Home & Garden

We took a drive down the coast today on a nice day. We took a walk out on the beach at Seal Beach where I snapped this photo of a pink iceplant blooming on the sand.

Crocus is a genus of perennial flowering plants that grows from a corm (a tuber or root), which is native from the Aegean, across Central Asia. Often referred to as “Dutch” Crocus, these were only seen in Europe after the 16th century. The spice saffron is obtained from the stamens of Crocus sativus, a fall-blooming species. The name of the genus is derived from the Latin adjective crocatus, meaning saffron yellow.

I photographed this little beauty where it lives in a whiskey barrel planter in the backyard yesterday.

By the way, saffron and rosemary in rice is an elegant side dish, but that’s another blog.

I found out an interesting fact: Icelandic Poppies are native to the U.S.A. So why do they call it an Icelandic Poppy? Maybe it’s because it tolerates the colder weather so well. Although this has not been a particularly cold winter here in California, these thrive nonetheless in our garden. I snapped this shot today under cloudy skies to show the subtle beauty of this bloom in subdued light.

For more information on “Papaver nudicaule” see this page at Dave’s Garden:

PlantFiles: Detailed information on Iceland poppy, Arctic Poppy (Papaver nudicaule)

Family: Papaveraceae (puh-pav-er-AY-see-ee) (Info)
Genus: Papaver (puh-PAY-ver) (Info)
Species: nudicaule (new-dee-KAW-lee) (Info)

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Grown in my kitchen in a bulb vase, this pink hyacinth just seems to get prettier every day. I took this photo this morning when the light was just right through the figmented window over the stairway. I just love bulb growing season, don’t you?