14.9.10

My Favorite Plant

It's called Lantana. There are varieties with purple blossoms, magenta, or lemony yellow and the one shown here with orange, and there might be others still that I haven't heard of yet. The plant sort of tumbles over itself as it grows, and it gets bigger and bigger year after year since Lebanon's rainy season is never cold enough to kill it.

One year I tried to keep a Lantana alive through the St. Louis winter. It didn't work and when I asked an expert at the botanical garden if there was anything I could try next time she silently shook her head.

This huge one cascades down a wall near the sea beside a doorway that probably leads to an undiscovered paradise.

9 comments:

  1. It IS pretty.
    Maybe you should buy a periscope for all these walled paradises. :)

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  2. That's a very beautiful plant & photo!

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  3. It's beautiful. The winters here are so harsh that my poor plants are all struggling to survive.

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  4. Oh my goodness lantana is a major weed in Australia, no trouble getting it to grow around here! That said, I agree the flowers are pretty.

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  5. Is it really Joan Elizabeth? I remember how shocked I was to learn that honeysuckle is also considered a weed. My childhood memories of it are all so joyful that I can't imagine anyone struggling to finally be rid of it, but that is what happens.

    It is strange to think about people in one place cultivating a plant that others elsewhere can't quite eradicate.

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  6. Joan beat me to it. Here it is a weed, but honeysucvkle less so.

    Weed or no, that street is a delight and your photograph does it justice.

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  7. Your pic looks very romantic with the lantana on the wall!

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