Monday, July 27, 2009

Basketflower!!

Yesterdays mystery brown bud belongs to Centaurea macrocephala! Surprise! It is yellow! This plant is also called Armenian Basketflower, or just plain old Basketflower, other common names are Yellow Hardhead, and Globe Knapweed.

I love the way the bud looks like a basket all intricate and woven, then all of a sudden the yellow bloom (which is technically an inflorescence not a bloom) pops out the top! It is a perennial plant, zones 3 to 9, likes full sun, it is drought tolerant and it will self sow if it is happy. It attracts birds, bees and butterflies. This plants foliage is not glamorous, in fact it is down right homely foliage. It is a fairly large plant, and can grow to be five feet tall..mine are not that tall. I grew this plant years ago, it did not sell well until it was in bloom in the display gardens...then it headed out the doors. I always enjoyed growing strange plants that you couldn't find anyplace else. I have always been a tad weird. The strange thing is.. I am very comfortable with my own weirdness.

Top view of the inflorescence of the Basketflower

The "Digging Lady" has not returned, or called, I certainly can't call her.. cause I shredded her phone number in a fit of anger. A few people have been by to see the beautiful Erigeron that "Digging Lady" wants..and I will share with them. Someone who I gave birth to said "What if she reads your blog..you have way more guts than me." I doubt if "Digging Lady" ever stops talking long enough to read anything. I don't give a rats butt ( you could insert a three letter word here, hint.. it starts with an A and might have a few S'es) if she does read my blog. I still think she is a pushy old gal and I would tell her that if I could get a word in edgewise. She might suffer from what I call diarrhea of the mouth, it happens to people that love to hear the sound of their own voice all the time. It is really crappy, and those kind of people never have many friends:)

9 comments:

hayseed said...

What a cool and unusual plant- I've never seen it before.

Anonymous said...

Well that was a real treat to see the basket flower - what a surprise from one day to the next! I hope digging lady is busy bugging someone else. You deserve peaceful and happy days and you sure don't need aggravation from her - you get that (like us) from the doctor's office!!!

L. D. said...

That is an amazing flower. I like how you can see the unopened heads right below the one that is opened. Being yourself means you really are genuine. That is why digging lady drives you crazy. There are always a few of those that come to our frame shop and we just cringe when they walk in the door. Lots of times everything we do to frame for them messes up and we have to do it twice. It's like they are standing there being critical or demanding even when they are not there. Beautiful flower garden.

Rae said...

That is an interesting flower. I have never heard of it. Kind of looks like a yellow afro.

Thank goodness you have not had to deal with the digging lady. I think you should fix her up with the she-devil doctor. They would make a good pair!!

lisa said...

Wow, I have never seen that kind of flower, awesome!!

Pamela said...

I have missed out on much the past few weeks. Now I have to go back and "dig" for the digging lady. ha ha

beautiful flower... it steals the show.

The Silver Age Sara said...

It's beautiful and unusual and the fact that it attracts butterflies just makes it even more wonderful.

Anonymous said...

I couldn't guess that that bud would turn into a spiky yellow flower! Great shot.

Roxane B. Salonen said...

That really is amazing. Thanks so much for sharing this with us. Wow! It reminds me of something out of a Dr. Seuss book!