Beautiful, Sunny Las Vegas!

I'm back! My vacation (a trip to Las Vegas for the Electric Daisy Carnival) was a blast. I saw some of my favorite bands live, I learned about the culture of Vegas and desert life, and I got a bit of a tan. But more importantly, I saw a lot of neat plants. We spent quite a bit of time roaming the Strip, and I didn't get to bring my camera for those outings, but I did see a few plants of note.

This is my first view of Las Vegas, taken as soon as we got out of the airport. Already I saw how different the landscape would be from that of my home. By the way, that sign said "LIMO PARKING ONLY." You don't see that much in Missouri.

This is less of a shot of the desert than a mere oddity. This baby rubber plant (which looks like it might be a cutting) was growing right outside the door of our hotel. It seems to be tolerating the heat just fine.

Palm trees are also not common to the Midwest, so it was neat to see them everywhere in Vegas. This one is going to have some trouble when it gets tall enough to hit the overhang.

There were several Lantana plants around Vegas as well. These are present but uncommon in the Midwest, but they obviously can deal with the desert as well. The amount of money in Sin City doesn't hurt, since it has a tremendous water bill but doesn't care.

I believe this bush is a cycad, closely related to pine trees.

I really liked the burnt orange bark on this tree. It definitely belongs in the desert.

These agaves might be the first I've ever seen in person. They're certainly the largest. Seriously, these guys were about four feet tall.

Another palm for your enjoyment. To me it looks rather silly sprouting out of this bush, but what do I know.

These are Opuntia! There are a few cacti like this in the Midwest, but never this big (with the exception of the Eastern Prickly Pear). I wanted to chow down when I saw these, but that would be stealing from the hotel (or the Havana CigarBar), and I didn't have the proper equipment anyway.

More Lantana. These come in some great colors. I was looking them up on the Web one time and saw a picture of a cluster of blooms that faded from pastel pink to bright yellow. This individual is more like a sunset blend.

 

A close-up of the Opuntia.

I can't readily identify this cactus. Cylindropuntia, perhaps? Either way, it's new to me, and I always love discovering new plants.

This palm was the tallest around our hotel. Also, note the completely cloudless sky. It stayed like that almost all week. In addition, George Wallace is a popular dude. We saw his face all around town.

This photograph highlights a peculiarity I was very interested in: these are rosemary bushes. Rosemary grows well in dry soil, so it makes sense that they could thrive in the desert, but these suckers are everywhere! It's great! You walk down the Strip, pass by a fancy restaurant, and all the while you're smelling rosemary because the sidewalk is lined with these bushes. It really improves the overall ambiance of the place. Whoever had that idea was a thinker.

Note the grass here. Note my comment above about Vegas's water bill. I can't even imagine how many zeros are on that thing.

 

I'm not familiar with this bush either. Any ideas on what it is?

A similar bush.

There are a few more sights from Las Vegas that I'd like to share, but that will have to wait. Also, I know this post is really late, but the Internet at my house has been problematic (to say the least). Fortunately, a new company has set up Internet, and it seems to be working better. Hopefully this will not be a problem in the future. Thanks for reading.

Next post: Las Vegas at night.

Flower Forecast

My camera is still out of commission, so please excuse the poor quality of these photographs.

It finally feels like spring here in the Midwest. Here's the flower forecast for the first week of May, but first, a view of some tiny ginkgo leaves making their appearance. Ginkgoes are special because they've been around much longer than the human race, and they're still going strong.

Now onto the actual flowers. These brittle, brown flowers are obviously from last season, but they've help up remarkably well, especially considering all the heavy snows we got this past winter.

All I can really say about these flowers is that you have to smell them to believe them.

This appears to be some kind of holly bush, but it has really sweet yellow flowers. Maybe I've just never noticed holly flowers before, but these blooms give me a new outlook on holly.

We now present a commercial intermission from all the flowers to highlight some foliage. These trees win my vote for best spring foliage.

Here are a few close-ups to demonstrate why.

Now back to the flower forecast. These are my favorite blooms of the day because of the spotlessness of their white color and their spikiness.

What kinds of flowers have you been seeing? What's your favorite spring foliage?

Next post: more May madness.

Campus Hodge Podge

I'm still mourning the possible loss of my camera (so excuse the phone pictures), but that isn't stopping me from photographing the best in plants from around campus! Today I have a particularly eclectic collection to show off. The weather is super nice (as in, sweaty nice), so things are starting to liven up in the realm of flora.

The first plants I noticed were these white-flowering bushes. I'm not sure what kind of bushes these are, but they smell amazing. That's one of the great things about plants: they please at least four of the five senses, if you don't count the sound of tree limbs trembling in the wind, which I do.

Also, the flowers on these bushes are adorable. So sweet and innocent-looking.

Next I saw what I believe was a flowering Japanese maple outside my dorm. I couldn't get close enough to the foliage and flowers from the ground, so I took these shots from the inside of a window.

I think the image of the leaves coming out over the dangling flowers is a great one for this time of year. I've seen it in many kinds of trees around town.

This tulip bed was outside the clinic. The clinic's pretty close to the hospital, which has the really impressive tulip display. They have hot pinks, reds, purples, oranges--you name it, basically. This bed only had red and yellow, but tulips are adamant about being upbeat no matter their color.

Oh hi, thumb!

There were only two red tulips in this area, but they were my favorite of the bunch. Here's the better-looking one of them.

What flowers are intriguing you this week? What colors of tulips have you seen?

Next post: a plant list.

Crabapple Color

Walking around campus this spring, I have been impressed by all the colors and shapes of flowers. I've never been as shocked as I was when I saw these crabapple trees, though.

Isn't that an incredible fuschia/magenta? I knew that crabapples were popular for their appearance, but I guess I didn't know they bloomed like this.

The shape of the flowers seems strangely tropical, too. I've just been enamoured with these trees since they've been flowering. Yeah, I'm that pedestrian who stops to look at trees.

Have you been surprised by any trees this spring? Are you a fan of crabapples?

Next post: mystery post.

The Crops in Mid-April (With Special Bonus Flower Action)

There have been a couple of significant changes in the crops in my room. To supplement this news, I will include some eye-candy flowers.

First, my Swiss chard's true leaves are growing well! Slowly, but well. They're even developing the wrinkles characteristic of the species.

Also, another Swiss chard seedling has surfaced where the old one withered up and died. I knew I kept watering that spot for a reason!

In other news, I finally said goodbye to my wheat. Maybe I can repurpose this colander (as a colander, perhaps?).

Those are all the developments in my plants. There have, however, been lots of developments outside. This is one of the nicest. I don't know what kind of tree this is, but it has adorable green blossoms that I couldn't resist photographing.

That's all I've got for now. How are your crops doing?

Next post: another plant acquisition.

More Flowering Trees + Bulbs!

Today I bring you more blooms from my redbud walk the other day, though none of these include redbuds.

First is a clump of anyonymous trees with fluffy white blooms. These are not as sophisticated as the magnolia flowers in my previous posts, but they're still pretty heavenly on the eyes.

Some closer views:

The new growth on these trees, as you can probably see, is a rusty red color. I think that complements the white-green flowers perfectly.

Next is a spring bulb I can't identify. It doesn't look like a daffodil, hyacinth, tulip, or crocus, and that's about the scope of my knowledge on the topic. However, they are nice little flowers, though this particular plant does not seem to have bloomed very prolifically.

This picture is more detailed.

Finally, something I can identify! This tulip, partially because it is so oddly isolated, really catches the eye. If this was anywhere near a road, it would be a driving hazard.

I don't guess I've ever looked inside a tulip before. For those of you in the same unfortunate situation, here's what it looks like!

And this is a more traditional view.

That's all from this mid-April flower walk. What do you think is the ideal way to fit a striking plant (like a tulip) into a landscape? Do you enjoy seeing flowers from new perspectives? What are your favorite spring-flowering trees?

Next post: the Spring 2013 Vegetable Sale (Part 1)!