Odds and Ends from the Neighborhood

While I was out walking around the town this week, I took some pictures of things that didn't fit into the categories of my other posts. So this is to be a miscellaneous hodge podge of things I found in my childhood home.

First was this bush. I don't know what kind of bush it is, or even if it really warrants the word "bush," but I found it attractive. I ordinarily don't care for purely ornamental plants, but this is an exception. It looks brighter in the pictures than it did in person.

And tucked (perhaps hidden?) behind this little bush was a succulent container! The collection of succulents was nice, but the plants didn't look so hot...

Was this forgotten or abandoned? I wish I had gotten to these darlings before winter did. I'd even take the rooster.

Another unfortunate thing I saw on my foray into the wilderness of town was a tree completely overtaken by English ivy, an aggressive invasive. The owners of this plant might be letting the vines grow for aesthetic reasons (I see no other way this could have happened), but the tree is not doing well, and the result is atrocious. Intentional or not, this is a sad sight for anyone who cares about plants.

A few of the leaves in this shot belong to that tree, but not many...

To end on a brighter note, I found a barn in town! I have no idea how I've missed seeing this structure my whole life, but apparently I have. I wonder what purpose this building serves.



That concludes the pictures from my travels here! Have you ever found something unexpected in familiar places? Do you sigh when you see horribly mistreated plants? Do you have any idea what that evergreen bush was?

Next post: news about my summer crops.

Wildflowers Ushering in Warmth

While I certainly kept an eye out for yuccas on my walk the other day, I also noticed a lot of wildflowers starting to bloom. They were a welcome sight for eyes bleached by snow after snow. I have identified the ones I could, but if you know the names of any that I couldn't identify, leave a comment so I can post more and more accurate information.

The first flowers I came upon were Houstonia pusilla, also known as tiny bluet, small bluet, or least bluet. These little delights are common around here up through early summer. They certainly break up the monotony of boring old grass.

These bluets find their aesthetic strength in numbers. If you encountered one, you wouldn't see it. But if you happen upon 300, you notice.

Next is another common spring flower: Veronica persica, or Persian speedwell, winter speedwell, or birdeye speedwell. As its scientific and common names suggest, this species is not native to the United States, and it has become invasive in some areas, according to the USDA. However, its tiny, cheery flowers put a smile on my face when I walk past anyway.

Toward the end of my walk, I saw some more of these in a different part of town with (relatively) gigantic blooms. Okay, maybe gigantic is a bit of an exaggeration. Normally these flowers are about 1/4" in diameter. These were just over 1/3" in diameter. It impressed me, anyway.

And here's a closer view.

I am unable to identify this next flower, though it somewhat resembles slender toothwort (aren't plant names fun?). Do you know what it is? I don't recall having seen these before, but they're attractive and all over the place. Also, notice all the fuzzy moss behind these plants. Moss is wonderful.

Sorry for the focus issues on these. I adore the close-up setting on my camera, but it's not perfect, and I'm not perfect.

The next flowers I saw, also common in this area, were Vinca major, or bigleaf periwinkle. These two particular blooms were just happy as could be, despite the recent snow. That's what I find so intriguing about all these wildflowers: they don't seem to have noticed the snow!

Normally there are gobs of tulips in people's yards around this time of year. They're going to be late this year, so I probably won't be around when they come out. I wish I could be. This seems to be what people do to make up for late bulbs:

Almost every other house in town has fake flowers. I don't understand it.

And finally, here are the daffodils we rescued from the impending snow. They seem to have lifted their heads in thanks for the warmth.

Have you been seeing any other wildflowers around? What plants have surprised you with their resilience?

Next post: odds and ends from my travels.

Yuccas Galore!

I took another walk around town. A black cat crossed my path twice, so I believe I am under the community's auspices in displaying photos of the neighborhood flora. Over the next couple of posts, I will focus on two interesting trends: spring wildflowers appearing immediately after snowfall and yuccas. For added fun I'll throw in a couple of other interesting plants I noticed in my travels.

I'll start with the yuccas. This is just a smattering of the many, many individuals I've seen around. I'll say it again: when yucca blooming time comes around, I'm going to feast on these suckers' flowers. Most of these plants are just randomly placed in yards, seemingly. I'm okay with that.

Though yuccas are from much warmer climes, most of these seem to be handling our winters very well.

I keep saying that the daffodils around here are sad or tired looking, but they're doing okay after the snow. Just a bit droopy.

Look at the stalk on this one! It's easily taller than I am.

These yuccas looked a little different than all the Yucca glauca around town. Judging by the spiral fibers among their leaves, I'm guessing they're Yucca filamentosa. You can sort of see them in this picture.

There's even a yucca in my yard! I had no idea! This means that not all of the yucca harvest this summer  will be stolen.

Are yuccas common where you live? Are there any other plants that seem like an odd choice for your region that you see everywhere anyway? Have you ever eaten yucca?

Next post: wildflowers proclaim spring after enduring hardship.

Snow During Spring Break, Part II

Yesterday I reported on the state of my yard after the snow started. Today I'm here to show you how the neighborhood held up during the snow. All of this has since melted, but it's still cold. There weren't any flowers except the depressed daffodils and fake flowers (a disturbingly common trend around here), but there were plenty of plants of note.

We'll begin with a couple of pictures of the yard around an interesting house. It's interesting because I uesd to live there. I spent the first year of my life in this house. The current owners are from out west, and they have removed all grass from the yard. Instead they have a gravel lawn chock-full of holly bushes, paths, and statues. Most residents of my hometown find this rather odd. I find it slightly distasteful. I understand not wanting to have much lawn when you could have a garden, but I don't understand stuffing your space with holly and gravel. The whole yard basically looks like this:

At least their sidewalk strip has some deciduous shrubbery and rocks on it. Not pictured: the small holly bushes on this strip.

Next, as I was walking down the street, I saw this. Why does this clump of trees excite me? Because of all the yuccas under it. I recently discovered that the flowers of Yucca glauca were edible. I believe this is the species that's popular around here. I'm not sure why yuccas are so prevalent in the midwest, but they are, and I saw at least forty individuals on my mile-long walk.

When the yuccas are in bloom, I'm going to come home, sneak around town, and gather up all the blooms I can find. Then I'm going to fry them, a la this.

As you might have guessed, I'm not the biggest fan of holly. But I do enjoy other evergreen shrubs. I don't know what kind these are, but they are holding up very well in this weather, and every bit of color helps.

After that I came upon a most unusual tree: a wine tree! It's been a long time since I've seen one of these. This one is very colorful.

My final picture during this outing was outside of an old, ornate house. The house is flanked by two of these trees, each of which is sporting buds. They look delicate.

After that shot, my camera batteries got tired, so I couldn't take any more pictures. But after I got home, I spotted this.

It seems I have six swiss chard plants now! Since these three are all together, I'm probably going to have to transplant them to distribute them more evenly. That should be simple enough to do.

What landscaping or horticultural trends are common in your neck of the woods? What's holding up well around you during winter's last hurrah?

Next post: yucca and wildflowers around the neighborhood.

Snow During Spring Break, Part I

It's snowing. Again. I was just getting started enjoying our daffodils and hyacinths, I was just about to start surveying the neighborhood for other springtime beauties, and then this happens. So here is my survey of the damage so far. These pictures were taken Sunday night, after it had started snowing but before any snow accumulated.

At this point the hyacinths have held up well. Now they're probably looking sad. I'll investigate that within the next couple of days.

Here's a better shot of the white ones. The color on these reminds me of buttercream frosting.

I don't know how well buds usually last in cold conditions, but these look like they're doing okay.

Finally, the daffodils. They look extremely sad. As I learned today, only a few plants around town have bloomed, and those few are regretting it right about now. The rest of them should be okay and bloom later on.

So that's the preliminary damage done in my yard. Today I went on a walk around town, though, so...

Next post: springtime snow in my hometown.

University Greenhouse, Part VII: The Final Chapter

At last, we have made it to the end of the greenhouse adventure I had weeks ago. Don't worry--there are still some interesting specimens left to see. For example, today we start with an unnamed tropical plant with pink-tipped foliage. You don't see that everyday in the midwestern U.S. Also, note the healthy fern behind it.

 

Next we have Pellionia pulchra, also known as the watermelon vine. This plant has a most interesting combination: subdued colors and a lively pattern. Its purple stems are nearly as faded-looking as the leaves, but the venation attracts the eye and the attention, almost--you guessed it--like watermelons.

 



This leaf was unidentified, but I imagine it is some kind of fern. It was probably eighteen inches from one end to the other.

You can get an idea of how big these variegated leaves are from looking at the fern fronds below...

...or you can compare my hand to them!

This is another gargantuan leaf. It is as black in person as it appears in the photo. There are a few of these plants in the greenhouse where I work, so I water these weekly. They're pretty, but the size of the leaves makes them topheavy.

Here's another comparison photo for you.

More hot pink-accented foliage. You don't think of plants as being glamorous, but so many are. No wonder so many designs (in architecture, fashion, and etc--think of good china) are based on plants.

This is a shot of the underside of those leaves. The dark variegation on the top is pretty, sure, but the underside is funky too.

Next is the final flower of this greenhouse trip: a member of the Anthurium genus. These plants are sometimes known as "flamingo flowers" or "boy flowers," according to Wikipedia. I actually have one of these in my house, and it's blooming now, only its blooms are white. These are probably more typical, judging by the common name's reference to flamingos.

That ends my series of greenhouse pictures. I hope you've enjoyed the ride, and should I return to this greenhouse in the future, I will capture flowers and other interesting things that I may have missed my first time through.

Next post: my springtime hopes get smashed.

The Plants I Miss Most of the Time

I am home for a week! It's great to have a minimal number of tasks to accomplish, free laundry, and home-cooked food. But, of course, I take special pleasure in seeing some of my plants that I can't keep at school. I'll be showing them off shortly.

First, though, all my plants made it home safely. Note how bright it is in this room!

This next plant is my desert rose. It's not in bloom, and it doesn't have a lot of leaves, but the leaves it has look healthy.

Next to my desert rose is a lily plant that's a family heirloom. It has great magenta-lavender blooms, just not at the moment.

This spindly guy is Basil, my basil plant. He's not branching out very much. Do you know any remedies for this odd growth pattern? Other than that, though, he seems to be doing great.

Next to Basil is this succulent, which is a Haworthia coarctata. I've had this plant (there are multiple plants now) for several years, but it needs to be in a shorter pot.

Perhaps a shallower pot and sandier soil will prevent this from happening.

Those are all the plants living here that are mine, though I might end up with one of my mother's vining/creeping houseplants. They're nice and very easy to care for, but they grow all over your stuff. Maybe I'll showcase these plants in another post. For now, though, you can expect...

Next post: Greenhouse Pictures: The Final Chapter.