I have been reminded of a book about the flower industry this week
I have photographed many flower shops.
The book is Flower Confidential.
I will be doing a post about it soon.
Here is a glimpse at some high-end offerings available to city-dwellers who need their “flower fix.”
These lovely flowers are like living jewels.
Follow la Flower. I have been Italicized!!!!!
“I’d rather be a tall, ugly weed.”
This is the last line of Julio Noboa Polanco’s poem, Identity.
Many of my posts have been about cultivated plants and flowers,
purposely bred, raised and carefully tended.
In Julio’s poem this type of plant is described as “watered, fed, guarded, admired, but harnessed to a pot of dirt”
I have chosen to give some attention on Wednesdays to the wild plants
that are sometimes called weeds.
Not all weeds are wild and not all wild plants are weeds.
Weed is a term used to refer to a plant growing where it is not wanted.
Weed is also used as a verb referring to the removal of the unwanted plants.
This is not the case when using the slang term Weed to refer to marijuana/Cannabis/hemp.
It is possible to weed weeds while smoking weed. If you confuse these three you may end up in a bit of a jam.
So today, I will show you some tall weeds on the Alley farm the are far from ugly.
These may be called wild flowers by people who appreciate their beauty.
A former post “Weeds are the Champions” highlighted the resilience of weeds.
I would like to tweak that to say “Wild is the Champion” for this post.
These lovely plants were neither planted nor tended.
God is the best gardener.
I have nothing in my garden that compares to this vine.
The butterflies love this tall Joe Pye Weed.
I was a bit jealous that I wear myself out taking care of my “harnessed hybrids” ,
while all this beauty was totally maintenance free.
Follow the Flower.
Mulberry weed, Fatoua villosa, is the worst weed-foe that I have ever encountered. It is a survivor.
It has alternate leaves with spiked, microscopic hairs as well has hairy stems. Little “stemlets” and blooms come from the nodes where the leaf emerges from the stem.
If you break off the top of the plant, the stem “medusas out” and it comes back up as a little bush.
The tiny white flower clusters ripen into purple pod clusters full of tiny seeds.
The seeds shoot out of the dried pods as you pull up the plant. You must get it before blooms ripen into pods.
Do not throw these weeds on your compost pile. If you do you will plant them next year. Even the tiny plants can set seed.
It is an import from Asia that piggy-backs into your plantings from nursery stock.
It is suspected of coming to the USA with the troops and equipment after WWII.
It is described as noxious and invasive. These are not terms of endearment.
I usually try to find attributes for my local weeds, but this is an imported pest that ranks right up there with Kudzu.
Follow the FLOWER. Return next Wednesday for another visit with a WEED.
I’ve planted my seeds
time after time.
I’ve done the digging.
I’ve committed the time.
Made some mistakes.
Planted some brutes.
I’ve had my share of seeds blown in my face,
But I’ve come through.
And I could go on and on and on and on because…
Weeds are the champions, my friend
but I’ll keep on weeding ’til the end.
Weeds are the champions
Weeds are the champions
No space for hybrids
“cause weeds are the champions of the WORLD.
FOLLOW the FLOWER for “WEED Wednesdays” for a new take on what we call weeds.
Morning light is different.
The low angle of the sun’s rays causes the subject to cast vertical shadows on itself.
It gives a three-dimensional effect that you can’t get any other time of day.
I got up early this morning and let the sun’s rays spotlight what I should photograph.
I paced up and down the eastern side of the garden waiting to see what lit up next.
It was like being lead on a treasure hunt.
Look closely for rays and shadows.
Let the light guide you.
FOLLOW the FLOWER.
Why do we use the color red to signal stop?
Red has longest wavelengths we can perceive with our eyes.
Longer wavelengths are infrared waves, microwaves and radio waves.
We can’t see these longer waves, but can we sense them?
I often wonder if we can feel red somehow.
When it is mixed with other colors it demands our attention.
When it’s bright and big it makes us pause.
What does red light beaming at us feel like subconsciously?
Why does it universally mean stop?
Red Hot.
Red Devil.
Do we all have an ancient memory of blood red danger?
Does red make some of us blush and make others feel angry?
How does red make us feel?
I wonder…
FOLLOW the FLOWER.
If you want tiny friends, you must move slowly and quietly.
Remember you are a giant and they are fairies and elves.
I am out and about so often that many of my tiny friends ignore me.
I think this is rude, because I always speak to them.
My friends may have fur, feathers, scales or an exoskeleton.
They may have two, four, six or eight legs.
Some even have wings.
I am always glad to see them and they make me smile.
That means they are my friends.
floweralley 