Every month something has stopped me from participating in Bloom Day...thank goodness I shot these yesterday because this morning...my camera is acting up!
My lovely neighbor Regine gave me this plant that she said smelled "awful" but had an interesting flower...according to tradition I accepted it without a thank-you and said that I could put it out by the compost, and immediately began ignoring it. Who wants a stinky flower? Anyway, I rescued it mid-winter this past year, put it inside and still nothing happened. Two days ago I was doing the watering rounds and noticed that it had 14 buds, so I quickly got my camera. The next day I shot a few more as the buds were larger and turning pink. Yesterday they opened up. I did a search of "stinky flowers" and found "Wayne's World of Stinking Plants" and under carrion flowers was my girl...Stapelia gigantea, from Africa. It said that it attracted green bottle flies so I made a point to watch it throughout the day to see if the flies would show here in Austin and...they did! The flower is a member of the milkweed family and grows from 8-10 inches in diameter, mine was just under 8. Mid-afternoon I took a trip to Whole Foods to do my weekly shopping and right in the front door they were selling Aristolochia fimbriata, or Dutchman's Pipe...a native of Argentina, another carrion flower on the site...ohhhh I wanted one, until I checked the price!
This is a list of other things that are blooming in my garden today, but that I'm unable to capture:
Chocolate Plant
Rock Rose
Garlic Chive
Canna
Greg's Mistflower
Red Yucca
Purple and Yellow Lantana
Bulbine
Plumbego
Trumpet Vine
Crepe Myrtle
Fall Obedient Plant
What's blooming in your garden? Participating in Bloom Day is something that happens each month on the 15th. Garden Bloggers from all over the world leave a comment on Carol's May Dreams Gardens blog and that connects all of us soil lovin' flower fans. Check it out!!
Happy Gardening!
