My potted Gerberas got their second set of flowers this late summer. This was the one and only pod on the pink Gerbera. There is also a yellow/orange flower on the other Gerbera. Click the image to enlarge.
Beating the Heat
Whoo whee! It’s sure been hot the last few days. Today, I got a Frosty as a treat and it was good, but I still would like to go to that place with the white cold stuff. I don’t miss the fur though. I’m glad the hoomins got my fur trimmed for the summer.
Oh well, I guess I will go take a nap next to the fan.
Ladybug
She lit on the hibiscus, posed for just a second and fluttered off. Not before I got this photo, though. Click to enlarge.
The Devil and the Bee
The big Devil’s Tongue barrel cactus in the back yard is again in bloom. The appearance of the beautiful flowers attracts honey bees who brave their way through the spikes and spines to gather nectar. Click on the image to enlarge.
Rock ‘N’ Roll – 50th Anniversary-Mobile
I was looking through some of the many photos that Verna takes and pulled this one out to share. We saw this dude and his eclectic Rock ‘N’ Roll paint job on our way to the shooting range a few weeks ago. I am not able to name all of the faces on the van, but then I am not into that genre of music these days.
Carrion Flower
Verna took this picture of one of my favorite plants. It’s called Stapelia Gigantea and is a cactus-like succulent native to the African continent. I like it, but not because it has pretty flowers, not because of lavish green stalks and certainly not because it smells good.
Every summer, the plant produces several pods that grow like great pointed balloons and then explode into five-pointed, hairy flowers that produce an aroma of rotting flesh. While flowers are in bloom, the flies flock to it and consequently keep out of the patio area. I like that about it – it’s sorta like a fly trap.
That’s Verna’s hand lifting the drooping starfish up to be photographed. The plant can be seen at the left. Click on the image to enlarge.
Here’s more information about this exotic stinker that I lifted from UBC Botanical Garden:
As with many plants, Stapelia gigantea has a suite of common names. These include carrion flower, giant toad flower, Zulu giant, starfish flower and (in Australia) dead horse plant. Most of these are fairly descriptive – it does smell like carrion, it comes from Africa, it’s big, it resembles a starfish and it attracts flies like a dead horse. I haven’t been able to deduce the reason for toad flower, though (perhaps also because of the flies?).
You have probably guessed that this odd plant is pollinated by the blow-flies it attracts.
I should sneak in that Stapelia gigantea is considered an invasive plant in Hawaii and a weed in Australia.
