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This flowerful music video can be seen either from the plant lover's or the plant's point of view. You are inspired by plants which remind you of God. Plants, however, cannot survive without our care. They are totally dependent upon us and so we are responsible for raising them up. Just as plants are totally dependent upon us, we are totally dependent upon God, who raises us up.
The orchids pictured here embody the frustrations and the glory of horticulture. The first orchid you grow may die because because you love it too much. Caring for orchids involves giving them what they need when they need it but otherwise leaving them alone. It's really much like raising children. The best parent, the best nurturer, is someone the child knows will always be there, someone who knows what to give a child and when to give it, but otherwise leaves the child alone.
This time of year beauty is not only in the plants around us but in the people around us as well. This song says it all. And this song combines "wonderful world" with "over the rainbow."
This is a plant that either grows gloriously with no attention or quickly dies no matter how much care is lavished upon it.
Known as annual vinca or Madagascar periwinkle, this species (Catharanthus roseus) has flummoxed the most experienced gardener with its unpredictable performances. Certainly it demands perfect soil drainage yet, for no apparent reason, it may die within days of being planted in sandy soil. The literature describes Madagascar periwinkle as a perennial typically grown as an annual, yet where all conditions for growth (whatever they may be) are perfect, it will become a stout two to three foot shrub that is covered with flowers most of the year for several years. Flower color has traditionally been white, rose pink, or mauve but in recent years red and apricot varieties have also appeared. Its botancial name Catharanthus means "pure flower" and there is a velvety sheen to periwinkle petals that does impart to the blooms, especially the white ones, an air of purity.
What is falling in love all about anyway? It may happen in an instant or it may take time to develop. Either way, if the love is real, it will last forever.
Coleus is a species that all plant enthusiasts, sooner or later, fall in love with -- for real and forever.
From the standpoint of botanical relationships, coleus is in good company. It is in the mint family (Lamiaceae) and so is kin to the salvias and the mints, which include a vast array of intriguing species.
Most salvias and mints can be grown in full sun to partial sun locations. Coleus, on the other hand, have traditionally been grown in partial sun to shady exposures, although recently hybridized coleus varieties, such as the 'Solar' series, which includes the variety pictured above, can grow in full sun as well.
If there is one plant that deserves to represent the ultimate truth, one plant whose physical properties and historical connections put it in a class apart from the rest, it would have to be the myrtle (Myrtus communis).The myrtle is clearly rooted in the here and now. Its roots grow deep in the rocky earth of maquis and chaparral. Yet the myrtle appears, at times, to exist on a level that is beyond mundane reality and higher than mere nature.
Esther, the Biblical heroine, was also known by the name Hadassah, which comes from the Hebrew word for myrtle. When Esther-Hadassah entered a pageant to become queen of Persia, she was the only contestant who chose not to adorn herself in any special way, relying on her essential grace and beauty. She not only became queen but later saved her people from annihilation.
While working at the Peter Pitchess Honor Ranch -- a jail farm just north of Los Angeles in Saugus -- a number of years ago, I made acquaintance with the myrtle. Just off one of the many dusty roads that twist their way around the ranch, at the base of a rather steep slope, I noticed a brilliant, glossy leaved plant that offered a sharp contrast to the dull and dry flora that surrounded it. It was a summer of burdensome heat, yet that myrtle seemed to look fresher with each passing day. Its diamond shaped leaves, thought by the ancients to represent the all-seeing eyes of wisdom, never sagged or faded despite the absence of a watering system in that corner of the ranch. As if its foliage was not enough of a gift, it also bestowed gold-stamened pure white flowers, which were succeeded by succulent blue-black fruits.
You cannot imagine how uplifting it is to see a fresh, glistening evergreen, the embodiment of constancy and resiliency, growing in such an environment. Each day you sandwich fifty inmates into the bed of a dump truck and take them to their work detail. If they work with you for more than a few days, you end up asking them what they're in for. It transpires that none of the inmates -- to hear them talk -- has ever committed a crime. Each and every one is innocent of all wrong doing; each and every one is in jail because he was "set up" or "snitched off." You drive your inmates around the jail compound and see the myrtle, a green gem glowing in the sun. You point to it and shout: "Learn from this plant, gentlemen, learn from it! The world around you may be dry and dead, but you can make a difference, you can stay fresh and hopeful and alive. But first you must admit to who you are. Just don't give in to cynicism or despair, and keep the faith!"
In response, the inmates all laugh and swear in their usual high-spirited manner, enjoying their stay on the farm -- every day, three hots and a cot at no charge, and a funny boss to boot. After spending time in jail, whether as inmate or guard, you may wish to escape from the lock and key world and find refuge in a garden. It may be quite tempting to turn your back on mankind behind hedges of bougainvillea, oleander, or myrtle. With myrtle, though, you will have half a lifetime to wait, since the plant is rather slow growing. In addition, it grows in direct response to soil conditions and water availability, not exceeding four feet in height under adverse circumstances, while reaching twenty to thirty feet when conditions for growth are optimal.
Around the year 130, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai was sentenced to death by the Roman government for publicly mocking the achievements of Rome as one big hedonistic enterprise. To save his life, the rabbi withdrew with his son to a cave in Galilee where, miraculously, a carob tree grew and a water well appeared, so that he never lacked for food or water. For many years, he studied Torah and prayed with his son. Eventually, the emperor's decree was rescinded, and the rabbi left the cave. In their years of isolation and study, Shimon Bar Yochai and his son had learned the meaning of eternal life. They had also become disgusted with the temporal, humdrum world which, they thought, only existed as a barrier to holiness and eternity. So intense was their emotion and belief that, upon emerging from the cave, fire literally came out of their eyes when they saw people engaged in the mundane acts of plowing and sowing a field. Upon seeing this, the Almighty was angered and, realizing that His world would soon be consumed in a blaze, ordered the two saints to return to their cave.
Twelve months passed and a voice from heaven ordered the men to leave the cave again, their punishment over. It was the Sabbath eve and the first sight that greeted their eyes was an old man carrying sheaves of myrtle, a fragrance redolent of Eden coming from the freshly cut branches.
Serenity and joy filled the hearts of Shimon Bar Yochai and his son. They understood that the six days of plowing, sowing, and harvesting were created solely for the sake of the Sabbath. They realized that the splendor of the Sabbath, represented by the myrtle's otherworldly aroma, could only be appreciated by those fully engaged in the mundane world.
Fern asparagus (Asparagus setaceus) has the laciest leaf in the world.
And it is the easiest plant in the world to grow. Funny, though, you cannot find it at the nursery.
Instead, you have to wait for it to pop up in your garden. In truth, it is a weed. But if you are a
flower arranger and you have fern asparagus growing somewhere in your garden, you will add a few sprigs of it every time you pick irises, daffodils, calla lilies, birds-of-paradise, or whatever else you put into a vase.
Bougainvillea is often considered to be a nuisance plant since it grows wildly in every direction, needing constant pruning to stay in bounds, and is even more of a chore to prune on account of its thorns.
Still, bougainvillea can be an absolute treasure when, growing in your neighbor's yard, it happens to hang over your fence.
The above 'James Walker' bougainvillea produces enormous clusters of magenta bracts. It is not as common as the ubiquitous crimsony pink 'Barbara Karst' or the often sighted fire engine 'San Diego Red,' which has been renamed 'Scarlet O'Hara' in recent years.
Moneywort (Lysimachia nummularia) is money in the bank as far as ground covers are concerned, at least in Los Angeles. It grows in partial sun or shade and is eminently controllable, although it does need, as the literature says, "regular water." But so what? Plants that do not require "regular water," such as gazania, are overwatered to the point that they die from soil fungus that enters their roots, so why not go with a ground cover that is impervious to overwatering?
Here's a picture:
A caveat: in the dry Southwest, moneywort grows just fine but in wetter climates it grows like mad and becomes an invasive pest. 'Aurea' is a gold-leafed variety.
Moneywort is composed of two words. "Money" refers to the round, coin-shaped leaves and "wort" means root, herb, or plant in old English.
My daughter, Sara, took this picture.
This is a 'Fauriei' crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia x fauriei, a hybrid of Lagestroemia indica and the eponymous Japanese species). It has a magnificent canopy and looks like a real tree, as opposed to the older crape myrtle varieties that are most glorious when kept pruned back to around eight feet tall but never account for much as trees.
Once flowering is over, crape myrtles can be pruned drastically without worrying about reducing next year's bloom since flowers are produced on growth which begins the following spring. Yet, at least where 'Fauriei' is concerned, pruning may never be required throughout the life of the tree. As with most deciduous trees, it is best to prune crape myrtle, if you must, in winter after all its leaves have fallen.
The crape myrtle was named Lagerstroemia in honor of Magnus von Lagerstroem, a Swedish naturalist and merchant. Some people pronounce it Lager-STREEM-ia, in deference to the Swedish pronounciation. Crape myrtles are native to China, Japan and other Southeast Asian lands. (The species name indica, given to the earliest classified crape myrtles, is misleading since the plant is not native to India, although it was thought to come from there at one time.)
Another bonus of 'Fauriei', as opposed to indica, is its resistance to mildew.
Yet the greatest enemy of all crape myrtles is the string trimmer or so-called weed eater piece of equipment used by gardeners. The plastic string of this infernal machine whips around the trunk of young crape myrtles, which are often planted in parkway strips of grass between sidewalk and street. As as result, the cambium layer under the bark of crape myrtles is often gouged out by the whirling plastic string of the weed eater. Once the cambium is destroyed, water can no longer move up the trunk into the leaves. I have seen many crape myrtles dry up and die as a result of weed eater damage.
To protect newly planted crape myrtles and other young trees from such a fate, use this plastic trunk protector.
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