Gentiana asclepiadea, blue end of summer

Every year ,when the summer gets hot each day making me believe it would newer end , comes the moment bringing a small piece of forthcoming autumn with it. Seeking shadow forest paths I’ve found  blue willow gentian started to flower this week, with flowers blue as the bluest skies I’ve ewer seen. There is something sad in these blue bells I can not explain,is it their announcement the summer is dying  or is it their blue blue color painting eternal skies in front of me but leaving me to wonder what comes after this summer……….  

One of the larger species within the genus, it produces pairs of leaves, sometimes whorled in three’s or fours around particularly vigorous shoots on stems that generally arch elegantly outward from the base of the plant between 60-90cm (2-3ft) in length. Flowers occur in late summer into autumn.

Gentiana asclepiadea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Gentianales
Family:	Gentianaceae
Genus:	Gentiana
Species:	G. asclepiadea
Binomial name
Gentiana asclepiadea L.from:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentiana_asclepiadea

Saved office Phalaenopsises in full bloom

My husband works in a big new building with many modern offices equipped with some minimalism furniture and plants.I don’t know when these plants have become orchids and mostly orchids,namely phalaenopsises. It could be they have become trendy plants for their beauty,low maintenance,long flowering,colors available.Jet their decorative value can not reverse that they are live plants,they do get worse if not properly watered,if let on hot sun ,neglected.Dead or almost dead  plants then finish in trash bin.My husband ,knowing my love for rescuing creepy flowers from nurseries ,took his office’s fallen Phalaenopsis star  home,as I could give it a second chance.Looks like his coworkers are some hidden plant lovers, too,so knowing he took his Phalaenopsis corps home for me to rescue it, they have given their creepy ones  for me, too.Anyway,it is a good feeling to know these plants have been rescued,they are just in the middle of abundant flowering right now………..

The generic name means “Phalaen[a]-like” and is probably a reference to the genusPhalaena, the name given by Carolus Linnaeus to a group of large moths; the flowers of some species supposedly resemble moths in flight.^[2] For this reason, the species are sometimes called Moth orchids.They are native throughout southeast Asia from the Himalayan mountains to the islands of Polillo, Palawan and Zamboanga del Norte in the island of Mindanao in thePhilippines and northern Australia. Orchid Island of Taiwan is named after this genus. Little recent information about their habitat and their ecology in nature is available since little field research has been done in the last decades.

Phalaenopsis
Closeup of a Phalaenopsis flower
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Orchidaceae
Subfamily:	Epidendroideae
Tribe:	Vandeae
Subtribe:	Aeridinae
Alliance:	Phalaenopsis Blume
Genus:	Phalaenopsis Blume 1825
Type species
Phalaenopsis amabilis Blume (1825)
Species
see text.
Synonyms
Doritis Lindl. Grafia A. D. Hawkes Kingidium P. F. Hunt Kingiella Rolfe Polychilos Breda Polystylus Hasselt ex Hassk. Staurites Rchb. f. Stauroglottis Schauer Synadena Raf.   from:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalaenopsis

 

Triticum aestivum , straw hat and Sorolla

Searching a photo for the end of summer holidays post this butterfly taking a rest on my straw hat was the one I liked at once.My first thought was to write how summer holidays always end  even before a butterfly opens its wings,and how the butterfly effect on the other side bears some possibility that also a too short vacation could change our perspectives in the future.Then I noticed the nice structure of my straw hat and wandered what it is made from, recognizing this post ca not be only about ending summer holidays, butterfly effect or my dear hat, but mostly about common wheat and Sorolla.  

from:http://www.domzale.si/index.php?S=1&Article=4442

Near the place I live is Domzale-today almost a suburb of Ljubljana,but not so far ago a center for production of straw hats.It all has begun in the first half of 18-th century, when country women have started with straw plaiting as it has been a good possibility to earn some extra money during winter months. During wheat harvest the proper wheat plants were chosen and picked manually, then sorted (the tiniest straw was more expensive) and prepared for plaiting.  In 1879 there were 12000 people (half of the population) involved in production of straw hats,in 1880 the production was estimated to be 1 million hats ,made in 6 hat factories in Domzale. These straw hats  were exported all around the world,it could be that even the ladies from the picture of the Spanish painter Sorolla do wear those hats,very modern at the time.This picture is one of my favorites,not only as I love straw hats and white dresses and the sea,but mainly for this feeling of summer Sorolla managed to catch so well…….

PASEO A ORILLAS DEL MAR,1909, from:http://museosorolla.mcu.es/colec_pintura.html

Sorolla was certainly a master of summer light,his paintings of his garden make you feel like it is possible to step further, right into the garden shade……………

JARDÍN DE LA CASA SOROLLA, 1920,from:http://museosorolla.mcu.es/colec_pintura.html

JARDÍN DE LA CASA SOROLLA,1918-1919, from:http://museosorolla.mcu.es/colec_pintura.html

Being in garden once again,here comes the picture of common wheat used (also) for straw hat the butterfly on my pic was sitting on…………

from:USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Hitchcock, A.S. (rev. A. Chase). 1950. Manual of the grasses of the United States. USDA Miscellaneous Publication No. 200. Washington, DC.

 

Pink shades-photo study of a rose from the rose garden

Pelargonium and Matisse ,brother gardener and Van Gogh

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Botanical garden in Leiden was the first garden in Europe to grow geraniums.Later the name pelargonium was introduced,after Greek name for stork-this plant forms stork-like seed heads. Most of home grown pelargoniums today are cultivars ,in many colors, shapes and with interesting fragrances possible ,developed in more as 400 years since the plant arrived in Europe, spreading from botanical gardens to gardens and homes, I guess even to artists studios,capturing attention of the greatest masters.What a view into history of art do these painted geraniums bring together with the eternal smell of hot summers,blue shades,some fragrant broken geranium leaves and memory of a boy to become a gardener …………………….. 

Artist	Henri Matisse
	from:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Still_Life_with_Geraniums

Rembrandt Peale, Rubens Peale with a Geranium, 1801, from:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rembrandt_Peale

Artist: Vincent van Gogh

from:http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/vincent-van-gogh/geranium-in-a-flowerpot-1886

Geraniums
P. graveolens
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Angiospermae
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Geraniales
Family:	Geraniaceae
Genus:	Pelargonium L’Hér.
Species
About 200: Pelargonium asperum Pelargonium capitatum (L.) L’Hér. ex Aiton Pelargonium cotyledonis Pelargonium cucullatum Pelargonium drummondii Pelargonium graveolens Pelargonium grossularioides Pelargonium insularis Pelargonium littorale Pelargonium peltatum Pelargonium quercifolium(L. f.) L’Hér. ex Aiton Pelargonium radens Pelargonium rodneyanum Pelargonium scabrum Pelargonium sidoides Pelargonium triste Pelargonium vitifolium Pelargonium ×domesticum L.H. Bailey (pro sp.) Pelargonium ×hortorum L.H. Bailey (pro sp.) Pelargonium ×nervosum Sweet et al. from:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelargonium

Ribes rubrum on a first summer day

In my grand grandmother’s old cookbook there were few color illustrations I as a child looked again and again, sitting in the kitchen, watching my mother baking some pie or “potica”.The illustration I liked the most was the one with ribes, strawberry and pumpkin,admiring all these summer fruits while snow was falling outside and we were in the middle of winter, was a small promise summer will come again , with summer holidays and red currant in our garden.And they really always came,perhaps because I was looking at these pictures again and again, wishing summer to come.

When ribes in the corner of our garden starts to ripen ,when first small glass-like ribes marbles turn red, then the summer is here and it is time to look at old cookbook again, not for redcurrant illustration any more, but for the best jelly recipe ever.Early summers so always smell like redcurrant jelly and redcurrant pie at our home,and so is it this year, too.When I was searching  for the jelly recipe in this old cookbook  today,I’ve been grateful for these old illustrations, for who knows whether summer would come without  them……..

.

Redcurrant
Cultivated redcurrant
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Core eudicots
Order:	Saxifragales
Family:	Grossulariaceae
Genus:	Ribes
Species:	R. rubrum
Binomial name
Ribes rubrum L. from:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redcurrant

Bouquet with pink peony,remembering the summer to come

Peony is a flower I connect with early summer since I remember.The first cherries,smell of   old peonies in the corner of the garden and evenings lightened by fireflies ,they all make me thrilled in waiting of a real summer,the one with hot weather and garden full of flowers  when I hide in the shade during noon ,sip lemonade and believe it will last forever……..

Long enough I’ve learned nothing lasts forever,but deep in me I believe there is at least a breeze of that vanishing eternity I can steal for a moment to be with me.And this is why I’ve made this bouquet with pink peony,to remember the summer going to come……….

Henry Fatin Latour: Vase de pivoines (1881) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Henri_Fantin-Latour_-_Vase_de_Pivoines_(Vase_of_Peonies),_1881.jpg

Clivia miniata Regel,missing portrait and a garden volunteer

One of the flowers capturing my attention in Florence Botanical Garden comes from far Africa.It’s hard to imagine African hill slopes covered with clivias in orange, yellow or red ,it must look like in Eden! The flower was sent to Europe around 1823 and become extremely popular in Victorian England homes and gardens.Many hybrids have been grown up to today,with colors from apricot , orange ,yellow, white and even dark red,the leaves broad or narrow or even in bi-color.Searching internet pages I found thousands of pretty pictures of the flower,but the one I was searching for was missing. Clivia bears her name in honor of  Lady Charlotte Florentine Clive, Duchess of Northumberland, an avid plant enthusiast,it was in her garden that Clivia blossomed for the first time in Europe.I was unable to find any picture of this English lady,so here is the picture of her husband,at least.

Hugh Percy, 3rd Duke of Northumberland KG, PC (20 April 1785 – 11 February 1847),from:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Percy,_3rd_Duke_of_Northumberland

Not finding anything more about the lady Charlotte Florentine Clive, Duchess of Northumberland (except the fact that she was appointed governess of Princess Victoria, the later Queen Victoria), I had to check who mister Regel was. I’ve found his picture immediately:

Eduard August von Regel (born August 13, 1815 in Gotha, died April 15, 1892 in St. Petersburg) ,from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduard_August_von_Regel

What a surprise!This guy was garden volunteer at the beginning of his career! Nevertheless, he later served as head of the Old Botanical Garden, Zürich and later as director of the Imperial Botanical Garden,St. Petersburg, Russia. He founded Russian Gardening Society and published 3101 articles in academic journals!

This findings made me less unhappy not finding lady’s portrait, especially as Clivia flower will  talk about this woman and botanist Regel forever ,leaving us in wonder whether the two of them would appreciate it…………….

Bush lily
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
clade:	Angiosperms
clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Amaryllidaceae
Subfamily:	Amaryllidoideae
Genus:	Clivia
Species:	C. miniata
Binomial name
Clivia miniata Regelfrom:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clivia_miniata

Piazza without plants or how history and botany have met in stone

Talking about my botanical garden I try to present the abundance of flora variety all over different places be it my garden, botanical garden in my city or gardens in places I’ve visited.I’ve found plants in art , pictures,music or literature,they make me happy when made of glass or pictured on a porcelain piece, I’ve actually seen plants everywhere.But what would it look like without plants?  Thinking about a place without plants I recognized a place I not only have known for a long time but that has since forever  been  one of my favorite places.It actually is one of the most beautiful piazzas I’ve ever seen. Although very small it bears certain grandiousness in it .This may be due to its date of origin,it may be because so many centuries have passed since 16-th century when this piazza was built , that times passed since then left delicate imprint of far forgotten sorrows in the walls of the palaces surrounding the white stone pavement made of Istrian stone with some petrified plants and fishes as fossils giving the invisible pattern to the stone bricks shining after so many centuries as water surface mirroring the history of Adriatic coast.And the history is rich here ,indeed.After prehistoric settlements were abandoned the Romans build their villas here to trade with olive oil and vine not recognising when history turned in favour of Venetian republic when magnificent Praetor palace was built to host many praetors,captains and city municipality.Venetian dodges visiting their province took part of their siesta behind these white stone walls letting only the tiny sound of a letter falling trough the stone bocca to disturb them for a minute.Bell from the nearby church was loud as pigeons flew back to Piazza San Marco in Venice, leaving behind the magnificent Loggia Caffe where first coffee in this part of the world has been served far before Stendhal arrived to sip his coffee  in Loggia overarching the mirror of white stone plaza staying calm despite centuries passing by without any flowers to decorate the place.Tourists like to come here today,me among them,capturing the moment of petrified time and listening to the silence of history.Having my machiatto there last Saturday ,observing old inhabitants of the city smoothly crossing thee empty plaza to buy the first wild asparagus in the market behind the place, I’ve discovered that even here beauty of plants stands by my side,paradoxically, decorating this white emptiness of the white beauty of stone elements.I had only to rise up my eyes to recognize the plants carved in stone, talking without words about an old stoneccuter loving his garden enough to leave an imprint of flora known to him in decorations of pilasters, portals and windows.Turns out this entirely shiny emptiness of plaza actually does bear beauty of plants with it, to stand here against centuries ,bringing calm to visitors, in spite of tiny weeds trying to survive in this world dedicated to stone carvings as memories of words lost far before.

The Praetor’s Palace in the central Koper Square (Slovenia)

Caffe Loggia

Viburnum opulus ‘Roseum’- many names for colors of white

Snowball bush-European snowball bush more precisely,is in full bloom now here in my garden.Its wonderful white pompom-like flowers are the last reminiscence of forgotten winter snows of white,but not at all for granted as the flowers at first appear in apple green color.Numerous pompoms turn into white color in next two weeks,when the bush is like one big snowball.White flowers turn to light old pink color, sometimes with patches of violet, brown color and this is the end of show as this species is sterile cultivar, born in 16-Th century in Europe and still today admired and used by florists and gardeners.The last 5 centuries of its continuous use trough Europe might be the reason for its many synonyms: Guelder Rose (first grown in Netherlands),Cramp Bark, Whitsun Rose, May Rose,Silver Bells, Kings Crown are actually all Viburnum opulus var sterile Roseum .

p.s.:

In case you love Viburnums, too, check my Viburnum painting here 🙂

Looking forward to seeing you at https://tamarajare.com/

Tamara