  Things seem to be pretty slow in the blog-reading world…middle of summer, vacations, etc. Plus we’re all out there gardening, unlike the dead of winter when we’re deprived of this joy, so the next best thing seems to be reading about it.  Thanks to all who check in with us, even if just occasionally!

I’m taking over the Wednesday slot for a little while – I have a backlog of cool/weird/new/unusual plants to share, and  Weird Plant Tuesday just doesn’t bring the alliteration.… Continue reading this article “Weird Plant Wednesday!”

Cool achlorophyllous plant

Can’t get anything past our blog readers!  Yes, from the highly cropped photo on Friday two readers quickly recognized emerging Indian pipe (Monotropa uniflora):

These plants have no chlorophyll, instead relying on fungal partners who colonize both their roots and the roots of nearby photosynthetic plants.  So ultimately this is a parasitic species, as it takes resources from the photosynthesizers in its root network without reciprocal benefit.

These are not commonly found plants, so I think it’s really cool that they appeared in such profusion in a home landscape.