You Grow Girl™

I took this picture of orange cosmos (Cosmos sulphureus) as the sun was going down over Scotts Head, Dominica, the body of land just behind the flowers and the southern most tip of the island. Do I ever miss those Caribbean sunsets.

I miss the sunrises, too.

Come to think of it, the continuous warmth and greenery wasn’t too shabby either. Let’s go back and get away from this winter business. We’ll do it as a massive group trip. You’ll love it there.

Our recent trip to the Caribbean has inspired in me a renewed enthusiasm for cosmos. It’s not that I’ve fallen out of the love with this tough, yet delicate flower, but that I haven’t made a space to grow it in about five years. Instead, I’ve been admiring them in other peoples’ gardens. I’ve got another photo of cosmos as seen in the Caribbean coming soon that I think will inspire you too.

Amazingly, just as I was starting to contemplate which variety to grow this year, a sample packet of ‘Rose Bon Bon’ double flowered cosmos arrived in the mail from Renee’s Garden. And done. That was too easy.

One of my favourite posts of all-time, dedicated to cosmos: Love to Hate: Cosmos

The pod in this picture is an unripe one — annatto (Bixa orellana) seeds and their pods are a brownish red colour when fully ripe. We caught a glimpse of a few trees with ripe pods while riding on buses in Barbados but I was never able to get up close to pods that were fully mature. It’s a shame really, because a tree full of ripe fruit is a beautiful sight.

I first heard about annatto many years ago in reference to Cuban cooking. In fact, I bought a package of the seeds about 10 years ago and never had occasion to use it. I believe the package is still sitting unopened in my kitchen spice cupboard!

That’s because while the seeds do have a slightly peppery taste and flavour, their use is really more about adding colour to food. It’s probably a good thing that I didn’t ever use it because I have since learned that annatto is a common allergen… and I have a lot of allergies.

Annatto makes an excellent cloth or wool dye. I found a good tutorial on the process here.

Crown of thorns (Euphorbia milii) is a tough-as-nails, mean SOB of a succulent from Madagascar that is commonly grown as a houseplant here in North America. Those thorns will get you and make you curse like a sailor.

I love it!

I spotted this one in Barbados growing along the front fence in front of a small home. The plant was the size of a small bush and bursting with tiny bright red blooms. Oh to have a crown of thorns flanking my front garden. That should keep the Friday night bar hoppers looking for an outdoor urinal out of the garden.

I’ve come to associate the plant with the Arcade Fire song, Crown of Love.

“In my heart, there’s flowers growing.”

And inversely, these are the flowers I always imagine growing in the singer’s heart.