Planting a Crown Imperial Flower Bulb

Native to Iran, Afghanistan and the foothills of the Himalayas, the Crown Imperial is not your garden variety flower. Before being gifted three bulbs, I had never even heard of them. They were among a huge lot of bulbs a work colleague gave us and I had to check it out to learn how and where to plant them — but also what they look like.

Showy, that is is. The flower grows 3 to 4 feet tall on a stalk that ends in a tuft of green fronds somewhat like palm trees with bright, vivid flowers hanging below. I have no idea what color ours will be but the orange ones certainly are pretty. They will look great with the purple hyacinths we have.

The Crown Victoria bulbs stink to high heaven. Until I figured out where the stench was coming from, I swore one of the neighborhood dogs surprised a skunk. The bulbs are said to repel rodents.

The bulbs resemble cinnamon rolls, with an indent on the top that can fill with water and rot the bulb so it's advised to plant them on the side so water won't collect there. The plant's shoot is still able to find the surface, which given that plants grow through streets and sidewalks, is no great shocker. But, good to know, because I would have planted it in the ground wrong. Well, actually Mr. Field Notes would have. He's outside gardening on my behalf. Darn it too — if it were my choice I'd be out there with him! But until I recover completely from surgery, the weather cools off, and Baby FN is big enough to ride in a sling, I am kickin' it indoors with the AC and the whining pooches, who really resent being stuck inside while one of their people is outside 'having fun.'

I hope the Crown Imperial flowers will survive and come up in the spring. They appear in April or May and bloom for about 3 weeks, allegedly. Fingers crossed!

Plum Blossoms

Forget crocuses.

Some of the first blossoms to open during the year, plums are the rightful heralds of spring both in Walla Walla and in Japan. And they smell wonderful. Not quite jasmine or gardenia, but right up there. I am a sucker for the white flower fragrance spectrum.

Plums typically flower in February and March in Tokyo. The event is celebrated with plum festivals (ume matsuri) in public parks and shrines across the country.

The plum tree in my backyard, well technically behind my garage in the alley, has managed to keep its bounty of petals despite the gale force winds we seem to be getting. The tree had plenty of petals to go around and also has a small twin on the other side of the garage that is flowering as well, so I didn't feel at all bad about the few I snipped off to liven up the living room.

That'll mean fewer plums to pick up off the ground later.

The plum blossom is a recurring image in Japanese art.

I can see why. At The Japan Print Gallery in Notting Hill, one can purchase original woodblock prints by such artists as Hiroshige, if you've got the cash. Someone bought "The Plum Gardens at Kameido" for 9800 pounds; it measures 14.5 x 9 inches. I would love to have a reproduction poster of it, framed in matte black, for my dining room. The colors would be a great fit; I only wish it had more plum blossoms.

At the Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art I located this neat water jar for tea ceremonies.