Davin and I were taken with this flowering cactus (Echinocereus viridiflorus) in the Alpine Garden at the Denver Botanic Gardens. Here’s an in context shot so that you can see how the plant was growing in a stone trough. I looked the genus up on the United States Department of Agriculture Plants Database and was …
Yesterday we drove to Nebraska to see some fields. That was not a difficult task to achieve and is in keeping with what I expected. But what has surprised me on this trip is just how dry it is here. Take this picture, shot in Colorado on the way back from Nebraska. This is High …
This one is a little taste for my friend Barry who really wants to make it to see the alpine garden at the Denver Botanic Garden, someday. I have no idea, but WHAT? The aliens are here. This last shot is of the “Ponderosa Garden” near the entrance. Denver is incredible. I am loving it …
My obsession with oxalis is not undocumented on this site. I’ve got an entire tag dedicated to it. What I haven’t said here is that I’m really not into the large-leaved shamrock-style oxalis you see in stores around St. Patrick’s Day. Just not my thing. So it comes as a bit of a surprise to …
We ate our first tomato of the 2011 growing season on June 24, just days after the Summer Solstice. This isn’t the earliest tomato I’ve grown, but it’s been a cold, slow year so by those standards we are right on target. The winning variety this year is ‘Ditmarsher’ a compact, tumbling determinate variety that …
Another corner of my garden. This is fuzzy ‘Pineapple’ mint growing in a pot. I’ve resolved to grow all of my mint in pots this year. Contrary to reputation, mints behave rather well over at my community garden. The trick to keeping them under control seems to be growing them in less than ideal conditions. …
About a month or so ago, a friend took me on a fleamarket trip out of town where I picked up several treasures that would find new purpose in my garden, including this old cast iron tea pot. Drilling a hole for drainage was no easy feat. Uli has lots of experience using cast iron …
Kangaroo apple (Solanum laciniatum) is another in a line of marginally edible, strange solanums that I am growing this year. I say “marginally edible” because the fruit is edible when ripe and poisonous when green. Still, I’m not convinced it’s worth eating. Edible and worth eating are two different things entirely. Morelle de balbis fruit …
Hello. How are you? It’s been quiet here for a bit. Deadlines and such. I will probably be a little light on posting for a while longer, but I am just over the hump. I’m gonna make it after-all! Perhaps when this is all said and done I should make a trip to Minnesota just …
This pretty blue flower is shoofly aka Apple of Peru (Nicandra physalodes), a strange solanum that I am growing for the first time this year. I purchased the seeds last year at the Montreal Seedy Saturday but was unable to grow them as I quickly ran out of space. I’m STILL trying to find space …
To review: here’s what they looked like a week and two weeks after I sowed the seeds back in January. It’s hard to believe, but three short months ago the lithops seedlings were only just beginning to show their distinct colouration and patterns. Now look at them!
Since moving in, Davin has been taking morning cellphone photos of the yard. We’ve compiled shots taken between January and June into a quick timelapse movie that mark the changes thus far. The last shot is dated for two days ago. We have since done even more work and you will notice when I update …