March 22nd, 2013: Honeywort 'Purpurascens' (Cerinthe major) by Kell

The Bloom of the Day for March 22nd, 2013 was Honeywort 'Purpurascens' (Cerinthe major).

View the bloom of the day here: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/botd.php?date=2013-03-22

Now that is a fascinating plant! Great picture too!

I have no reasoning to explain it,...but looking at it for some reason makes me think Hippopotamus?!!

This message was edited Mar 22, 2013 10:28 AM

Beautiful bloom, and great photography--congrats!

David - just what did you drink this morning? Hippopotamus? LOL

Great photo, Kell. How big is this flower?

Well...I just got home from a 10 hour shift. I see a Pink Elephant! LOL just joking.
It certainly is a unique flower and the color in very striking!

Silly! It's a blue/purple elephant, not pink!

Your right! But it is a little pink around the trunk!! Kell most likely force fed some baby squids to the poor thing...

Aha! Brilliant deduction, Holmes!

(Then you can reply, "Elementary, my dear Watson". (Though Sherlock Holmes never did say it.)

Thats it Kin and Arlene!

Yawning Hippopotamus' looking at a pink Elephant while the Squid tentacles they've just eaten are still visible in the photo before the last gulp!

Out of the haze I ride....Ha!

The gang is all here again! LOL

David, I think it is because it hangs down elephant trunk like. A colorful trunk too! I love this plant.

Pirl, very small, less than an inch long. And it does have the best colors!

Oh Kin, speaking of baby squids, no sushi for me tonight. Tom is keeping me home because I had a trying week. First time in ages we have missed.

This plant reseeds easily too! How perfect is that? It gets all sprawly but covered in flowers. It really is a fun plant. Every garden has a place for it I am sure.

Mine just started blooming, always fun to see where they reseeded, love them!

Thanks for the info. Kell and Sue (Kellifornia Sue! Ha! I get you confused you seem like such a team...)

...any way I have just ordered the seeds from Swallowtail and going to give it a try. This is another of those great Victorian art looking plants for me...

There is another color too, David. I think an all blue one. Sue will know. Here Annie's Annuals sells them. Well actually other kinds out there too but most are not as showy as the 2 I have mentioned. Sue and I go back years now, David. We met here on DG You can tell us apart easily for Sue is the young pretty one, I am the old hag. LOL Sad but so true.

This might be the one I am thinking of though I do not remember the white on it.
http://www.anniesannuals.com/plt_lst/lists/search/lst.srch.asp?prodid=232&srch_term=Cerinthe

Sue, is there another one too sold around here, more blue?

They are convincing me to believe in their 'Kiwi blue Honeywort' seeds and I will let you know what happens if it ever does!

Always the dreamer me.........

"Friends are ageless!"

I don't remember a bluer one but I bet there are, probably a hybrid that seeds were collected from. I tried that retorta one, while pretty, it's dull compared to the rich blue and purple one.
Who doesn't want to try this after reading her description?!
http://www.anniesannuals.com/plt_lst/lists/general/lst.gen.asp?prodid=231&rs_start=60&prp_let=C

I have seen seeds at most of the nurseries, I know I have seen Renee's Garden Seeds carry them in the local nurseries. http://www.reneesgarden.com/

So Interesting, I've never seen a blue shrimp plant. I even see a few FL reports of it. Beautiful colors.

These aren't Shrimp Plants, (Justicia brandegeeana), which are shrubs, they are annuals. Try them!

Thanks Calif Sue, if I ever see them in a garden center I will. The DG description says they're called blue shrimp plants, they are really beautiful. Funny I just saw it on Pinterest the same day, so I pinned it for flowers I want.