Pretty pictures: Pink and Purple

Anemone tomentosa 'Robustissima.' I have to say, I'm not sure these could really be called "robust:" they've barely held it together and are only now, this late in the summer, being remotely interesting.

Monarda sp. From the Kent State Park trip, whence I also got a lot of the Yellow pictures, and the Park NOID pictures. (Also the carrion beetle larvae pictures, though those had less universal appeal, it turned out.)

Monarda sp. again. As befits the common name (bee-balm), the bees really were fond of these.

Asclepias incarnata, swamp milkweed, is my guess, though I'm not an Asclepias expert and don't anticipate becoming an Asclepias expert in the future.

Another shot of the Asclepias. I think the main reason I like these -- and I do like them, very much -- is because they remind me of Hoyas.

Pelargonium x hortorum 'Americana Violet." Possibly got the color cranked too high on this one, but in person, you know, they're pretty bright. It's kind of realistic.

Pelargonium x hortorum 'Strawberry Sizzle.' I liked this variety a lot, but the customers . . . not so much. Stupid customers.

Circium arvense? It's a thistle of some kind, but I don't know which. Not a thistle expert either. By the way, this reminds me of something. I've been told that "Hyacinths and Thistles" is something sadistic speech therapists try to get lispy kids to say. It's fun to try. It's also, incidentally, the title for an album by The Sixths. Which is how I found out about the speech therapist thing. One feels bad for the college station DJ who had to talk about "the new album from The Sixths, 'Hyacinths and Thistles.'

Good album, though, incidentally. The fifth track, "Just Like a Movie Star," is sort of an important song to the husband and I. Not "our song" (that's probably the Cowboy Junkies cover of "Sweet Jane"), but one of "our other songs."

The Sixths' other album is "Wasp's Nests," which is clearly titled the way it is for the same reasons as "Hyacinths and Thistles."

Catharanthus roseus 'Pacifica Lilac.' This is an old, old picture, from before the spider mites overran all the Catharanthus (no I will not call it "Vinca:" it's not Vinca.). Pretty, but so not worth the trouble. I've sort of had a grudge against Catharanthus since the mid-80s: I was sort of forced to plant some when in junior high, at a tiny Christian school in Alamo, TX, long ago, and I wasn't happy about it. Calling it "P.E." doesn't make it any less slave labor.

Pardancanda 'Sangria.' Similar to the Belamcanda chinensis, presumably related but I haven't investigated this. I liked the Belamcanda a lot better, initially, but I've warmed up to the Pardancanda. This is a nice color.

More Pardancanda 'Sangria.'