This weekend consisted of waves of adrenaline, constant amusement, and well-earned sleep at the end of it all! One of the many excitements resulted in the photos here: the journey of the Mariposa lily, which I am now so totally obsessed with.
She opened up right before the compost delivery truck dumped three yards of compost on her. Yeah, ouch. I'll always have pictures to tide me over until next year. And a few other lovelies will climb their way out of the mulch to endlessly amuse me in the coming weeks.
Her neighbor, who survived, closes at night only to awaken to the sunshine the next morning. Those petals seem to fit together so perfectly!
Another bee's eye view. After a quick google diversion, I still can't figure out what its pollinator is... I know that a few plants produce flowers that resemble meat to attract flies as pollinators, but I don't know if this is the case here. Can anyone contribute to my confusion any further?
Poor Calochortus. It seems that death-by-dumptruck is running rampant lately, as we lost our largest hounds tongue to the soil truck last week. I'm no help on the pollinator front. Do you have a copy of the book "Calochortus" (pub 2007) by Mary Gerritsen? I saw it at the CNPS plant sale on Saturday. Not sure how much they go into pollinator attraction for these lilies, but might be worth a peek.
ReplyDeletePoor hound's tongue. It sounds like you have tons, though so I guess next year will bring you more.
ReplyDeleteI don't have the book, but it sounds lovely. I saw a fly and a spider hanging out in one- the fly seemed preoccupied with the hairs on the petal and the spider seemed intent on staying inconspicuous!
The way these flowers are colored more intensely as you approach the center really pulls you in. If I were a bug I'd visit it. Sorry to hear of the sad mulching accident. Tragic.
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