I’ve talked before about my friend Geri Taran. She founded the Georgia Writers Association and headed it up until it was taken over by Kennesaw State University. Geri’s had an interesting (understatement alert!) life for sure. And she used to keep bees years ago. Once I started getting into beekeeping, Geri decided to take it back up again.
The last time I visited her, she showed me a datura the birds or squirrels or somebody like that had planted in her yard. The thing’s three feet tall now. Datura (also called Angel's Trumpet) is poisonous, as I hope you realize. I found out about lots of poisonous plants when I was researching Yellow as Legal Pads, the second of my mysteries. I bought Deadly Doses: a Writer’s Guide to Poisons by Serita Deborah Stevens. Fascinating. For a mystery writer, that is.But now I’ve found out that bees are usually smart enough to avoid plants that have toxic nectar. Good thing. These flowers are so inviting, I should think the bees would have a hard time ignoring them. I took two pictures – one of the flower bud just as it’s beginning to unfurl, and one of the blooming beauty (which, by the way, is about 10 inches long!)
Here’s the bloom. My camera made it look purple, but it’s really a bright white.
HAPPY
BIRTHDAY,
GERI!
BEEattitude for Day # 257:
Blessed are those who let surprise plants thrive, for they shall be rewarded with beauty, rather like Fran’s thistle flowers.
My Website
No comments:
Post a Comment