Urban Oasis: The Party's Over ....

Yesterday I was a bit dismayed to go out and see that the Dragon Arum had begun to look a little droopy, as the "petal" was sagging down a bit ... I thought at first perhaps the heavy rains in the morning had caused it to bend down a bit. But upon closer inspection, I began to think that the bloom just isn't very long-lived ... a suspicion that was definitively confirmed when I looked out this morning.

Indeed, the party's over for this part of the cycle! You need see nothing more than the pictures I'm posting here tonight ... yep, this bloom is done spent. Flaccid, indeed. Laughably obscene I'd even say! But it still remains fascinating, even if we are a bit disappointed that it barely lasted a mere five days after all the dramatic build up since it emerged earlier this spring. So now that everything has done its seductive show and partied till it dropped, the real work of the plant is just beginning. We can already see that the base of the bloom, which obviously contains the ovaries, is swelling more, clearly preparing the next phase of its yearly cycle ... the equally bizarre seed pod.

What's also remarkable about the number of changes this flower has gone through since the beginning of the week, is that the colours have evolved on an almost daily basis... from starting a deep red, then to maroon, purple and now a muddy mixture of all of them ... I suppose one could analogize that the bloom has gone from its party best dress, on to some bacchanalian excesses and now complete and utter exhaustion has set in.

I hate to keep bringing up the blatant sexuality of this flower, but honestly ... what else comes to mind when you see what was once a boldly erect spadix wind up looking like this a mere two days after it was in its crowning glory? We just hope that all those flies who just days ago were flocking to it have done their work for the season and that the plant will be able to successfully complete its reproductive cycle for the year. And you can be sure that if we are able to harvest any viable seeds, they won't be long to find a home near the parent in the garden!

Photos Courtesy of Fernymoass, taken June 2, 2007

Transforming one urban corner, one season at a time

Welcome to our little corner of the Plant Universe!

I started Urban Oasis almost three years ago with the intent of both chronicling the seasonal changes of our gardens, as well as to serve as a kind of "rough draft" for a gardening book I've been wanting to write for about six years now. Well, the book remains unwritten, but readers will still find in these pages, the seeds of what it may eventually become when I'm gifted with adequate time and resources to really apply myself to writing it....

When we moved into our house in 1998, (affectionately dubbed Casa IVG), it was a practically barren garden canvas just waiting to be reborn. Our urban transformation project began in earnest in Spring 1999, and continues to this day, with some major changes occurring along the way (such as the boulder beds in 2003) ... and the evolution continues to this day.

Urban Oasis itself has evolved too, from its original exclusive focus on the plants to postings on some of my other more personal interests, such as Politics, International and Independent Cinema, and one of the enduring passions of my life: our dogs. 2008 was a year of many transitions for us, the saddest of which was the loss of our beloved Pepa and Rolly in December.

But, as in any garden worth its petals, we are now experiencing a joyous renewal with the recent adoption of our new pup, Hanna, who will be appearing regularly here as the seasons progress. She'll never truly replace Pepa as the official "mascot" of the blog, but she's an eager "intern" who will go far in filling the enormous paw prints left behind by her predecessor ... and fill them well, she will!