Portraits of Plants ... in more or less alphabetical order. Foliage adorns scenes with fractal beauty, often causing an observer to overlook the magnificence of microcosms. Flowers are picked and put in vases to accent a room or table, but rarely does one study the centerpiece. Here then, is your opportunity to contemplate the bodacious subtlety.

	Very purple African violets in blume. Alas, these photos are all that's left of this bunch. I could not propogate them.		Aloe barbadensis or Aloe vera, the medicinal plant. True story - cut off a tip and rub the juice on a burn, and it'll heal much faster. Amazing plant.
Vicky lent her hand to show the size of this amanita mushroom, growing in a parking lot median. Sue tells me they come in three colors: this one (dull orange), red, and yellow.
	This cascade of Baskets of Gold (Alyssum saxatile compactum) grows in our front yard rockery.		This bearded iris grows about three feet tall. The wind was merciful and stayed calm enough to get two shots for the stereo set.
	The Bigroot Cranesbill (Geranium mcrorrhizum) is a favorite splash of late-spring color in the shadier part of the rockery.		The Bleeding Hearts (Dicentra spectabilis or maybe formosa ) bloom in the spring, and live under the ligustrum hedge. They also move with the tiniest amount of disturbance in the air.
	This very Swedish arrangement of colors is provided by blue Wood Hyacinths and yellow Wallflowers		Daffodils in the back yard. It's not the state flower of Washington, but they're farmed here in serious quantity.
	This dahlia was grown in a pot by our neighbor.		Looking at the top of the rockery, backlit by the morning Sun. Those are poppies about to open, wood hyacinths, and rosemary.
	These Gaillardia ("Goblin") bloom all spring and summer long, if you're dilligent about deadheading the flowers.
	These were at some friends' house in Bellingham. Their garden could have a whole page devoted to it. Hmmm...		Grape Hyacinths (Muscari of some variety). We've started a colony, but it's still very sparsely populated, 5 years later.
	This is a Grecian Windflower (some form of Anemone), living between some rocks out back.		My wife had just watered the Japanese Iris. I like the lighting on this shot.
	The kumquat is a citrus fruit about the size of a thumb. The whole thing is edible, except for the seeds, and the skin is the sweet part.		A cluster of flowers on our French lilac in the front yard. I just learned these are in the olive family. How'd they come up with that
	Lithodora. Being an amateur astronomer, I get a special kick out of the flower's shape.		The Money Plant (Lunaria annua) leaves circular seed pods that can be peeled to reveal a delicate membrane indise. Those are often used in (dried) flower arrangements.
	Some mushrooms took over a little cave below the mountain ash tree. Reminds me of badger, badger, badger...		We were given these paper white narcissus for a Christmas. Thanks, Elsa!
	The orchid was at our neighbopr's house, and they were just too gorgeous to pass up recording. That's sunlight illuminating it from behind.		I think this Persian Speedwell is one of the prettiest lawn invaders, and this is one of my favorite photos, as well. Taken in our lawn, the flowers are about a third the size of my little finger nail.
	A tall phlox, it was supposed to be dwarf. It's waist-high in our back yard.		Same plant, in shade. This is one of my technically best stereo shots.
	The pieris is a bush that stands beside the end of the sidewalk and issues these clusters of white bells. i suspect it's Pieris japonica, "Temple Bells".		This poor ol' primrose gets hammered by something. Maybe slugs? Beetles? Whatever, I'm surprised it has enough oompf to bloom.
	The rhododendron grows right next to the house. It also provided covenient cover for a large bald-faced wasp nest in the next bush over. The closeup of a cluster of flowers on the right is the same plant.
	A saffron crocus. The red strands (pistils?) are what you pay too much for. I wish we had a lot of these.		The neighbor's pine with a coating of newly-fallen, strange, puffy, little balls of snow.
	Our tomato crop of 2001. Okay, so... we're not exactly farmers.		Our neighbor's tulip, grown in a pot.
	We had hoped this vinca minor vine would cover the ground and choke out pest plants. It sorta works.		These grow in our back flower yard. Gotta watch them - they can be invasive. Someone thought enough of this image to ask to incorporate it into her site. I'm honored.
	Wood hyacinths, just before blooming (left) and at the height of their blooms (right).