Sago Palms

“The Appendage”

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Aw…come-on!

I noticed it from afar, “wait, is that a ?”

“Why is it protruding out the side like that?”

“Thats not normal.”

I subconsciously tried to shield my kids from this sago’s rather confrontational appendage, bundling them quickly through the front door of Dave & Busters.

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Really?

The reflecting window made the scene even more obscene. Upon leaving the establishment I made sure to comically obscure part of the strobilus with a white napkin.

Forrest-gump-originalThat’s all I have to say about that.

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Cold temperatures and even colder rain have taken care of the usual frost-prone victims,

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I knew purple heart was about to go. I used to cut all the mush back but found the faster way is to just snap it and pull from the base, slopping the frost-bitten blood and guts into Home Depot buckets for composting.

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A messy job, but much faster.

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Canna lily wasn’t far behind, along with

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some now ominous Hoja Santa Ring-wraiths.

In the darkness there was some light,

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a solitary cone flower refuses to give in to winter,

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and if there was sunlight, rest assured he was basking in it.

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Fatsia Japonica catching some sun.

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One of the best firework displays I have ever seen them produce.

Finally:

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Ghost plant,

Graptopetalum paraguayense

 

taking shelter from the cold winds under a ‘Hardy Red’ Oleander. Although they look and feel delicate, these ghosts can handle very cold weather, drought and a significant amount of shade apparently.

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Stay Tuned For:

“Nosy Parker”

 

All material © 2015 for eastsidepatch. Unauthorized
intergalactic reproduction strictly prohibited, and
punishable by late (and extremely unpleasant)
14th century planet Earth techniques.

“Shelling Out”

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Halloween candy is seemingly endless this year, sugar rushes sparking some odd behavioral patterns.

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“Don’t tell me…your a Boxer?”

Staying with odd behavioral patterns:

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How about this animated female sago palm!

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She was clutching a bunch of new red seeds in her megasporophyll basket (which are in fact the modified leaves of the sago).

Also on our travels…

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A writhing stand of Variegated Century Plant (Agave americana var. marginata), and not a long-nose weevil in sight…yet!

After a bite to eat it was onto Laguna Gloria sculpture park.

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The installation below is called the “Net-Work”

by Korean sculptor and installation artist Do Ho Suh:

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Gold and chrome plating over plastic figures that are attached onto a nylon fishing net, 

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this must have taken some serious patience to fabricate.

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The park also has plenty of mature sabals.

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Back in the Patch:

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Urgh!

My two pecan trees have been busy of late, dropping all their droppings over as big an area as possible.

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It has been a bumper crop of pecan nuts this year so I naturally called on some child labor for harvesting.

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Now…

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…get off the iPad…

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…and get busy shelling.”

“Seriously Dad?”

Finally:

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Cold temperatures have triggered fatsia japonica into bloom and initiated new growth.

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Last of the mist flowers being held by a light deprived agave.

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I will leave you with a few images of the “Garden of cosmic speculation” by landscape architect Charles Jencks at his home near Dumfries in South West Scotland, my old stomping ground.

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The 30 acre sculpture garden is inspired by science and mathematics drawing references and influence from black holes and fractals.

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Stay Tuned For:

“Barf or Peach?”

 

All material © 2014 for eastsidepatch. Unauthorized
intergalactic reproduction strictly prohibited, and
punishable by late (and extremely unpleasant)
14th century planet Earth techniques.

 

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