A bloom and a rock
>> Monday, July 25, 2016 –
blooms,
stones,
succulents
If you are one of the few who follows my garden persona (@inwig) on Instagram you've gotten a sneak peek, but my Pachypodium lamerei has started to bloom:
It's a bit exciting for me!
Also exciting was the dead branch laying in on the walkway just a few feet away, a souvenir from another strong storm overnight. Glad it missed this plant, as I'd be so sad if it got damaged:
The blooms are supposed to be fragrant, but since they are up above my head I have not been able to detect any scent.
Photo taken by holding phone high overhead:
One of the mantis babies still lives here:
Not well hidden right now, but it has protection nonetheless. It must hide well at times since I often can't find it. Maybe it's up in the foliage?
I'm glad this plant looks so good close to the front door, as it's not the easiest thing to move around.
Below the spiky plant is a new addition to the garden:
A rock!
Not just any rock though, as this is "the rock" of my childhood. Literally the only rock in a completely flat suburban Chicago yard, this heavy thing was our step ladder into the silver maple tree that we climbed daily. The tree is much too big to climb now and the rock looks puny next to it. It's a boulder of memories to me though, so it came to Missouri as we prepare Mom's house for the new owners.
I flipped it over in my garden as I thought it looked more natural this way. It therefore may still have some soil hiding its true colors, but I've just realized that this looks a lot like a miniature hippopotamus!
My hippo rock. :)
Man those perilla seedlings just won't stop! Glad the hippo wants to eat them...
.
You have amazing plants in your yard! I like your rock, too. I have rocks from my Mom and Dad's yard. They are white sponge rocks. My mom got them from our next door neighbor who was my fourth grade teacher. I love my rocks. My husband doesn't get what the big deal about them is. The other day he was moving a couple of them around and just tossed them against each other. It aggravated me and I told him to "stop being so rough with my sponge rocks". He got aggravated with me not knowing how you can be too rough with rocks. Apparently some people just have never developed sentimental attachments to rocks.
Your garden rocks! Love your hippo boulder and excited for you about your Pachypodium lamerei bloom. Such a cool plant.
I'm not sure what I expected the flowers to look like but that's not it. Not that I don't like them, I think they're fabulous, just not what I expected.
So glad you got your rock!
Funny enough I don't think I've ever seen one flower before so it's all new to me, cool!! And so is the rock!
It's so cool to have that rock in your own garden now. It's the little things that matter.
The Pachypodium lamerei flowers remind me of oleander flowers. And guess what, both pachypodiums and oleanders (and many others, including plumerias) are in the dogbane family, Apocynaceae. So no wonder the flowers are similar.
Susie: This is my first sentimental rock, and I don't have anything to bang into it, so it's safe. :)
Peter: I probably should not have that rock so close to the Pachypodium -- tempted to balance upon it to see the blooms but that does not sound smart...
Loree: I was also unsure what to expect. I did no research because I wanted it to be a surprise. I think I expected something even less showy?
Mark/Gaz: I'm glad it's not just me who is excited about these. :)
Gerhard: I wonder why it's the "dogbane" family? I grow that too (weed!) but shouldn't the giant spiky tree be the namesake of the family? :)