Who loves Cupcakes?

In summer of 2024, Max and I planted a couple flats of Cosmos 'Cupcakes White' (Cosmos bipinnatus) in the parish garden. They bloomed, went to seed, and then we cut them pack and pulled them out entirely. If you saw them, you may recall that they were gargantuan. Well, clearly they reseeded because white cosmos are coming up everywhere! This variety of cosmos is named 'Cupcakes White' because when flowers are true to form the petals are all fused together forming a curved, tea-cup like receptacle that looks remarkably like a cupcake baking cup. Not all the flowers do this and are true to the name, but I am excited about one perfect specimen in the garden that's showing off today. Click that left photo and check out the huge tentacles extending from the center of the flower-- Max tells me those are just extra petals that didn't make it into the fused cupcake. I wonder if they feel left out, or enjoy the attention being in the middle of the circle. 

 

They literally are showing up everywhere! It's like a starry field of cosmos...

  

 

Other wonders are unfolding in the garden, not just this cupcake feast. Some Babiana stricta bulbs I recently planted have started to emerge! I am always so in awe by the South African section at the UC Botanical Garden and would love to get more bulbs! Max tells me these are "on the wrong schedule because they were planted so late," since these are supposed to go dormant in the summer. You can learn more about them here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babiana_stricta

  

The amaryllis on the East Merle side of the church has finally bloomed. The petals seem kind of curly, and not the crisp fine edges I am used to seeing in amaryllis. I've asked Max if this is normal or related to some sort of deficiency. He's not sure. "Ask David," is a common reply to questions like that (David being a reference to David Neumaier, who you may recall helped to install the front garden). Still, it's a feast of color and since I've got cupcakes on my mind, I'm going to call this amaryllis 'Strawberries and Cream' (clearly a name I just made up). Enough blogging for now; all this talk about food I think it's time for a snack. 

New Arrival + Amaryllis Showtime

There's a new arrival in the parish garden that I am excited about! It's a tree fern that my husband Max donated to the church called a Cyathea medullaris, or I guess they've reclassified it as a Sphaeropteris medullaris. You can learn more about it here. I feel like as soon as I learn a plant's scientific name, they reclassify it. It's commonly called a black tree fern because unlike most tree ferns, as it matures it develops a black trunk and it has fronds with strikingly black stipes (the stipe is the central, main thick part of a fern fronds from which all the leaves emerge). Here's the medullaris that Max planted at the church:

And here's a photo from Wikipedia showing a very mature medullaris...

wikimedia user  gerald.w, CC BY 2.5 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

As you see, someday this tree fern could tower over the garden, as tall as the church or taller. Another exciting happening in the garden has been the show that the amaryllis has been putting on. If you missed the recent white amaryllis blooms in the front of the church, the same plant is going for round two. Below is a photo of the amaryllis in full bloom from a month ago, and the new flowers getting ready for a second show. You can click photos on this blog for a larger view. 

  

There's also some exciting amaryllis action getting ready to happen on the East Merle side of the church near the side door to the Fireside Room...

Stay tuned!