Tuesday, 3 March 2026
Pansies are a winter flower in these parts, and we’re coming to the end of pansy season.
BTW, I learned the other day of ensete/enset (Ensete ventricosum), which is the principal traditional starch food of Ethiopia (for 20 million folks) and neighboring lands across eastern Africa. It’s in the banana family, and it looks like a banana plant. And I had never heard of it.
Monday, 2 March 2026
I do like the jagged edges and the silver tint of cardoon vegetation. Cardoons are Cynara cardunculus. Although today planted in this area as ornamentals, in colonial days they were planted for food…stems mostly I think, but perhaps also the buds.
Friday, 27 February 2026
Lotsa rain overnight, and a variable day, including actual sunshine. This was when it was still overcast.
Sunday, 22 February 2026
As I did a bit of photo tweaking, I thought: harhar, I’m cropping the new crop of camellia buds.
Friday, 20 February 2026
The weedy onions are rising and pollen (not shown) is adrift.
Wednesday, 18 February 2026
Moss-world is flourishing these days, including on this aging wall of decaying concrete.
Sunday, 15 February 2026
I managed to insert my walk between spates of rain. I’ve been seeing that the Magnolia liliiflora are blooming here and there. I finally spotted one I could approach with my camera (aka phone).
On the home front, the camellia decorations on the hood of the car continue…not so pretty when the blooms are freeze-fading, but still artful.
Monday, 9 February 2026
We went out to do an errand and discovered that a squirrel had been feeding on the camellia bud hearts above the car. Is that the floral equivalent of maple sap-syrup?
Friday, 6 February 2026
Plants can be so resilient! These perked right up and got to the business of being a successful plant (flowering, seed creation), toot-sweet after the last two weekends of distinctly winter weather.
