Pass the Vapors. This is One Hot Plant.

It's an expensive habit if you don't have a friend with a greenhouse (I'm working on it), but many of us who crave sexy summer plants indulge in naughty delights like echeverias. It was while shopping for these fleshy opalescent beauties -- yet to be planted, pix to follow -- that I came across a spectacular plant now waving at me from my garden.

It's said to be an unnamed cultivated variety of the Brazilian living vase bromelia, Aechmea mulfordii. Even if you know nothing about plants, know this: an unnamed cultivar is hot news.

I know nothing, nada, about bromeliads. But I've got an impressive source. Burl Mostul is the proprietor of Rare Plant Research outside Oregon City, a mecca for all us poor plant slobs who cannot, like Burl, scour the world for jaw-dropping vegetation. Sigh.

Here's Burl among his electrifying aechmea. I forget how many jewel-stuffed greenhouses he has, they're all pretty life-affirming, but none shimmer quite like this one.

photo credit: Ketzel Levine, NPR

 

So here's the story Burl told me behind his orange/pink/mango-colored aechmea:

I went to Honolulu to go to the Lyon Arboretum plant sale. It's pretty big. And I met this little Japanese woman there, her name was Hatsumi Maertz, and she had some interesting bromeliads. And then I asked her if she had more at home. She said 'Sure!' and I went to this place in Pearl City.

When I got there, all you could see was bromeliads. Front and back. She was just an amazing collector. (Note: Burl didn't know at the time that Hatsumi Maertz was one of the founding members of the Hawaii Bromeliad Society).

Anyway, she had a lot of everything and this one stood out because of its color and size, more compact unlike the the more straggly ones. The normal A. mulfordii is green, but she'd gotten this cultivar from somebody else, you know how plants get passed around. So I rented a pick-up and bought at least 20 offsets from her, among a bunch of other plants.

I've had them about five years or so and I've only sold about 30 or 40 so far. This is the first year they're ready for sale. I have NEVER seen a color like this.

This is the part where I have to tell you that Burl doesn't do much mail order. But you can always drop him a line.

4:52 PM ET | 07-16-2008 | permalink

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One Pix/One Caption Contest

It's working pretty well for the New Yorker, so I thought I'd try it here.

Why is my black mondo grass dying?

photo credit: Ketzel Levine, NPR

 

If you've got a plant-related pix that begs a smart-ass one-liner, send it to me.

11:05 AM ET | 07-11-2008 | permalink

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Radical Front Yard Gardener Throws in the Towel

Lest you think all do-good gardeners suffer from eco-hubris, don't miss the latest entry by D.C. gardener Susan Harris over at our friends' place, Garden Rant.

Having removed her front lawn with valiant determination, intent on growing her own food, Susan quickly realized "that my front yard - that most visible of spaces - would look like crap for most of the year, and I suddenly lost heart".

She then switched to a savvy hodge-podge of low-growing ornamentals.

No doubt I particularly love her blog post because I'm constantly having to defend my decision to have an ornamental-only garden. Never mind that I don't cook; people just seem so disappointed that I don't graze in my own garden and grow my own food.

Morally disappointed, that is.

But I do graze! For the two weeks it's in flower, I eat the sugary sweet petals off my pineapple guava. I also steal into my beloved neighbors' lawn-dominated garden and gobble down the raspberries growing along their fence.

Then I stuff my pockets full of cash, head to any number of Portland's farmer's markets, and like a great humanitarian lavish my wages on our hard-working local growers.

The market economy welcomes you back, Susan!

9:26 AM ET | 07- 9-2008 | permalink

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Winter Memories on a Hot Summer Day

The problem with getting up really early is the number of times you have to listen to your local Morning Edition announcer carry on about the weather forecast. By repeatedly warning us about the upcoming heat today, he's set up his entire listening audience to swelter and complain.

Better he should talk about the chance to store up all that sunlight in our solar cells, or to get outside while it's still gorgeous. And boy howdy, it sure is.

(Oh no, now he's saying we'd better draw the curtains. Somebody put him on ice!)

Fortunately here at Talking Plants the subject is winter, as we come down the home stretch of our anniversary celebration by highlighting a year of great pix from our Flickr group.

Though there were some great frozen flowers to choose from -- some looked like iced flower pops -- I found myself drawn towards the darker depressing ones. Their effect on me -- last night when I chose them, anyway -- was calming, like seeing my inner colors projected onto a screen.

TP member Dave Getzy clearly showed some insight when he chose his Flickr name, pathos3. I find this frosted leaf shivering on a sheet of ice so sad! Dave writes, "I tend to walk/hike with my dogs a lot in winter, and the somber tones of the wooded areas around Fort Collins seem to reflect my mood this time of year. This picture was taken at Arapahoe Bend Open Space, on the southeast border of Fort Collins". Thanks for the insight, Dave.

photo credit: Dave Getzy

 

Now meet Danuta Majchrowicz, a good and constant friend of Talking Plants.

"What can I tell you about myself? I spent 7 years overseas working and studying languages and archeology in Poland, France, Israel and several countries of West Africa. I then worked with study abroad and international students in the US for 18 years, until recently when I started working for my husband (a retired cell biologist who rehabs houses when he's not playing golf). We've been involved with blind golfers for about 6 years now".

During the last year on TP, Danuta's submitted lots of optimistic flower portraits. For obvious reasons, however, I couldn't resist her deep and melancholy winter silhouette.

Danuta took this photo in Northwestern Pennsylvania on Christmas Day.

photo credit: Danuta Majchrowicz

 

I've got a few more pix this week, then we're off and running into Year #2. Assuming, that is, that my current stubborn funk frees me to celebrate the ordinary, the magical, the wonder of every day. That's where you come in...

11:49 AM ET | 07- 7-2008 | permalink

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