-
Desiccated
-
What is a mushroom?
These beauties appeared like magic in my lawn the other day, no doubt stimulated by our recent rains. I wish I knew their name. After looking through my guide books, I’m still not for sure of their identification. Photo made with Leica M10 and an old 135mm f 4.0 Tel-Elmar lens What is a…
-
Looking at a Photo…a Summer Photo!
Leica M10 W/ Leica Summicron-M 35mm f/2 ASPH What is a good photograph? Sometimes it is hard to be objective (these little ones are my grand children), but I think this image is not bad. First criticisms: 1) Why not crop out all the extraneous beach and gulf water? We would be thus closer to the…
-
Horticultural architecture
Elephant’s Ear Alocasia macrorrhiza … Plants are often feats and triumphs of fantastic design. Leica M10 with/35mm Cron.
-
Plant Blindness
From my favorite newspaper The Wall Street Journal The country has a growing case of ‘plant blindness’—a term used by botanists to describe the inability to identify basic plants. Even biologists struggle.” Douglas Belkin Aug. 14, 2018 11:17 a.m. ET Organizations such as the National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management can’t find enough…
-
Prickly Pear( Opuntia) With Portulaca
Several years ago I bought a pad of Prickly Pear (Opuntia sp.) at the fresh produce “Mexican Section” of an area grocery store and rooted it in a 1/2 pot. It has been happy as a meadowlark even though it grows on our west wall where it roasts in the afternoon sun. I’ve taken…
-
Hibiscus coccineus ‘Lone Star’
Hibiscus coccineus ‘Lone Star’ This tall perennial Hibiscus with maple-like leaves is a trouble free garden plant. It is a little-known cultivar that has pure white flowers rather than the standard red. Grows well in wet to moist soil in sunny locations. This beauty is blooming in my walled garden right now. Texas heat does…
-
Flowering Crab Apple
Flowering Crab Apple Malus spp. I do not know the name of this cultivar. There are hundreds of species and hybrids. This double flowered version is, I seem to remember, a French hybrid. There is a native East Texas species- Malus angustifolia. Crab Apples need a cold winter to flower well. …so they are blooming well in Deep East…
-
Little Botanical Jewels
Dawn Stover up at the SFA Gardens gave me three, small pots of these little botanical jewels. As she handed them to me she said, “Watch them; tell me what you think. They are native right here in Nacogdoches!“ This is a summary of what the reference books say. Sisyrinchium sagittiferum, Blue-eyed grass grows 8-12…