Daily Dose Blogger Bios
Toothbrush? Shrimp? Flower!
What the...? Is it a... a... bug? No! Everybody, this is Grevillea 'Long John', from Australia. Grevillea 'Long John', this is everybody.
The Australians are a great group of plants - tough, sculptural, super-cool. G. 'Long John' is one of the coolest of the super-cool, with long, skinny, needle-like leaves that make it look like a lacey pine. It's flowers are very unique, and a little hard to describe (when has that ever stopped me?) ...okay, here goes - the flowers of Grevillea 'Long John' look like a toothbrush that has little curly shrimp heads instead of bristles... or, a conga line of pink snails with extra long antenna? This shrub will eventually grow to about 10', right now mine is approximately 4' at it's highest tip, and will be adorned with these koo-koo flowers almost all year long. I have 'Long John' planted with Phormium 'Dazzler', Justicia brandegeana (otherwise known as Shrimp Plant ... are we sensing a theme here?), and Gaura 'Siskiyou Pink' - the cluster will come into it's own later in the summer as the Shrimp Plant gets it's groove on. I'll snap a larger photo then, I just couldn't resist giving you a preview of 'Long John' and his crazy -ass flower.
Just a quick note that your Ipomoea Blackie is on sale at Parkseed.com - 6 of 'em for $10. (I believe they get you on shipping, though.)
Thanks for the heads up, Susa - you're my girl. Love that 'Blackie'! I'm curious about the coppery colored one - have you seen it? I've only seen it in print, I haven't come across it in any nurseries around here. I think I have to break down and order it online (I always try to get my plants locally when I can) to give it a whirl in my front yard. We know where 'Blackie' goes... look out, Eden!
That's so Frankenflower.
Isn't it? I have a few monster flowers lurking in my garden - I'm waiting for another one of them to send up a bloom stalk right now. I love the weird blossoms - they seem extra chic to me.
Wow, crazy! I love it. I love wacky flowers (passionflowers--love!) and succulents and things that look sort of like they might talk...
I am extremely excited today because the last few days I've been getting suspicious about the tree outside my office window (I'm living in NH in a rental house until next month, when the balcony garden apartment becomes mine) is a dogwood! I'm pretty sure it is--I hadn't suspected it because I'm used to the dogwoods blooming around March or earlier (in Oregon) or April (in NY) but never never just budding in mid-May! Could it be??? They are my all-time favorite.
Re: Ipomoea, I haven't seen it locally but it's on www.provenwinners.com wholesale line. Perhaps it could be special ordered through a local nursery.
Funny you mention the "monster plants:" you should see the flower I finally got from a Cup of Gold vine after six years. (We decided a while ago if we combined a Dr. Seuss garden with an English garden, we'd end up with an Alice in Wonderland garden.)