So I was at the expensive but shall remain nameless garden center, actually on business picking out and transporting plants for a client's garden, when I noticed some very nice aloes on an out-of-the-way table near the back.
Anyway, I left with my commercial purchases but the vision of a nice 4" Aloe arbolescens haunted me until I actually turned the car around to return and check out the Weird Plant Table more thoroughly. Oh sure, the experts on retailing there don't label it as such but what else do you call the area that has Solanum pyracanthum and Cantua buxifolia, Sacred Flower of the Incas, and much much more? Along with the aloe and the sacred flower I bought this little Devil's Trumpet, labeled Datura metel 'Belle Blanche'. Just 2 weeks after planting it is well over 2 feet tall and has started blooming. Not only is it beautiful, it reminds me of New Mexico. Best five bucks I ever spen
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3 comments:
It looks a lot like a plant I saw growing abundantly along the I-5 on my way up to Monterey last weekend. Do you think it could be the same plant?
Datura wrightii is probably what you saw growing along the highway, although there are other datura species (check at calflora.org for pictures and distribution maps) that grow wild in CA. They call it jimsonweed; crazy lady pays good money for a weed in a down economy: go figure.
Vanessa - I just dropped in on you here while looking for the latest on Mosquitoes and their friendly predator, Zelus renardii. I love just LOVE LOVE LOVE your Bugging You Yet blog. Can we talk? What kind of camera are you using to shoot your Bugs? Your writing style is so addictive. I know you do this for a living doncha. Had to ask. Don't know how you'll ever reach me though. - Catherine, L.I., N.Y., USA
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