My Virtual Maryland Garden

A sighting of these striking birds, the largest woodpeckers likely to be seen in North America, should make the day for most casual b...

Megacyllene robiniae the locust borer Megacyllene robiniae the locust borer Megacyllene robiniae the locust borer M...

fresh cuts from the CGPs a late September bouquet Rosa 'Little White Pet' (l) and R. 'Meidiland White' (r) A...

Geothlypis trichas Common Yellowthroat  Geothlypis trichas  Common Yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas  Common Yellowthroat Ge...

Colchicum bivonae  Colchicum bivonae  These images show off well the rich color. shapely form and handsome tessellation of this s...

Colchicum 'Violet Queen' Colchicum  'Violet Queen' Colchicum  'Violet Queen' in 2006 This is o...

Viola grypoceras v. exilis 'Sylettas' Viola grypocera s v. exilis 'Sylettas' Viola grypoceras v. exilis...

Tattered Sunshine 1894 Nelly Kennedy The painting here, Tattered Sunshine , is a precious memento of my mother's grandmother, Nelli...

Welwitschia mirabilis  In the image above you see this year's crop of Welwitschia mirabilis.  These were sown on August 21:  as you...

Gloriosa superba Gloriosa superba Gloriosa superba Superb indeed, and in several respects. The brilliant color combination, ...

Gentiana 'True Blue'  This is now in full bloom, and as you can see the bloom is very abundant indeed. And it has turned out...

Zephyranthes smallii  Zephyranthes smallii  Here's a rain lily which has a very distinctive look. To me it looks like a tu...

What a color! It reminds me of the color of the so-called Austrian copper rose, Rosa  'Foetida Bicolor'. And what are these la...

Polianthes 'Pink Sapphire'  Polianthes tuberosa , the tuberose, must have been one of the earliest plants to be introduced to...

Wayne has been doing some genealogical investigation of his family lately, and he went on to check out my family, too. He found an ...

Calydorea amabilis  Like some other tropical irids, the flowers of this species last only a few hours. In this case those few hours are...

Wayne and I went bed shopping last week. I had had my eye on a certain bed at IKEA for a couple of years, and while we were there the oth...

Achimenes This was to have been the summer I built a wall to test out some gesneriads as garden and rock wall plants. Earlier I acqui...

Konnyaku: Yam Cake  Amorphophallus konjac inflorescence  The botanical name konjac should be pronounced kon-yak: what...

The urban batrachoscopist Video: Wayne E. Crist Text: Jim McKenney In his spare time, the urban ornithoscopist  keeps eyes and ea...