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| Hot Lips (Salvia microphylla) |
What a great surprise to put the flower photo above into Pl@nt ID and get the result of "Hot Lips." I'd seen this one growing in the neighborhood as my wife and I walked home from the bus stop yesterday. We were just coming home from seeing the "Open 2023" exhibit at the De Young Museum (which was outstanding, and I'm not just saying that because my wife has a painting in the show).
I knew I wanted to photograph the neighbor's flower, so this morning I skulked outside for a dawn patrol flower-snip. Was I caught on someone's doorbell cam? Is there at this very moment a video of my snag being vilified on NextDoor?
I can only hope so.
While I was out, I also snipped an actual native wildflower -- one of my favorites. I think it's one of my favorites because it blooms in the late summer and fall, a scarlet contrarian. Hummingbirds love it too.
Since I have my trail cams at home, I put them out back to see if I could catch the culprit who's been scratching in my garden. I had a feeling who it was, but there's nothing like getting the video evidence.
The main surprise was seeing an animal finally go after the remaining huckleberries still stuck to the branches of our back yard Vaccinium. I had to prune it quite a bit a while back when several of the thin branches got so top-heavy with berries that they bent over and snapped.
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| California Fuchsia (Epilobium canum) |
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| Formerly known as Zauschneria californica. |
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| Was this the naughty scratcher? |
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