Mic Check

I would like, first of all, to apologize and offer fair warning: this is my first blog post, and I'm not really sure what it is I am doing on many levels. I don't really know html, or how to harness its immense power to create a shiny blog that does everything, or how to update constantly, or how to work twitter. I am not even very clear on what it is a blog is supposed to do. They kind of seem like strange public diaries, or photo albums with tedious and detailed captions, or rants about the state of everything, or odd hobby-centric do-it-yourself/look-at-what-I-did-myself forums.

I know, you are already super-interested. Just bear with me.

So, while I do not really know what the blog format in general attempts to accomplish, I do know what I, the witty and creative blog creator, would like to. Here's a bulleted list to break up the format:

• Provide pictures and updates to people who know me and are marginally interested in what I am doing.
• Record interesting plants and events, landscape designs/ideas (to those of you who know me are smirking at this one, and I mean, really smirking: I tell. I can hear the smirking from here but I'm new at this so just give me some slack), and thoughts that I have that I wish to develop later on (I know, barf), or that I hope readers (whoever you are) might find useful in your many endeavors.

I am sure that, despite not wanting to bore you with personal details and bizarre anecdotes and (gasp) scientific names, you will at some point (probably many points) find yourself scanning the volumes for any pictures or videos to break up the monotony. I will endeavor to provide interesting things to do/look at besides long chunks of meaningless text. Most of the pictures will be of plants, and many of these plants will be from my "plants of the day."

Soooo. I like to take these pictures during my lunch break at Scott Arboretum:

For example:

The Dove Tree, or Handkerchief Tree (Davidia involucrata)

Dove Tree! Awesome!

This one really really stinks, like what-is-that-smell-is-it-cat-urine-stinks. Its in the dogwood family, and is the only member of its genus. Its from China. It was first introduced to the United States around 1900, and is named for the French missionary/naturalist Father Armand David who was also the first westerner to describe, you guessed it, the giant panda. What a career.

Unless otherwise posted, all the pictures I put up on this will be taken by me. This brings up a whole new set of things to apologize for, but again, know that I am doing the best that I can.

 

Pulmonaria: common name=lungwort Certainly is a nice trick, that variegation. This is 'Little Star'. Its genus name refers to the idea that people a long time ago used to think it cured lung disease. Its native to Europe, with one or two native Asian species. A fun common name is soldiers and sailors.

One more, I think, for good measure? Maybe we'll stay variegated?

This is Disporum sessile 'Variegatum'. You've probably heard of fairy bells. If not, google it. This used to be considered an Asian fairy bell, until they tried to create a phylogeny with both North American fairy bells and Asian fairy bells and found out using tricksy genetics that they aren't as related as they look. Whoops! This is kind of a theme for how classification is going in general right now.

Stay tuned for Rhododendrons, wildflowers from Mt. Cuba, and notes from the Crum Creek Cleanup.