1 pic a day 2012, May 18th: Pink Crown

Pink Crown, a photo by torresk on Flickr.

I discovered this one yesterday. Was facing the street, so I hadn't noticed the flowers. This cactus has never failed to bloom every spring for the last 5 years or so. According to Google Images, this is a Mammillaria zeilmanniana, but it has so many synonyms that maybe I didn't choose the most common one. Everything fits the description and pictures, so let's say it is.

I just noticed that this one already has a fruit, bottom/center of the picture, just above the Asparagus that is growing there. It looks like it's trying to take over the balcony, this one. I removed at least 7 yesterday alone. It's not that we don't like it, but one is more than enough. They tend to "eat" the soil and at least on one occasion one of them has broken the pot. So they have to be kept under control!

1 pic a day 2012, May 16th: Pink Quill

Pink Quill, a photo by torresk on Flickr.

This is technically known as a Tillandsia cyanea. But Pink Quill is a fancier name, apparently.

We got this one as a gift for a friend we hadn't seen for at least a year and a half, which is a shame, as we live in the same city. But you know how it is.

The plant flowered the next day; I wasn't expecting it, and for a few seconds couldn't figure out what was that thing on the plant. Further inspection revealed a nice purple flower (which here shows as blue-ish, for some reason. I guess CCD sensitivity to blue or something techy).

Today I discovered a second flower; supposedly they last a long time, and we should expect more where these came from. Apparently, bromeliads die after blooming, after having produced pups to perpetuate the species, but I have found several sources that say otherwise. In particular, Mr. Subjunctive says that this is not always the case, and I trust what he says. (He writes an amazingly entertaining blog, where I have learned lots about houseplants). So I will keep you posted on any further developments.

1 pic a day 2012, May 15th: Arctic White

Arctic White, a photo by torresk on Flickr.

This is supposedly an Arctic White Hippeastrum. At least that's what the label said. I bought it because it was a new color for me, and so far we have three: red, red+white and salmon. So white was novel if maybe a bit boring.

Boy, were we in for a surprise.

The label showed the usual (for me) six-petal flower, so that was what I was expecting. Not THIS show. I didn't think that white-on-white was going to work, but this must be my favourite flower-themed picture so far (and you know there are a lot of those!).

Sadly, it seems the season is over; I haven't been able to find other colors, but if things work as planned, these bulbs should put on quite a show again next year!

1 pic a day 2012, May 14th: Allium

Allium, a photo by torresk on Flickr.

A bit behind with the "daily" posts. Won't even try to make good excuses: work, work and more work. Anyway. I don't know what variety this is, but it is an Allium; so basically an ornamental onion :P

I love the geometry here; the flowers are perfect six-point stars, so the whole thing screams of hexagons. I suspect that a fuller flower (we weren't that lucky, or maybe this is the best this variety does) would resemble a geodesic dome.

I know; I'm a geek.

1 pic a day 2012, May 12th - Parsley

Parsley, a photo by torresk on Flickr.

Huge plant, did not expect it to grow this much. Have started to cut it down a bit, so it doesn't take over the whole pot. It is supposed to be sharing it with Lemon cucumber, Swiss chard, coriander, dill and catnip. We'll see who survives.

Aloe vera

I was having a conversation with some friends the other day, when I mentioned Aloe vera flowers; they gave me this baffled look: apparently, they had never seen those before. I guess I take it for granted, as we have had flowering Aloe vera in our balcony for several years now. The one that is currently in bloom has actually not one, but two flower stalks:

I'm not sure how common this is. Back in Paraguaná, where I used to live, this plant was all over the place, and now that I think about it, I don't recall seeing a lot of flowers. Maybe it's the age of the plant; this one is 3rd or 4th generation from the one we originally had and had to give away on account it didn't fit on the balcony anymore. This one is a bit smaller, but still impressive: roughly 110 cm in diameter, and the flower stalk is about 115 cm long!

Anyway. Went to the balcony to get a few more pictures for the post. The flowers are actually quite nice:

And then I noticed the floor was all sticky; further examination revealed there was syrup-like stuff all over the leaves - nectar leaking from the flowers:

So, of course, I had to try it. Extremely sweet stuff! Google did not reveal any information on whether this is actually used for sweetening food or something (probably not practical), but I did learn that hummingbirds dig it. Since I am most certainly not one, I have no idea what effect it could have on me. I know that ingesting some parts of the leaf is not recommended, so maybe this could be my last post :P 

I should have learned my lesson a few years ago when I spotted a new plant growing in one of our pots, saw some black fruits, and decided to try one. It was Solanum nigrum, also known as Hierba Mora or the more descriptive Tomatillo del Diablo: definitely poisonous, as I learned from Google AFTER having tried one. Nothing happened, of course, but I was quite worried for a few minutes.

At least this time I Googled first. But seriously, it is sweet and it comes from a plant. That should mean it's safe, shouldn't it? Supposedly all the other stuff that one is not supposed to try smells bad, is bitter or something. I think. Oh well.

1 pic a day 2012, May 6th: (Canadian) Swiss Chard - 127/366

127/366, a photo by torresk on Flickr.

First harvest of the spring... some seeds we brought from Canada, that promised nice, bright colors... and they delivered! This one was as tasty as nice to look at!

1 pic a day 2012: May 1st

Well, May starts and with it a new approach: to try to write a daily post for each picture that's part of the #1picxday2012 group. I'm not really sure I will be able to keep up with it but it doesn't hurt to try. I never thought I would get this far with the 1 pic a day challenge, and here we are entering month 5!

Today's picture is a snapdragon (Antirrhinum) that bloomed last week in our balcony. It's growing in the same pot as the Araucaria (which is featured in the April 1picxday pictures, post coming soon), and that I have always known by the name "Perritos" (little dogs). I don't really remember how they got there, but they are thriving and producing blooms left and right, so I guess they like it here.

Clicking on it will open the original on a separate window, in case you want to see more detail. It has gorgeous colors, so it's worth it!

As the work that was being done in the balconies has finally been finished, we could move the plants outside again. We have 138 plants! Actually, 137, as one of them was accidentally crushed to pieces a few minutes ago. A curved support and a square rail don't match. The poor thing was featured as 52/366 on February 21st, so its legacy will live on. Plus we still have hope that it will survive.