Spring Continues And A Rant*(Added)

It seems like it has been some time since we had a sunny morning.
(Dicentra spectabilis with Anthyrium niponicum ‘Pictum’ behind)The ephemerals are enticed out of the ground with the abundant rain. (Mertensia virginica)Tightly clasped buds unwind the spirals of petals.(Paeonia suffruticosa ‘Hatsugarasu’)Long dormant flowers appear suddenly open.(Fothergilla gardenii)Even unwelcome guests show their faces.(Taraxacum officionale)Later tulips, such as Tulipa ‘Queen of The Night’ begin showing hints of the dark velvet to come.Tulipa ‘Silverstream’ continues to close and open as the sun is hidden then returns. Spiraea x bumalda ‘Magic Carpet’ never ceases to delight in the background.In the midst of this tulip talk, a public announcement needs to be inserted.We interrupt the regular programming of pretty pictures and mindless riveting text for a warning. The above photo shows a tulip whose petals have dried up and fallen to the wayside. What is left is the seed pod. DO NOT LEAVE THIS ON THE STALK! DO leave the stem to recharge the bulbs for next year’s flowers, but do not allow this seed head to mature. All tulips should have these seed heads removed. The bulbs will multiply for future divisions if the seed head is not allowed to develop. Fingers, scissors, felcos, it doesn’t matter what tool is used, just do it. Cut just below the seed, leaving as much stem as possible.Last fall when the daylily hill had some redesign, click here to read that enthralling tale, three Alchemilla mollis were planted along the edge.We could not decide which of the photos to use, so went with both of them. Each has qualities we admire. The above shot has the droplets encircling the leaf on the right that adds to the magic. The previous picture looks like green pools for fairy skinny dipping.Sleeping bumbles are easier to capture on pixels than buzzing flying nectar seeking ones. The faintest hum could be heard as we carefully and quietly snapped his portrait. Pleasant dreams, my friend, until the warm sun awakens you.
Frances
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There has been a bee in my bonnet lately, figuratively not literally, although there was that time with the long billowing skirt, about the use of botanical latin names after my favorite US gardening magazine, Fine Gardening started using common names only in the captions of their photographs. The botanical name is in the text, but many people, me included sometimes only look at the photos and the captions for several days before reading the stories, sometimes years later, if ever. Is this a dumbing down to appeal to more readers in a last ditch attempt to keep the magazine subscription numbers up? Why not educate the masses, rather than do this? How difficult is it to include the latin name also? I am this close, (imagine thumb and forefinger quite close together, just a hair’s breadth apart) to writing a letter to the editor, but feel it would fall on deaf ears. Learning the proper names of plants, the ones used around the world, is a noble undertaking. To discourage that education leaves me saddened. Over the course of this blog’s history, we have tried to include the botanical latin, with proper italics and capitalization. Blogging has taught me the importance of these names for identification. A quick google search of the plant name will reveal the correct spelling. Writing it out, rather than copy and paste has taught us many names that no longer have to be researched when referred to here. It is not being said that everyone use the latin only everytime, but a respected magazine with a large following of dedicated gardeners should include them in the captions in my humble opinion.
F
*Added: April 8, 2009. We have gone back to April 2009 number 126, the Fine Gardening issue where the lack of latin names in the captions was noticed in two articles; “Spectacular Spring Blooms” by Dave Demers and “Sweetly Scented Annuals” by Danielle Ferguson to get the facts straight for the letter to the editor. The subsequent issue, June 2009 number 127 shows the latin names in all captions. We will wait to see what the next issue brings. This may have been an error on the part of the editor that has been rectified.
F