Do you walk your garden in the search of green life? I think we all walk our gardens and don’t see beyond the green life that lies in front of us. Most of the time we just look at a flower and say, “oh that’s pretty.” You expect flowers in your garden, but have you ever asked yourself what is a flower?
Since we are all being home-schooled right now let’s step back into class. Ask yourself a question the next time you see a flower. What is the point? Is it necessary for the plant?
So check this out. There are two types of flowers. Perfect flowers and imperfect flowers. It sounds simple enough but it is not. Perfect flowers have both male and female reproductive parts. Imperfect flowers have either male or female reproductive parts. We are all walking imperfect flowers.
Let’s talk about the petals, what are they for? Do they have a purpose?
Flowers have evolved into bright, colorful appearances to lure us in. I am here to catch your eye. The flower says, “look at me.” The bright colors are seductive for pollinators such as birds, bees, and butterflies. Like mosquitoes, I have always wondered what the functionality of a wasp is in nature. They are pollinators too. Now we know about petals, we can stop there but let’s go a little bit further. In the center of the flower is the stigma, in the middle of that are pollen tubes, inside there, believe it or not, is an embryonic sac. Pollen works its way down the pollen tube into the embryonic sac and “would you look at that” a seed is developed. On a fruit tree it would develop into a fruit, on a flower it could develop into a seed.
Let me introduce you to Miss Osteospermum Eckionis aka Denim Blue. This flower should be in every garden. Osteo’s are extremely easy to grow and I think they are very underrated. They are friggin’ flower factories, blooming from spring all the way into fall. But Beware, they are heroin addicts, they LOOOOOVE fertilizer. They also love to be touched unlike your grumpy cat that sits on the couch and looks out the window all day. Deadhead this plant, not to be confused with the Grateful Dead, which I as an 18 year old got to see live in San Francisco. I didn’t know what a contact high was but I learned that night, sorry… off topic. Now, if you don’t want to touch this plant and pull of its dead flowers here is what I do. I wait until the blooms slow down and are 50% spent, I sheer it, and feed it. A few weeks later, Natures smiles.
So as we wrap up class, next time you look at a flower you’ll know a few basics. Oh and two fun facts before before we adjourn.
High-Hand Nursery is open!
Thursday thru Sunday 9:00am-4:00pm
If you can respect social distancing for your health and ours, welcome to the nursery. We wear masks and have plexiglass at the counters 😊.
High-Hand Cafe is open for takeout!
Thursday thru Sunday 11:00am-3:00pm
There are two ways you can order:
Visit www.highhand.com and order online.
What’s the second way to order? Come to the nursery, buy plants, order online, we will have your food ready in about 15 minutes at the cafe when you leave.
Check out our menu at High-Hand Marketplace online:
- Fresh produce
- Farm fresh eggs
- Cafe favorites
- Fun Plants
Here’s how the High-Hand Curbside Marketplace works:
- Click here to order online or visit our website and look for the banner.
- Select a time for pick up. We are open for pickup Thursday–Sunday 11:00–3:00pm.
- Now here’s the tricky part, toggle our menu options at the top. The menu options are listed as Grocery, Beverages, Nursery, Restaurant and don’t forget the Olive Oil Company.
- Make your selections then head to check out and pay online. We will have your order ready at your scheduled time in the Cafe parking lot.
Can I just say this? I want to thank you for thinking about us, it has been heart warming. Our nursery team and cafe team thank you for your support. Without you, we would just not be here, it’s that simple. From the bottom of our hearts to yours, thank you.
I hope to see you,
Scott
P.S. Buy an Osteo, you will smile all summer long.
