Wrenaissance Art

Two weekends ago, I went to the Houston Museum of Natural Science’s autumn fundraising plant sale with the Wrenaissance Man. The sale is focused on butterfly-attracting plants. We bought:

• 2 x variety of native wild azalea, rhodendron canescens “Phlox Pink”
• 1 x sassafras, Sassafras albidum
• 1 x Brazilian pipeweed, Aristolochia fimbriata
• 1 x Cat’s whiskers, Ophiron labiatus
• 1 x Purple porterweed, Stachytarpheta sp.
• 1 x Gulf Coast penstemon, Penstemon tenuis

On Friday, October 14, my sister and I attended the storied Houston Bulb & Plant Mart, the Houston Garden Club’s annual extravaganza. This year, Bulb Mart was held at the Holly Hall Retirement Community literally across the street from the old Astrodome (Reliant Stadium to newbie Houstonians). As always, it was a high-decibel, tightly packed bedlam of grabbing, gabbing gardeners.

I managed to snag the following goodies:

• 80 x anemone corms, Anemone coronaria, “De Caen”
• 40 x ranunculus, Ranunculus asiaticus, “Tecolote” (mixed colors) and “Merlot” (a bi-colored deep pink and cream)
• 2 x Amaryllis, Hippeastrum x, “Vivaldi” and “Clown.” These are my Christmas decorations for 2011!
• 3 x hyancinth, Hyacinth orientalis, “Delft Blue.” In the fridge now to chase those winter blues!
• 1 x Ophiron labiatus, to pair with the one from the plant sale
• 1 x Aristolochia fimbriata, likewise
• 2 x Australian violets, viola hederaceae
• 1 x Toad lily, Tricyrtis formosiana, “Alice Staub,” a dwarf variety
• 2 x Maidenhair ferns “Cree”, Adiantum capillus
• 1 x Anemone “Alice Staub” Anemone huphensis?. This is a shade-loving variety, unlike the corms, which are high sun. It is a low plant, with trilobed leaves and pink blossoms. If you know the species name, let me know in the comments!

And finally, my Bulb Mart impulse purchase:

• 2 x American pitcher plant, Sarracenia wrigleyana. Weird, whacky, wonderful. Sun-loving bog-dwellers. Carnivorous plants. What will I do with them?!