Be careful...

Here is 'Molineux' in the morning sunlight. I love this rose.




Be careful what you wish for. When I bought my Yellow Pitcher Plant, there was another little plant growing at the base of the Pitcher Plant. It had tiny leaves and I liked the contrast that it made with the Pitcher Plant, so I left it to see what it would do.




Well, it bloomed with tiny yellow flowers and it was very charming. I had no idea what it was, but I hoped it would live through the winter, and maybe even reseed so I could have a couple more of them in my bog garden.





It did survive, but it didn't reseed last year. It did reseed this year. And look what happened! It has taken over my bog garden!



No, I am not complaining. I can easily thin out the plants but I just haven't. I still have no idea what they are but I do like them.


Have a beautiful day!

Venus Flytrap...

In Spring or Summer of 2oo8 I bought a Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula). They are native to North Carolina, although not the area of North Carolina in which I live. I planted it in its own terra-cotta pot within the bog garden because, although they need a period of cold - you know, like Winter, - I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it for Winter. I ended up leaving the plant in my bog garden to see how it would fare. It didn't make it.




So, last Summer, I bought another Venus Fly Trap and again planted it in the terra-cotta pot. When Winter came around, I put the plant into my greenhouse. This time, even though it looked a little sad, it did make it through the Winter and I was very pleased.




As the weather began to warm up, I put it back out into the bog garden. It started growing again. And then a few weeks ago, I realized that it was starting to send up a flower stalk! You can see it in the above picture.



My Venus FlyTrap is now blooming. I am just thrilled. First the success of helping it through the Winter and now the reward of flowers. What more could I ask of it?!




As you can tell by my pictures, it forms a cluster of buds. The one bloom open has been open for a couple of days now.




I checked to see if the flowers might be fragrant, but I couldn't detect any scent. There is a tiny spider web thread along the top of the petals. If you click on the above picture, it will enlarge and you can see the web thread.



It is a small flower - just less that half an inch across - but the detail in it is absolutely amazing. And it might reseed itself. How awesome would that be!


Have a beautiful day!