Spring has sprung in leaps and bounds!

OK by popular request I blog on!

Before I even get to spring I can't wait to tell you about my new crush. As always I think she is the most beautiful thing in existence! She is flashy yet subtle. She opens up to reveal this incredible light within! She is seemingly unpredictable like a chameleon yet changes only more subtly with the seasons. Her colors are predominantly chartreuse and light green spanned by a red-pink that carries a hint of the amethyst jewels to come. Each graceful arch is topped by a delicate spike of light pink starry flowers. As spring arrives the flowers change in an unusual way. Instead of flowers dropping as say on an apple tree and forming a fruit from the 'scar' left by the flower Her flower makes a slow transformation to a dull reddish fruit. As late winter "wears" on (as only it can for us southern Californians...ho-hum!) these dull chubby casts of the former delicate pink stars seem to take over even the pink stars. Here we are on April 13 and seemingly overnight these formerly delicate pink spikes of flowers turned dull reddish lumps have suddenly begun 'bursting' amethyst jewels. These fruits would be a phenomenon if they were more that 1/4" in diameter. I can imagine one of these the size of a cantalope seen in late afternoon. The semi-transparent, translucent outer surface takes up the ambient light and draws out the deep amethyst colored shape in the center as though it were embodied within something between ice and jello. As you move this "cantalope" sized fruit the light plays tricks that make it seem as though there is a living, moving embryo inside!

I want to clarify that this observation is cumulative and that I was not "high" other than by the twilight of the day which is my favorite time of day. It is the time that I see colors and smell smells better than at any other time.

Getting back to this sensual beauty which you must assuredly realize is "only" a plant otherwise I am in deep doo-doo with Carole.

Her name is Phytolacca esculenta, known to some as the Asian Poke Weed. The poke weed that we may know in the US is a mostly southern grown plant made famous by a phrase in a rock song which goes like this- "...poke salad Annie..." What is unique about my Annie is that she grew up from birth in my garden. She is a seedling of the variegated form of this plant which I had purchased from a rare plant nursery. I had lost the original plant which I was (so I thought) totally in love with. The variegation was subtle yet beautiful...yellow, gold, chartreuse all on the same leaf. When the seedlings no longer displayed the delicate variegation of the leaf I was almost ready to at least totally ignore these plants forever. Some glimmer of hope that one might develop this beautiful variegation...resuscitate the remaining plants...pot them up and through a bit of fertilizer or pull a few weeds around...OH what rewards! Get that variegation mind-set out! You have got something way more beautiful than that! Now I have a plant that could truly be described as a chameleon among plants. It is a subtropical plant from China. It is not for someone who needs plants like roses all over their garden. It likes protection from the hot sun and needs regular moisture. It is probably short lived...comparable to an impatiens which is a common plant usually sold as a annual. It also does not seem to develop a woody stem as in the other more "woody" perennials comparable to say fuchsias.

Here is a list of all these wonder colors and changes on these new seedlings-

Cool weather- new growth chartreuse to light green highlighted by reddish edges and subtle reddish veining. Stems more reddish than later. Flowers develop as delicate pink with pinpoints of reddish color. Older leaves are light green.

Warmer weather-new growth chartreuse with reddish-purple "touches" turning almost primrose yellow, then a green infusion begins at the tips of the pointed leaves and "consumes" the yellow until the leaf is a mid-green.

Summer weather seems to numb the plant a little. Growth and flowering continues but much more weakly. Gentle pruning seems to get it through the heat. Still it is showy and a deserving plant at this point. I am glad that I kept a back-up of seed even if I lost the original plant that I thought was so fantastic!

Wow...! I suddenly realised I have had a 10 hour day and I am trying to put all the zillion of thoughts in my head into my spring notes.

More is coming later...spring has revelry of stories to come.