Taxonomy Tango
Coleus..some are Solenostemon, and apparently some are Plectranthus. I can't keep up.
Bloomday-The Merry Month of May 2025
May is one of my favorite months in the garden in spite of the fact that watering tasks typically begin at some point in the month. Sometimes we get lucky and are gifted with some measurable precipitation but the paltry 1/10th of an inch so far did not prove helpful. Hose dragging has commenced . The spring bulbs are all done for the year but the spring annuals are still pumping out blooms -I've pulled about half of the pansies up to make room for all the summer color I started from seed. By far the most impactful flowers of the last several weeks have been the Foxglove. Mostly in the Camelot series from Johnnys Seeds and started indoors in late September and planted out in late November. I started a total of 24 and shoehorned them in among the dozen or so I planted last spring. There are 2 more clumps besides the two I've shown here. I haven't grown Digitalis in at least a decade and this is the first time I've ever grown them from seed . Ach...
Darned taxonomists! GRRR! Next we'll have to forget botanical Latin and stick with common names because they're more stable.
ReplyDeleteWhatever it's called, it sure is a pretty one!
ReplyDeleteTaxonomists and botanists keep changing their minds!
ReplyDeleteAnd then there's the Perilla, another coleus cousin and imitator! I agree with OutlawGardener - the frequent reclassifications make one question the value of botanical Latin. I love that - whatever it is - you pictured above anyway!
ReplyDeleteI think there should be a 10 year moratorium on examining plant DNA that leads to reclassification. By then gardeners should be able to learn what has already been changed and all of the books can be updated. I am trying to put together a fall gardening class for a garden club, and when I got to the Asters, my head was spinning from all the changes. I've decided to list them as "plants once known as asters".
ReplyDelete