More from my February 2013 trip to Longwood Gardens...
I admit to having a soft spot for succulents. I simply like they way they look; and the impressions of the leaves on leaves of these agaves really caught my eye this time around.
Another "succulent": fan aloe, for obvious reasons.
A terrestrial plant that freakin' looks like coral. It's actually a bromeliad, a family that more typically includes "air plants"--epiphytes: non-parasitic plants that live on other plants in tropical regions. And this one is in the desert room, so one assumes it doesn't rely on the higher humidity that other members of the family need… Plants are freakin' amazing.
Most of us temperate-zoners use elephant ears, caladiums, alocasias and their relatives--all of the over-sized, arrowhead-leafed lovelies--as foliage plants... Not sure of the family/genus here, but in the Palm House, it's happy enough to flower.
Not your grandmother's geranium! But it is a pelargonium. Oh, the horrible twisted things we humans have done to plant genetics… (I must admit, I do like the leaf shape, though. *sigh*)
Not sure which orchid this is or how "natural" is this form, but it looks nothing like a "typical" orchid (unless you take it down to its component parts, the Orchid Room volunteer told me). The fact that about a third of this variety's flower sprays were perfect double helixes really tickled my fancy.
I could oh-so-easily become addicted to bamboo. There are even clumping varieties that do not escape their containers, even if the collecting of bamboo plants were to get out of control…
As groomed and trained and bred as conservatory plants are, sometimes they get a little of their own back--like this pink-blossomed individual amongst a sea of white. "HAH. So there!" Vegetative version of a certain crude hand gesture, would you say…?
One of these days I will make an attempt at keeping carnivorous plants. This is the flower of a pitcher plant! Who knew?
Quickly becoming my all-time favorite flower, I must find out if I can grow Coral Pea at home…
