Crocus

Ok, here's an easy one, crocuses are some of the first little heads to start poking up once spring is on it's way. I took a picture of this one a few days ago as I was eating my lunch near the Ponderosa buildings. The flowers are most commonly purple or yellow, and sometimes white, Easter egg colours. One interesting thing about crocuses is that the saffron crocus, or rather it's dried stigma (lady parts of plant) is where we get the spice Saffron which has been used as a medicine, spice and dye for thousands of years.

Saffron crocus morphology
	Stamens (male organs)
	Corolla (whorl of petals)
	Corm (propagation org

Plant of the Day witch hazel

I am starting to believe that you people are being genuine and not just patronizing me when you seem interested in my fascination with plants. In keeping with this I am going to try to put up one plant a day with some info in hopes that you might notice it as you walk around and that, just maybe you will fall in love with plants too, and get to know them by name, at least common name, and ideally by sight, smell and touch as well. This one is Witch-hazel, a shrub which is one of the only things that blooms at this time of year. It has strange flowers with long streamer-like petals that are sometimes yellow or reddish. Take a sniff, the scent to me is a kind of lilac and citrus blend. What do you think? The bark and leaves are astringent; the extract, also referred to as witch hazel, is used medicinally. Extracts from its bark and leaves are used in aftershave lotions and lotions for treating bruises and insect bites.
One of my very best friends has a tattoo of this beautiful plant on her shoulder. It is from a water colour botanical illustration by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who deserves an entry unto himself as he is another one of my favorite artists. More on him later. Here is the picture of the water colour. Below is a picture of the leaves and other parts which will start to grow soon. To learn more on wikipedia click here. Hope you dig it!