By Eric Driskill – I don’t recall when an avonia first made it to my wish list, but I do remember it was at the very top of the list. I looked for about five years before I found one for sale. Ever since that first acquisition, which I still have, I have noticed that they are not that difficult to find. …
By Chris Deem – It is always quiet here. There are no trees, there are no shrubs. Each morning at dawn the sky caresses the stones. The sunrise this day, like the beginning of many other mornings, cast a soft pastel brightness of blue amd pink over the cool, quartz-rich gravel. …
By Peggy Galantowicz – I have been privileged to acquire the October show-worthy plant, Boophane disticha. Sometimes spelled Boophone, the name is derived from the Greek “bous,” ox, and “phone,” death, referring to the poisonous properties of the bulb. The specific name disticha …
By Eric Driskill – Boswellia are trees known for their fragrant resin with many pharmacological uses. The Biblical frankincense was likely extracted from the resin of Boswellia sacra. Four species of Boswellia produce true frankincense of various grades. Grades of resin depend on the …
By Chris Deem – They were surely poisonous. There were three of them – pale-green rounded forms, covered by dry, peeling membranes. The dry layers seemed similar to reptilian scales. Each of them had an unearthly presence, an appearance of things that should be subterranean, …
By Eric Driskill – Brachychiton is a genus of 31 species of trees and large shrubs native to Australia with one species in New Guinea. Brachychitons were originally classified in the family Sterculiaceae, which is now within Malvaceae. Many brachychitons are known as “kurrajong” or simply …
By Chris Deem – Purple, some say, is the color of royalty, and its flowers were purple, an impure sinister purple. Nine malodorous flowers sat atop its caudex like dark, interlocking enclosures. Dark flies with large red compound eyes scrutinized the flowers with their thin, hair-covered …
By Peggy Galantowicz – I am proud to be the winner of the January attendance prize, the show-worthy Brighamia insignis. These plants have swollen, rounded bases that grow up into a stout, fleshy stem. The dense rosette of shiny, spoon-shaped leaves are 4 to 8 inches long …
By Bob Williams – When researching Plant of the Month articles, you often read about the individuals after whom genera are named. The majority of the time, the individuals did field research for many years and wrote articles or books on particular genera. The genus Bursera is named …
By Eric Driskill – Bursera is a genus of about 100 species of flowering shrubs and trees named after the 17th century Danish botanist Joachim Burser (1583-1639). Burseras are found in the Americas from the southern United States to Argentina. The wood of many of the Bursera species …