I took this first picture through the solarium Plexiglas window because I was unable to get into a better position outside to take it. Notice the wee red blossoms that look like miniature roses to me.
I used my cane to pull down a branch so I could photograph the flowers from it and not get pricked by the very long and well hidden thorns.
Another view with a different camera setting and the help of my cane to bring the branch closer. I should introduce you to my cane, his name is Abel. ;-)
The Hawthorne's from a distance.
I am constantly being surprised by the different flowers that are growing out of this flower box this year. I haven't a clue what any of these little white flowers are mixed among the Bluebells and Tulips.
Here is our mystery plant in full bloom. Who knows, perhaps, someone will stop by and glance upon it and tell us what it is.
I don't know about you, but I can see a wee face looking back at me in the middle of this flower. I have never seen it until this year. I know I didn't plant it.
Here it is from a different and lower angle.
Then there were these that are new this year out of the same flower box. This has been an interesting year for surprises.
I held the camera underneath the flower and took this photo.
This last one is of the flowering bloom from the Hawthorne Trees.
18 comments:
I like the face in the flower. But I have no idea what it is ; )
The big white flowers with five petals (with the face inside) are columbine!!! I spotted their foliage before I saw the flowers, even. And man, do they look happy there.
The tiny white flowers, with the smaller leaves that ring all the way around the stem is sweet woodruff...which was used by monks of old in the making of May Wine! It's a great groundcover for a shady area, and I imagine you might already have discovered they smell pretty nice, too.
I hope this helps to redeem me somewhat, as I am still decidedly clueless about that delightful urn plant of yours!!
Abel's a real photographer's helper, isn't he?
Torn: I didn't notice the face until I looked at the picture on line for the first time. Greg commented after yours with all the answers. Yea, Greg!
Greg: Many thanks! I have learned so much from your comments and your own blog.
No worries about redemption, you are a library of knowledge when I run into a plant naming problem.
Love the Hawthorn. My family has rented an old farmhouse in Co. Sligo a couple of times, named Ragoora, meaning the Ráth (or fairy ring) of Goora. This is an old earthern ring, remnants of a stone age settlement, that the invading Celts identifed as one of the homes of the Sidhe. It, like most of them, is completely overgrown with Hawthorn trees, and to this day, the farmers and shepherds won't cut any of the trees down (though they could use the extra land), because doing so would invoke a faery curse. Maybe all your mystery plants and volunteers didn't appear there by accident after all. :) Oh, and we learned the name of the farmhouse because it was the only way we could get our mail delivered there.
I noticed that face in the flower right away. Pretty cool.
And your cane, Abel? Oh, dear!!
Patrick: What a wonderful story! If you go back through some of my previous entries, you will see ( what I call ) my fairie hill and I will not disturb it.I took some earlier pictures of the Hawthornes and just beyond them by the wooden fence is the fairie hill. Who knows, maybe the Sidhe dwell there as well and have been doing some night planting. What is interesting is that I know of no one else in our neighborhood that has columbine or sweet woodruff growing in their yards! ;-)
I admire those Irish who respect the land and trees over the profit of selling the wood.
That sounds so much like rural Ireland having to name the place so you get your mail. Thanks for sharing your wonderful comments!
Java: This is the first time I have ever seen this flower and then to find it looking at me in the picture made me smile. Adding Patrick's thoughts to the mix and my imagination runs wild with stories on how they got there in the first place.
Cane & Abel (I know . . .sorry.);-)
I envy you your solarium! I so want one in my next house. I adore columbines.
I love the way every year small mystery plants occur ... slipping their seeds into fertile soil and surprising us with unexpected beauty.
Naming things imbues them with spirit. I am sure Abel wears yours, and I love his name.
Cooper: Thanks. Our "catch-all" room that had a breezeway door at one end, the garage door at the opposite end and the kitchen door at an other wasn't being used for anything other than dropping a coat on a chair and walking through. We decided that we should make it into something so it became a mini-family-library- and attached solarium room. We had a wood stove put in and it is used more than any other room, save the office and bedroom. ( well, I guess one could add the bathroom as well.) ;-) We have enjoyed bringing the out-of-doors into the house this way.
I have to admit my ignorance recognizing plants and I've been learning alot from Greg and others. I enjoyed Patrick's suggestion that these new plants might be the result of the fairies planting them at night. ;-) I do have a wee fairie hill just beyond the two Hawthorne trees, so one never knows, eh?
( My cain agrees with you! ) ;-)
I guess that would be cane!
Comumbine are a little spooky. Sometimes I see birds doing a pas de cinq in flight. Or droplets on a chadelier. Sometimes they look like little aliens.
I drank May wine in my early twenties in NY, a season of culinary discovery. My first taste of sauce bearnaise. Mousse. Sechwan. May wine. Woodruff is enchanting stuff, a strewing herb and natural insect repellent. Its legendary sweet grassy fragrance is cited in folklore and prized in pop herbalism.
Butch, I'm enjoying the subtle, festive passage of spring at your amenable place.
Joe: Your twenties sounded like a time for your senses to work overtime tasting, smelling, touching, hearing all NY had to offer you. I think I was that open in my twenties as well for my own senses to try and digest all that came my way. Even today, and especially with this blog, I have learned ( and am learning )so much from others about these plants that continue to appear. I will be making my rhododendron walk through the yard shortly. The bush in the back has started to bloom and the ones in the front are about ready. It's almost like waves of colour crashing one right after another. ( I'm beginning to buy in to Patrick's version on how these plants started to appear about our yard.) ;-)
Thanks for more information regarding the Sweet Woodruff and definitely continue to stop by as we are not finished with Spring's entrance around here.
Hmmm. I have Hawthornes, but no flowers. And that damnable urn again. It's pissing me off. Could you just stop taking pictures of it, ok? Other than that, it's a lovely blog Butch.
Lacey: I wonder if there are different types of Hawthorne?
Sorry, the urn has been bothering you, it has been a puzzle as to what type of plant it was and the more angles and time lapses, the more information might be obtained about it. Since it was a total "stump-the-stars" plant, and left everyone scratching their heads, there will be no need to take any additional pictures of it. Thanks for your comments.
The Hawthorne is lovely, and used for many a metaphor throughout the ages. I will not say anything about getting pricked, or about your lovely urn photos, just am very happy Greg was able to stop the guessing game. I'm not an avid gardener, and haven't experienced much success in that arena, I let things rename nameless, or call them my own made up little names. Intellectually lazy... :)
Tater: Thanks. Actually, no one was able to name the "infamous" urn plants. So . . . they will go on the back burner of time or I'll just take it off the stove.
My purpose for the multiple urn pictures was to give those with much more knowledge of the phyto world than I will ever have, more information to make a judgement. It unfortunately, caused anger in one of the commenters which was not my intension. I realize one is never going to please everyone all of the time writing a blog but I try not to be offensive.
You and I, are in the same boat regarding our knowledge ( or lack of )regarding plants etc., and I am fortunate Greg comes and visits my blog often. He has been most helpful naming some of these mystery plants that have popped up this Spring. Of course, there are others as well, who have been helpful with adding more information and banter of which, I highly approve.
I have a black-thumb most of the time when it comes to growing plants. I have been known to water them to death. So I am always open to all advice when it come to growing things.
OMG Butch. I was kidding. Or being facetious. I didn't literally mean DAMN. Damnit.
Post a Comment