I’m very happy today to share another season of Heather’s Garden in Michigan. Heather is married to my nephew James. Photos today by Heather Murphy. (Slight editing and mosaics by yours-truly.) Thanks again Heather for your generosity. For several weekends toward the end of May, Heather was working in the garden. First with her extensive perennials and then adding annuals. The overall effect is a lush green oasis in suburbia.
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Catching Up – What I’ve Been Up To
Today I thought I would just do a little catch up with you about the last few weeks. Life sometimes throws a curve ball and we don’t always follow the plan we make. l am glad to share that I got my 2nd vaccine shot the first week in May. My arm was red and sore for several days but that’s really nothing. What surprised me was the RA (rheumatoid arthritis) pain I experienced for over 3 days following the shot. It is my observation that any stress or illness makes me hurt. Anyway, it’s a small price to pay to protect myself from COVID. I did not get several craft projects done but that isn’t the end of the world either.
January Anthuriums
Anthuriums are herbaceous epiphytes native to tropical America, a genus of more than 800 species found in the New World tropics from Mexico to northern Argentina and Uruguay. The anthurium is also known as Painted Tongue, Flamingo Flower (Flamingo Lily) or Tail Flower.They are grown for their brightly colored flower spathes and their ornamental leaves.
Poinsettia, A Gift From A Friend
The poinsettia was brought to the United States from Mexico around 1828 by Joel Roberts Poinsett. An avid gardener and amateur botanist, Poinsett was appointed as the first US Minister to Mexico in 1825. While in Mexico, Poinsett observed this species flowering and sent plants back to his greenhouse in Charleston. Until that time, this species was unknown outside of its native range of Mexico and Guatemala, where it was referred to as flor de nochebuena (Christmas Eve flower). Once introduced to the U.S., it quickly gained the common name poinsettia, but is also known by many other common names including Christmas flower, Christmas star, lobster plant, painted leaf, and Mexican flame leaf.
This species has a reputation for being extremely poisonous. While there is little doubt that the milky latex of poinsettias can cause irritation to the skin, eyes, mucus membranes, or when consumed, to the digestive system, poinsettia is apparently one of the less toxic species of Euphorbia. Of reported human exposure, there were no fatalities.
Source: The Neighborhood Gardner, University of Florida
The other day a friend came to visit with a fresh poinsettia in her hands. She knows how much I love flowers.
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