the gates of hell

the gates of hell
The Gates of Hell

Saturday, April 13, 2019

Sandy Claws

My favorite plant in the devil garden today: Epimedium 'Sandy Claws.' I love the name (credit to Nightmare before Christmas, I believe), and how it so fittingly contains xmas colors with red leaves, green leaves, and white flowers. It fits into the devil garden for several reasons--being spiny (unusual for an Epimedium), the "Nightmare" connotation, and because it stands in for the Santa/Satan anagram that tickles my brain. And even because the common name for Epimedium, fairy wings, gives it a hint of imposter status, just like so many of my devil garden plants. Evil twin/good twin--who can be certain?