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Behold, Sumptuous Snapshots

A recent walk through the Talking Plants photo garden reveals that your eyes are keen and your imaginations fired. How I treasure you roving troubadours of spring.

California wildflowers

Guillermo Meraz, aka Guissimo, went for a recent hike near the Merced River in Mariposa County, CA., home to the Sierra National Forest. So you've got to be wondering about those blue wildflowers, huh? Guillermo has the answer:Nemophila menziesii var. menziesii, or baby blue-eyes.

photo credit: Guillermo Meraz
 

Another TP regular didn't have to go very far to find stunning spring ephemerals. The prolific and talented Aleth11 just had to wander into the woods behind her house to behold the sparkle of the truly wondrous Sanguinaria canadensis (that link will take you to the bloodroot profile from my book).

white bloodroot

I have this note from our photographer: "These flowers ooze an orange/red color when a leaf or stem is "damaged" so I imagine that's where they got the name. Sounds like a horrible name for such a pretty flower, no? The sap is apparently toxic and has been used in salves and such on warts and skin cancer.

photo credit: Aleth11
 

Finally, though there's not a whole lot new to be said about tulips (after moving to the NW, I'm pretty much ready to give them up, except for the unimproved smallest species), TP friend Troye captured a few lovely shots that pretty much tell the story of why they'll always be a market for tulips.

orange tulips .

Troye's shown us his, time for you to show us yours. The Talking Plants Flickr Group has more than 300 members who've posted almost a year's worth of gorgeous, memorable and classy pix. To join, all you need is a camera and a love of the natural world. We want you!

photo credit: troye
 
 

Comments (Send a comment)

Sanguinaria candensis is no doubt a boot-stopper in the woods -- but the leaf is not as fleeting as the flower and is very interesting in its own right. In KY, bloodroot flowered 2-3 weeks ago. Just seeing the leaf is great by me (although I looove the flower too). Great picture!

Sent by Beth | 11:04 PM ET | 04-29-2008

Do those pictures have any license or copyright?

Sent by Edgar Maldonado | 3:40 PM ET | 04-30-2008

Edgar, links are provided if you want to contact each person separately for his or her answer. Thanks for asking.

Sent by Ketzel Levine | 4:04 PM ET | 04-30-2008

Sanguinaria, or bloodroot, is so named because the "sap" in the root is blood red.

Sent by Doug Cameron | 8:27 AM ET | 05-01-2008

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Ketzel Levine

Ketzel Levine

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Talking Plants is an open invitation to meet new plants and cool plant people, tour incredible private gardens, savor inside-gardening industry gossip, swap dead plant stories and get the odd gardening question answered by your fellow "hort-heads."

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