365Caws is now in its 14th year of publication, and was originally intended to end after 365 days. It has sometimes been difficult for me to find new material, particularly during the winter months, but now as I enter my own twilight years, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to provide daily posts. It is my hope that along the way I may have inspired someone to a greater curiosity about the natural world. If so, I can rest, content in the knowledge that my work here has been done.
Tuesday, July 28, 2020
Nigella, Love-In-A-Mist
Day 289: Although most of the plants in my flower beds are perennials, I like to fill in the open spots with annuals in order to have the freedom to "change it up" a bit each year. Invariably, though, there are a few stragglers from previous year, having re-seeded themselves before I could dead-head or remove pods. There have been a few I wished I'd never planted, and marigolds springs immediately to mind. As much as I love them, I was pulling marigolds for years as they cropped up in unanticipated spots. Likewise, I seem to have permanently installed tall yellow snapdragons when the dark red short ones I'd hoped would re-seed are slowly dying out, and never, ever again will I plant Lobelia in anything but a hanging basket. On the other hand, there are some faces I welcome each year, despite their visits coming as something of a surprise. One of these is Nigella, which bears the charming common name of Love-in-a-mist. I presume the "mist" portion of the nomenclature comes from the ferny, lacy foliage which surrounds the flowers, leaves which dry to a wiry state to become a basket for balloon-like maroon-and-cream seed pods. The pods are lovely in a dried arrangement, and hold their colour for months, but I always leave a few in the garden to assure more Love-in-a-mist next year.
Labels:
dried flowers,
flower beds,
gardening,
Love-in-a-mist,
Nigella
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