Tulips aflame

Tulips are flaring up in the devil garden now. My favorite is Tulipa acuminata aka Fire Flame tulip, on the right, a richly earned nickname.

And I'm always so happy to see the Butterbur/Devil's Hat flowers emerge (Petasites hybridus). They are super weird and cool, and are a fitting prelude to those leaves becoming absolutely enormous and gorgeous by summer.

My favorite spring leaves are these, Veratrum californicum, a poisonous/teratogenic plant, but such unusual and lovely pleating.

Inferno

It's hot as hell, to borrow a phrase. At 2:30pm in Kirkland, it is 110 degrees and still climbing. All-time heat records shattered. We won't discuss the state of my hydrangeas, but there are plants in the devil garden that are happy in the heat, given enough water.

Devil Garden Exhibitionists

This has been an unusually warm January, and several site-appropriate plants are showing off in the devil garden.

Although these flowers are at ground level and only an inch across, they steal the show for me, both for their intricate strangeness and their name: Scoliopus bigelovii, aka Bigelow's foetid adder tongue.

Next up, Hamamelis 'Carmine Red,' aka carmine witch hazel. Couldn't have an evil garden without a witch. The flowers are so odd, looks as if the branches are covered with fiery red spiders.

Speaking of spiders, this is Ophiopogon japonicus, aka black mondo grass, which is scattered around the devil garden to give the feeling of large black spiders crawling underfoot. The black shiny berries are gorgeous.

This is Iris foetidissima, aka scarlet-seeded iris. This is its first year with seeds, though it was one of the first-planted devil garden plants, back in 2013. "Foetid" commonly appears in the names of my devil garden plants; luckily for me, I haven't noticed any truly bad scents.

Fire! Fire! Fire!

The devil garden is generally in finest form in July, the month that most red flowers bloom, but today it wowed me early. Fiery red flowers!

Crocosmia 'Lucifer' looks especially stunning with the lime green 'Tiger Eyes' sumac surrounding it. (Crocosmia 'Hellfire' is not yet blooming)

 Verbena 'Pops Dark Red' at lower left, bloody sorrel at  lower right.

Begonia boliviensis 'Santa Cruz Sunset'

 Lobelia tupa, aka devil's tobacco (first year it's blooming)

 Dianthus barbatus 'Heart Attack'

 

Hypericum 'Midnight Glow' (Red Berry St. John's Wort)

My poor little devil's club, intended to be the anchor of this garden, planted first, but not really thrilled to be here.

 Not red, but deserving of devil garden placement nonetheless: Rudbeckia 'Green Wizard'

Monstrosity

Pelorism. For me, a new word, a new concept. According to Wikipedia, pelorism accounts for these foxgloves in my garden that look to be imitating zinnias or some such flower. I have never noticed this before. And then to have two different plants do this right next to each other??? Creepy. The etymology is well-suited for the devil garden. Wikipedia tells me that Linnaeus called this type of mutant a 'Peloria' (Greek for monster or monstrous). He purportedly wrote that "This is certainly no less remarkable than if a cow were to give birth to a calf with a wolf's head."

Spurting blood

My favorite plant in the devil garden today: Rumex sanguineus, aka bloody dock, aka blood sorrel. Planted both for its deep red veins and its name. As hoped, it has grown like a weed from the initial single plant, spurting blood all around the devil garden. When I mentioned needing to pull some up to clear a path, a friend reminded me that it's edible. So, voila, bloody greens for dinner!

Santa/Satan is coming to town...

At this dark time of year, when the Santa/Satan anagram licks at my brain, what to my wondering eyes should appear but twinkling red berries on Hypericum Magical MidnightGlow (St. John's wort), adding a splash of the requisite red to the devil garden. I almost want to string these like cranberries!

Beware of Demon

My new "Beware of Demon" sign on the Gates of Hell. The demon didn't appreciate it though...

Credit goes to dangergarden for posting the photo that became the inspiration for this sign. That inspiration and tin snips made for a happy devil gardener!

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?

Land of the Giants

It's been 3 years since my first (and only, until this year) Giant Himalayan Lily bloomed (Cardiocrinum giganteum). This year I have 3 stalks as reward for my patience. Such incredibly beautiful, impressive, and fragrant (vanilla) flowers! This is the tallest of the three, at 8 feet, though it looks rather dwarfed next to the T-Rex (Tetrapanax papyrifer 'Steroidal Giant' aka rice paper plant) to the right.

 Look closely--you'll see the photographer's ghost...