Another Anniversary

This blog began in February 2013. So it is turning 13. 

Amazing! And I find no shortage of material to write about yet. 

Plant Story--Carnations, the Clove Pink, Dianthus caryophyllus

The familiar, elegant carnation is a plant with a long and interesting history, mostly forgotten, despite its importance as a decorative flower today.

carnations, Dianthus caryophyllus

Carnation is the current common name of plants with the scientific name Dianthus caryophyllus, in the carnation family, Caryophyllaceae. It and virtually all its close relatives are native to Eurasia. A pretty flower usually pink, wild carnations grew all across southern Europe. Long ago they were transferred to gardens and domesticated, moving them all across Eurasia. For example, ancient Rome used flowers lavishly, in celebrations large and small and they grew carnations for cut flowers in great numbers. 

From the Airplane

The view from airplanes is a gift we too often take for granted. C.J. Cherryh wrote, in Visible Light (1986), that when the plane takes off, she thinks of the countless generations of people from before the invention of airplanes who would have so loved to fly. I have remembered that vision for decades. We grow jaded, and we shouldn't.

the world below

Plant Story--Cheatgrass, Downy Brome, Bromus tectorum, Dreadful Weed

 Cheatgrass, also known as downy brome and downy chess, Bromus tectorum (grass family Poaceae) is a very small grass that has become a major weed. Generally we think of problems increasing as plants get bigger. Individual plants of cheatgrass are almost too small to notice. It makes up for that in numbers.

patch of cheatgrass along a trail (red)

Pollination by Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds are a strictly New World group of birds, some 375 species (family Trochilidae) found from Alaska to southern Chile and Argentina. They are the main group of birds that pollinate in the New World. Fast and often brightly colored, people love to watch them. They typically hover while probing flowers for nectar, a fascinating sight. 

hummingbird pollinating Monarda

Plant Story--Vera Aloe, Aloe vera

Vera aloe has been a household remedy for burns for millennia. It still works.

Vera aloe, Aloe vera

Travel--Plants of Conwy Castle

I live in Colorado. Castles are not a part of my landscape. So of course I was fascinated by the plants that had colonized the walls of Conwy Castle.

View of Conwy Castle