Mock Orange, Skimma, Guelder Rose

Mock Orange | Philadelphus
P. coronarius is an antique; ‘splendidly perfumed’ ... enjoys woodland conditions ... for ‘more excitement’ acquire the variegated form from the 1770s ...
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Skimma
Evergreen; brilliant fruits; perfumed flowers ... S. japonica was introduced in 1838 ... mocked the air pollution and other filth of the big cities of the day ...
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Guelder Rose | Viburnum opulus
Was called ‘pliant meally tree’ in days of old ... it was ‘in all old gardens from the 16th century’ ... ‘It should be in all modern ones, too’ ... V. tinus was grown in pots ‘to perfume the hall or orangery in winter’ ...
[David Stuart]
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Giant Hogweed | Heracleum mantegazzianum
Native of the Caucasus ... grows in damp places ... ‘This plant has a bad reputation’: why?, one may ask ... ‘because contact causes skin to become sensitive to sunlight and burn, and it is not legal to plant it. However, should it appear, it is wonderful for the wild garden with other giants like Gunnera and tall grasses.’ ...
[some Englishman]
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Yellow Corydalis | C. lutea
‘... everything about it is dainty and refined’ ... foliage reminiscent of maidenhair fern ... flowers hang down prettily, like ‘fingers of a hand held out for a kiss’ ... self-sows ... belongs ‘in the dapples shade garden with its cousin, fringed bleeding heart (Dicentra eximia), surrounded by the cheery spurred flowers of columbines’ ... the shiny seeds gladden the hearts of ants; they carry them off and ‘hide them in crevices’ ... its ‘cousin from China’, C. flexuosa, has blue fragrant flowers & greyish foliage; likes moist acid soil ...
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Delphinium grandiflorum ‘Blue Mirror’
aka Chinese delphinium ... all the purtiness of regular delphiniums without all that ‘darn work’ ... never needs staking ... long-blooming if short-lived ... deadhead ... likes good air circulation with some afternoon shade ... they’re limies ... ‘don’t skimp on the fertilizer’ ... slugs to this plant: you are tasty ... stem cutting in early sp. ... D. x belladonna ‘Bellamosum’ does well in hot areas; grows to 4 ft. ...
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Bleeding heart | Dicentra spectabilis
Divide the brittle roots during dormancy – carefully ... ‘easy to grow from seed’ ... may go dormant in summer if treated with disrespect ... D. ‘Luxuriant’ has finely textured foliage ...
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Purple Gas Plant | Dictamnus albus ‘Purpureus’
Sturdy, hardy, trouble-free ... it possesses ‘exquisite and subtle beauty’ ... blooms in May ... produces seedpods that are easy on the eyes; same with the foliage ... lives long ... site it in a sunny, well-drained spot and ‘leave it there’ ... the roots do not like to be touched or looked at ... ‘comes easily from seed’ ...
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Yellow Foxglove | Digitalis grandiflora
Has all of common foxglove’s old-fashioned charm and ‘none of its make-work habits’ ... divide in sp. ... self-sows ... deadhead for a late-summer display ...
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Echinacea purpurea ‘Crimson Star’
‘... it is undoubtedly the best all-around purple coneflower ever’ ... long life and reliability: it haz it ... summer heat: it takes it ... pests and diseases turn away in frustration ... division: 'tis better not to do it ... sow seeds outdoors in the fall; the seedlings ‘may or may not’ match Mommy and Daddy ...
[Perennial All-Stars]
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    Cadillac wrote from Detroit (1698) of the Potawatomi and other Algonquin tribes gathered there, “They are very good anatomists and so when they have an arm or any bone broken they treat it very cleverly and with great skill and dexterity and experience shows that they can cure a wounded man better in a week than our surgeons can in a month.”
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The gum of the Canada balsam and that of the pine tree have been mentioned as being used by the Indian tribes to heal wounds. Sagard wrote in 1624 that the Huron chewed the root of a plant called oscar to heal all sorts of sores and wounds. This is considered to be American sarsaparilla, Aralia nudicaulis. The 1724 memoir on the Miami medicinal plants lists it as used by them for sores and cuts .... This plant is a relative of our American ginseng ...
    Smartweed juice was sprayed on the wound by the Virginia Indians in 1687. Over one hundred years later Tournefort in Paris found that a decoction of smartweed restrained the progress of gangrene.
[Medicinal and Other Uses of North American Plants]
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Works and Days, a poem in 823 hexameters by Hesiod.
    The chief themes of the poem are the need for justice in a tyrannical age and the need for work. After an invocation to the Muses, the poet addresses his brother Perses, urging him to a reconciliation of their quarrel. He relates the fable of the Hawk and the Nightingale, illustrative of tyranny, and the myths of Pandora and of the Five Ages of Mankind (Golden, Silver, Bronze, Heroic, and Iron) to explain man’s present toilsome lot. The poem then proceeds to a sort of farmer’s calendar, in the main an enumeration of the work to be done at various seasons, with a little technical instruction; some brief advice on mercantile navigation; a collection of gnomic precepts on social and religious conduct; and a calendar of lucky and unlucky days. It has the appearance of a group of detached pieces loosely connected, but united by the single personality of the author; in these later interpolations have perhaps been made. It represents the life-experience of a single close-fisted peasant, schooled in adversity, circumspect, grumbling but courageous, and is marked by simplicity and a sense of human misery.
[Oxford Companion to Classical Literature]
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Tovara - A Shade Garden Plant With Many Names and Varieties
One of the plants that reseeds quite a bit in the shade garden is Tovara Virginia or Painter's Palette. It brightens up the shadowy places beneath trees with it's colorful leaves. Late in the summer, its flowers rise on tall, bare stalks, looking more like tiny red beads than flowers.
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In case you didn't notice, I tend to like variegated plants. These two photos are of Tovara virginiana, the top one is 'Painter's Palette' and the bottom one is just called 'Variegata'. I think there are too many variegatas, which makes guessing at the name easy, but as one who likes unique and creative names, I find it not all that satisfactory. Both of these prefer dappled shade or maybe morning sun. They are not picky about much else; just give them good garden soil and enough moisture and they will grow in your garden.
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America Is Country of Foreskin!
from The Awl by Choire
Apparently Science is saying that fewer than half of American boys are being circumcised now! This is good news, because, you guys, circumcision is really weird. It's a super-weird thing to do! And the whole "circumcision as HIV prevention" thing is wacko. You know what prevents HIV? Not putting condom-free penises inside things.
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Moose Offer Trail of Clues on Arthritis
In the 100 years since the first moose swam into Lake Superior and set up shop on an island, they have mostly minded their moosely business, munching balsam fir and trying to evade hungry gray wolves.
But now the moose of Isle Royale have something to say — well, their bones do. Many of the moose, it turns out, have arthritis. And scientists believe their condition’s origin can help explain human osteoarthritis — by far the most common type of arthritis, affecting one of every seven adults 25 and older and becoming increasingly prevalent.
The arthritic Bullwinkles got that way because of poor nutrition early in life, an extraordinary 50-year research project has discovered. That could mean, scientists say, that some people’s arthritis can be linked in part to nutritional deficits, in the womb and possibly throughout childhood.
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Candidate To Accuse Opponent Of Racism Just To See What Happens
NEW YORK—With polls showing him trailing in New York's Republican primary race for U.S. Senate, candidate David Malpass told reporters Friday he planned to accuse his opponent Bruce Blakeman of racism just to see if it caught on with anybody.
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Erykah Badu's Nude Video Shoot -- You So Fined
Erykah Badu has finally paid the price for whipping out her lady parts in public during a music video shoot in Dallas, Texas back in March ... and it ran her a cool $500.
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Dr. Laura ENDING Radio Show After N-Word Rant
Did Lou Gehrig Die From Lou Gehrig's Disease?
New York Times Probably Still Says 'Hepcats'
Watermelons Get Small
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Blagojevich convicted on one count
The jury in the former Illinois governor's corruption trial finds him guilty of lying to federal agents, but fails to reach verdicts on the 23 remaining counts.
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At the end of the day, I read for pleasure. There are certain authors I like to read and reread. Especially Twain. The Library of America series has a collection of Twain’s miscellaneous writings–invectives, journalism, burlesques. To my mind he’s the greatest of the American writers. I’ll go back and read Edith Wharton, the House of Mirth. I reread Patrick O’Brian and Alan Furst. I reread Rameau’s Nephew by Diderot, a book by Philip Guedalla called The Hundred Years, Lytton Strachey’s Elizabeth and Essex. At the moment, I’m rereading Balzac’s Lost Illusions. To me it concurs with what I know about the sorrows of Grub Street in Manhattan, in terms of publishing and journalism. I read for the pleasure of the sentence structure, or the use of language, or the control of metaphor, or for a sense of humor. Or the civilizing voice that is not particularly surprised or shocked by the world’s wickedness. If I come across a writer who’s obsessed with himself, I’m not usually interested. I know I’m not like a lot of your other Media Diets. I do read for the fun of it, thank God. –“Lewis Lapham: What I Read,” interviewed by Benjamin F. Carlson, The Atlantic Wire
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Quote For The Day
“We have too many cellphones. We've got too many Internets. We have got to get rid of those machines. We have too many machines now," - Ray Bradbury.
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Meet the Finance Exec Who Allegedly Put Semen in His Co-Worker's Water Bottle
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Bobby Thomson Dies at 86; Hit Epic Home Run
“There’s a long drive ... it’s gonna be ... I believe — the Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!

Source: http://seeholly.blogspot.com/2010/08/mock-orange-skimma-guelder-rose.html