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rhudran.bsky.social
@rhudran.bsky.social
220 followers 240 following 760 posts
I am a smol blue thing and also part of Cornfields and Kobolds with my friends.

Oh yeah and genderfluid. Please help support the trans community.
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rhudran.bsky.social
I feel under the (warm pleasant) weather but at least we can appreciate these sunflowers I saw over Easter! They weren't even IN the botanic garden; they were adjacent. I love them. 🧵

#photography #sunflower #encelia #california #wildflower #xeriscape #landscape #california #garden #bloomscrolling
A landscape photograph of a gentle slope of California Sunflower, Encelia californica, a shrub. The shrubs are growing in a dense population with little space between them, and flowers on long, airy (what I think are called) peduncles rising above the shrubs in light density. The flowers have a general daisy appearance, maybe a foot above the shrubs, a few feet off the ground, with sunflower yellow petals and brown centers. Some young flowers closer to the camera's focus are visible to the lower left, showing how the petals grow in bare without a covering bud, with their full pigment. The accompanying leaves are fairly simple, with a rounded diamond shape that has veining largely originating from where the leaf attaches to the petiole (stem that attaches the leaf to the stem). They are a mid-to-emerald green color. Unfortunately, as this is a landscape photograph, there is not an intense amount of detail to be had. Makes a really good wallpaper though!
May 29, 2025 at 8:52 PM
rhudran.bsky.social
Sorry for the delay! Here, have one of my very favorite garden plants! As you can see, the flowers are irresistible (the flowers are often found nibbled). Let's talk about Purple Sage 🧵

#photography #mint #salvia #leucophylla #wildflower #herb #california #garden #purple #sage #bloomscrolling
A close-up picture of Point Sal Purple Sage, Salvia leucophylla 'Point Sal', focused on the flower whorl. The flowers are pale pink, but can range from this color through many shades, including mid-purple to dusky rose-purple. The spathes, calyces that protect the base of the flower, are arranged tightly in a rough barrel shape in two layers, mid-green, but densely covered in white fuzzy trichomes (plant hairs) that give them a pale green appearance. Some leaves and other calyces just under the flower whorl are the same color and level of fuzz. The leaves are somewhat out of focus, but some reveal the underside with visible veining and showing trichomes on the underside as well. The background is mostly blurry foliage and shadows, with a sign in the upper left with the words "Low Purple Sage" just barely legible. A picture of Point Sal Purple Sage, Salvia leucophylla 'Point Sal', with a sign labeling the plant as "Low Purple Sage" in its center as well as the month and year of the planting. Just below and in front of the sign are leaves showing good detail. They are light to yellow-green, owing the higher albedo to a high density of short, soft trichomes (plant hairs) which cover the top and bottom of the leaves, the stems, and the calyces (not pictured in this image). The leaves are rugose (rumpled, rough-appearing) with distinctive scaly or leathery-looking wrinkles that seem to vary from leaf to leaf in how fine the texture is; older winter leaves are larger with a more open texture, while smaller spring leaves, exposed to hotter weather, are growing in more compact with much finer texture. One immature flower whorl is visible above the sign to the left. I am sorry, dear readers, that you cannot smell this plant from the photo.
May 27, 2025 at 8:00 PM
rhudran.bsky.social
The last time I did a sage post was last month! I'll fix that. Here's a cutie from northern California, called Mrs. Beard Creeping Sage. Stick around! 🧵

#photography #mint #salvia #sonomensis #mellifera #wildflower #herb #california #garden #sonoma #sage #bloomscrolling
A close-up photograph of Mrs. Beard Creeping Sage, Salvia x "Mrs. Beard" or Salvia sonomensis x mellifera "Mrs. Beard" focused on the flowers. It has dense whorls of calyces, like many Californian sages, in mint green with tinges of reddish green. The flowers are a mauve purple color, with same colored style and stamens, and darker purple anthers. Multiple flowers are seen coming out of the wheel-shaped whorls in the center of the frame. The flowers extend from the calyces on a narrow corolla, flaring out before splitting into upper and lower lips. The upper lip is vaguely "M" shaped, while the lower tapers down, then flares into a slightly frilly "bee landing pad" that folds under the body of the flower to varying degrees depending on each flower. Similar flower spikes rise in the background, with visible, yet blurry, flowers. The rest of the background seems to be of the plant itself, blanketing a mulched soil, with the shapes of narrow leaves just barely discernable.
May 21, 2025 at 9:01 PM
rhudran.bsky.social
I got a cute one. Meant to post this last week, but I've been busy. This is Southern Honeysuckle, a smaller, North American contemporary of Japanese Honeysuckle. I wish it smelled as lovely 🧵

#photography #bloomscrolling #flowers #garden #honeysuckle #lonicera #subspicata #xeriscaping #herbs
A close-up picture of Southern Honeysuckle, Lonicera subspicata. The flowers are small but showy, with the petals simple, curled back, butter yellow with red hues and spots. Short yellow stamens bear huge barrel-shaped anthers that stand out, with a corrugated look that makes them resemble tiny starfruit. Flower buds of yellow-green are further up the purple-red stem, while oval green leaves of a similar scale cross in the background. The flowers and leaves are 2 or 3 times smaller than Japanese Honeysuckle, measuring millimeters and centimeters across.
May 20, 2025 at 8:39 PM
rhudran.bsky.social
I'm not really sure where to start with this one. When I started into gardening, Woolly Blue Curls were obscure outside of native plant enthusiasts. It's had a weird fifteen years, though. Let's talk 🧵

#photography #bloomscrolling #flowers #garden #mint #trichostema #lanatum #xeriscaping #herbs
A closeup picture of Woolly Blue Curls, Trichostema lanatum, focused on the flowers. The flowers are borne upon a flower spike of pale green with reddish green streaks. The flowers themselves are supported and partially obscured by short and wide calyces covered in cottony trichomes (plant hairs) that give them a woolly appearance. The flowers themselves are composed of a very short corolla that comes out of the calyces and split into two short upper lips and 4 longer lower lips of a soft deep violet. The leaves, interspersed with the flowers and denser further down, are needle-like with smooth edges and mint-green in color. The texture of the leaves is slightly rumpled, but can vary. As with all mints, the stem is somewhat square and the leaves grow opposite and perpendicular in pairs. The background is very blurry and unfocused, but clearly there is more T. lanatum in the background, with a backdrop of grey-green provided by a more mature Lavandula angustifolia.
May 15, 2025 at 9:15 PM
rhudran.bsky.social
Okay, this time with leaves! And garden!! Honestly this might make a half-decent desktop wallpaper, so enjoy some California Poppies in your Tuesday. 1/2

#photography #poppy #eschscholzia #californica #xeriscaping #wildflower #california #garden #bloomscrolling
A photograph of a garden, with California Poppies, Eschscholzia californica, front and center. The focus seems to be past the frontmost bloom, on the foliage itself but also catching the rest of the orange flowers in the foreground. The finely divided leaves are green with hints of blue and grey, with brighter green Japanese Honeysuckle and pale woolly California Aster for contrast. Joining the foreground are the aforementioned Japanese Honeysuckle, full of flower buds, and California Aster (I think) which is already going to seed. Behind the poppies are fans of bearded iris leaves to the right and penstemon inflorescences to the left, with more flowers fading out of focus the further back they go. More poppies and some very blurry open bearded irises (and one Hooker's Evening Primrose) can be seen in the distance. A white picket fence rudely reveals that I cannot take level photographs reliably.
May 13, 2025 at 8:09 PM
rhudran.bsky.social
Long day yesterday! I dragged my mom to the botanic garden to show her the big project I helped the Master Gardeners implement a couple years ago and we had a good time. Let's talk Penstemons again 🧵

#photography #penstemon #spectabilis #xeriscaping #wildflower #california #garden #bloomscrolling
A wide shot of a garden. In center shot are the flowers of Showy Penstemon, Penstemon spectabilis. The focus isn't great and some detail is lost, but inside the flower at picture center is textbook reddish-purple veining called "nectar guides" that seems similar to bee lines in purpose (if I'm reading this correctly). The flowers overall are mostly a violet blue corolla that flares out at the end into five lobe "petals" of a purple blue. To contrast with the nectar guides and the outer color, the throat of the flower is a lighter shade of purple. It's hard to see, with light filtering through the petals and casting a purple light inside. At the other end is a very small calyx protecting the base of the flower, connected to the green stem by a green (shuffles notes) pedicel, I think. Terminology is hard. MOVING ON. To the right of the inflorescence, or flower cluster, is a larger pair of Showy Penstemon stems displaying the lance-shaped leaves. They are arranged opposite on the stems, with toothed margins which make the species easily identifiable from its closest relatives. They vary in the completeness of the toothed margins and whether they are discrete or fused at the base, but display a regularity in leaf pairs being perpendicular to one another that seems almost mint-like that can be hard to see in other penstemons. The leaves are the same mid-green as the rest of the plant, thin, and somewhere between succulent and leathery. A close-up picture of the inflorescence of Showy Penstemon, Penstemon spectabilis. In direct sunlight, these flowers present as a rich violet color with an almost white throat, and reddish nectar guides that seem to start at the very back of the throat. One flower is facing toward the camera, showing the near entirety of all five (pen) stamens (stemon). Some variation in coloring is seen at the mouth of each in-focus flower, showing the reddish veining of the nectar guides along with a general darkening of the lower lip in one or two of them. There are more flower buds in other stages of development and opening.
May 12, 2025 at 9:59 PM
rhudran.bsky.social
Okay, I admit to some ignorance about Berlandier's Sundrops, but I adore it. In researching it, I've learned a new appreciation for evening primroses as a whole, and I want MORE 🧵

#photography #primrose #oenothera #berlandieri #xeriscaping #wildflower #garden #bloomscrolling
A picture of Berlandier's Sundrops, Oenothera berlandieri, with one of two flowers in center focus. The vibrant yellow seems oversaturated in the overcast lighting, almost glowing, and somewhat obscuring the reproductive parts within that are the same color. The four-petaled flowers have somewhat visible green veins, surrounding yellow stamens holding aloft yellow anthers. Presumably a pistil is hiding somewhere in the pool of bright, bright yellow. The short sepals are completely hidden at this angle, but flower buds of yellow and green with red tinges are visible at the bottom of the frame. Narrow, blade-like Sundrop leaves are also visible with wavy, toothed margins in a shade of green a shade or two darker than mint. They seem somewhat smooth and attached directly to the yellow-green stems.
May 10, 2025 at 10:20 PM
rhudran.bsky.social
Long overdue! These started blooming months ago, and kind of bloom on their own schedule. Hooker's Evening Primrose is a very pretty biennial buuuuuuut it can really seed out 🧵

#photography #primrose #oenothera #elata #xeriscaping #wildflower #california #garden #bloomscrolling
A closeup of Hooker's Evening Primrose, Oenothera elata, focused on a late-stage flower. The 4-petaled flower is bright yellow, all parts. The petals are smooth with minor frilling on the margins. The stamens hold large anthers under a pistil whose stigma forks 4 times. They closely match the color of the petals and may be difficult to see in the photograph. Behind and under flower are flower buds, old flowers, and spent flower heads. Just barely visible is a seed head. The flower buds are yellowish green, accompanied by some small, narrow leaves of a green with less yellow in it. The stems range from reddish brown to green.
May 8, 2025 at 8:01 PM
rhudran.bsky.social
This post is late, but not as late as you might think! Usually my yellow daffodils (jonquils, maybe? Not great IDing this family) bloom in Feb, but this year it was April. Salvia 'Thor' photobomb. More in the 🧵

#photography #garden #narcissus #salvia #sage #daffodil #mints #herbs #bloomscrolling
A profile picture of a daffodil, probably Narcissus jonquilla, focused on the flower. The flower is a glossy yellow with clearly divided sections: the ovary at the bottom partially covered by a drying spathe, tepals (the outer petals, which double as sepals), and a floral tube which conceals the anthers, stamens, pistil, etc. from view. Something is casting a shadow on most of the rest of the plant, which seems to consist of several strap-shaped leaves of mint green with rounded tips and at least one flower bud. In the background, the unfocused shapes of sage leaves are visible. This is a Salvia x 'Thor' which is a White Sage and Black Sage hybrid. A wider shot of the same daffodil on a later date, with more bulbs in the colony blooming. Many yellow flowers obscure the main stem of a Salvia x 'Thor' growing next to it, helped by a tiny forest of strap-shaped leaves with rounded tops. Sadly, the stamens are not visible in this photograph either.
May 6, 2025 at 10:22 PM
rhudran.bsky.social
Yay! Another of my favorite verbenas; this one's a true verbena! Western Vervain volunteered in my garden, much to my delight. An herbaceous perennial that comes back every winter and I love it 🧵

#photography #verbena #lasiostachys #xeriscaping #wildflower #california #garden #bloomscrolling
A closeup picture of the flowering spike of Western Vervain, Verbena lasiostachys. Everything but the flowers themselves is covered in stiff, pale trichomes (plant hairs) that gives it a spiny appearance. The flowers are held in calyces of green and purple on a narrow spike, vaguely resembling that of Lavandula angustifolia, but the flowers are much wider at their open end. The petals are a bright purple with the corolla splitting into two short petals above, two to the side, and a large, wide petal below that could be mistaken for a mint family flower to the casual observer; however, no stamens are visible. More flowering spikes, other plants, and a white picket fence are blurry and unfocused in the background. A picture of Western Vervain, Verbena lasiostachys, focusing on the foliage. In the foreground are the lower levels of flower spikes, unfocused, showing purple leaf and flower buds, as well as scattered open flowers. The stiff trichomes (plant hairs) fade into invisibility on the glossy mint-green leaves. They're toothed and many-lobed, producing shapes similar to ornamental spearheads, complete with semi-leaves on the petioles (winged petioles, petioles being the stem that connects the leaf to the plant stem). Most of the picture is dominated by leaves and stems, but some mulch is visible underneath in rich brown colors. Some Japanese Honeysuckle has snuck into frame in the upper right corner.
May 6, 2025 at 12:41 AM
rhudran.bsky.social
I wasn't sure what to post today, until I saw this photograph I captured which shows nearly all 5 stamens of a penstemon. I think that's pretty cool, so let's talk about Foothill Penstemon today 🧵

#photography #penstemon #heterophyllus #xeriscaping #wildflower #california #garden #bloomscrolling
A close-up picture of Foothill Penstemon, Penstemon heterophyllus, surrounded by the foliage of what is very likely to be Japanese Honeysuckle, Lonicera japonica. The large, 1-inch flowers are held aloft on the short flowering spikes of an unassuming plant with narrow green stems and leaves, which are visible, but dwarfed by the honeysuckle leaves. Within the vivid purple flowers are several white stamens, some curling along the bottom of the corolla and some along the top, numbering five, but not all are visible from the angle of the photograph. The anthers appear to also be purple along the edges, but yellow pollen is visible spilled under one.
May 1, 2025 at 8:03 PM
rhudran.bsky.social
Ah, the famous California Poppy. I need to get an accompanying foliage photo here for better awareness so it's pulled as a weed less often. Short 🧵 today!

#photography #poppy #eschscholzia #californica #xeriscaping #wildflower #california #garden #bloomscrolling
A closeup shot of California Poppy, Eschscholzia californica, just the flower. It's bright orange, this one a paler orange color with some minor damage to one of its four large petals. Several limp stamens recline at the center of the flower, matching its color. A stem recedes out of focus from the bottom of the flower, a medium green color.
April 30, 2025 at 7:02 PM
rhudran.bsky.social
I'm going out of order to bring you Ecuadoran Sage! This pretty South American salvia is pretty flexible in warm gardens, thriving with regular water but surviving multiple harsh summers here. A little more info in the 🧵

#photography #mint #sage #salvia #flocculosa #garden #flower #bloomscrolling
A close-up picture of Ecuadoran Sage, Salvia flocculosa, focusing on the flowers. The flowers are clustered closely on a flower spike, a medium blue-purple with "bee lines" along the bottom lip. Two white marks seem to lead into the throat of each flower, where a bee will inevitably brush against the stamens hidden under the upper lip of the flower. Unfocused in the background is the foliage of the plant: simple, pointed, ovate leaves with a smooth edge and a slightly silvery green color. Light veining on the leaves. The stems are a silvery reddish-brown.
April 29, 2025 at 8:22 PM
rhudran.bsky.social
A quick post for Monday of just two pitchersages growing into each other. Fragrant Pitchersage and Baja Pitchersage certainly grow differently but their aromas compliment each other!

#photography #bloomscrolling #flowers #garden #mint #lepechinia #fragrans #hastata #herbs
A picture of two species of Pitchersages, Lepechinia fragrans with its larger lavender purple flowers and Lepechinia hastata with its smaller magenta flowers. Fuzzy foliage and empty sepals of spent L. fragrans dominate the upper right of the image, while soil in dappled shade is visible, out of focus, in the left.
April 28, 2025 at 7:27 PM
rhudran.bsky.social
A nice, quiet one for today. Mojave Beardtongue is a very nice accent plant and hummingbird magnet for the hot garden. It seems to tolerate heat better than Showy Penstemon, with narrower and redder flowers.🧵

#photography #penstemon #pseudospectabilis #xeriscaping #wildflower #california #garden
A shot of flowers of Mojave Beardtongue, Penstemon pseudospectabilis. They're pinkish purple, narrow and tubular that flare toward the open end. Subtle veining is visible in the petals. A closeup picture of Mojave Beardtongue, Penstemon pseudospectabilis, showing detail of the leaves and stems. The leaves are opposite and fused at the base, resembling a cup with points at opposite ends. They're emerald green and glossy, with light veining of the same or maybe a slightly lighter color. A cluster of flowers are coming from a short maroon flower spike attached to a leaf node, holding one open flower and multiple spent flower heads showing the style still attached to the pistil.
April 23, 2025 at 7:42 PM
rhudran.bsky.social
I guess I'm posting one of the two most unique California native sages for Earth Day! I even got woken by a phone call about this plant, oddly enough. Lots to say about this one, so follow the 🧵

#photography #mint #salvia #spathacea #wildflower #harb #california #garden #hummingbird #sage
A closeup shot of the flowering spike of Hummingbird Sage, Salvia spathacea, showing its long and narrow, tubular flowers which are too long and narrow for bees to collect nectar from. Special burgundy-colored calyces, called spathes, protect the base of the flowers from base biting, a behavior some bumblebees employ to get nectar without climbing into the flower. The calyx structure arranges the flowers in a barrel shape, protruding from an axis which is the large stem of the plant, with these whorls of flowers at intervals. One is seen just above the flowers at the center of the shot, with a rather short interval. The stem, bracts, spathes, and the rest of the calyces are all covered in very glandular trichomes that produce a sticky, herby-pineapple fragrance when disturbed. The flowers of Salvia spathacea are typically in some spectrum of magenta, but this variety opens with a gradient from light peach (orange) to magenta in a unique bicolor or tricolor. Two newly opened flowers are closest to the focal point, with more mature purple flowers further back on the plant. The forked style and stamens, with pronounced anthers, protrude far past the upper lip of the flower. A picture of foliage of Hummingbird Sage, Salvia spathacea, with a flowering spike to the right for context. The foliage is emerald green, rugose (rough or, in this case, rumpled), and covered with highly aromatic glandular trichomes which produce a fragrance similar to pineapples when disturbed. The leaves can grow very large; the largest in the photograph is partially eaten (probably by a grasshopper) but still likely almost 9cm wide and twice that long. Other plants are peeking through the leaves. Included: Hypericum and Romneya.
April 22, 2025 at 6:46 PM
rhudran.bsky.social
This was a cheeky farmer's market buy from at least a decade ago and I'm so glad I got my hands on it! Rue is so underrated for its unique flavor and beautiful appearance. It's a Mediterranean plant that does well in hot climates. 🧵

#photography #flowers #garden #herbs #rue #ruta #graveolens
A picture of Rue, Ruta graveolens, in a garden next to a tree. The flower has five petals and has a typical star shape with blunted tips and fringed edges. A blue-green pitted structure seems to support the stamens and carpels (pistils), also yellow. A four petaled flower is seen opening in the background to the left. The foliage is pale blue-green, divided into ovaloid lobes that branch off the central vein and give the appearance of many leaves that face into a blurred background of the dense foliage of the Rue shrub itself.
April 21, 2025 at 8:58 PM
rhudran.bsky.social
Oh, this one's special. Not a sage, not tasty, but so ornamental. Phyla nodiflora, formally a Lippia, is a very cute groundcover that kinda looks like clover with a very long blooming season and an odd history in landscaping 🧵

#photography #flowers #garden #verbena #phyla #nodiflora #lippia
A close-up picture of Frogfruit, Phyla nodiflora (also called Lippia, though it is no longer a Lippia) with a US penny for scale. The coin is between two flower clusters, with the individual flowers about the size of Abraham Lincoln's ear on the coin. The flowers are white with a yellow center, tiny, arranged in dense clusters around a purple core of compact bracts. The leaves cover the ground over old growth, each leaf a lime green and lightly fuzzy in extremely short, stiff plant hairs. The leaf shape is a slightly blunted lance shape with a moderately toothed edge. The leaves visible seem to be sprouting from old growth trailing stems that have become white with age.
April 17, 2025 at 7:40 PM
rhudran.bsky.social
Here it is, the cultivar of Fragrant Pitchersage, called El Tigre after a peak on Santa Cruz Island. I needed a friend to help confirm that! It's a fine plant, but I don't favor the fragrance of this variety. Grows well.

#photography #flowers #garden #mint #lepechinia #fragrans #herbs
A closeup picture of El Tigre Pitchersage, Lepechinia fragrans 'El Tigre' with flowers in center of frame. The sepals are somewhat longer than other varieties, close to where the flower petals flare, but very similar in shape with the same mint green and brown-purple veining. The flowers themselves are a similar cotton candy pink color and tubular shape with "bee landing pad" to other L. fragrans I've seen. The leaves are a similar green to the sepals, but lacking the purple veining, and similarly fuzzy. The stems are more yellow.
April 16, 2025 at 8:58 PM
rhudran.bsky.social
So, I have a bit of a bias, but I want to be fair to this plant. It looks nice. It looks like rosemary. I like rosemary. Similarly, it behaves well as a hedge and blooms frequently. However...🧵

#photography #mint #flower #landscaping #garden #westringia #fruticosa
A close-up shot of a false rosemary called Coast Rosemary, Westringia fruticosa. The flowers are borne close to the stems with a shape very similar to Rosemary flowers that are a very light purple with brown spots in the throat. The leaves are narrow and needle-like, almost pine-green. The stems and leaves are studded with extremely short and non-sharp plant hairs called trichomes.
April 14, 2025 at 8:19 PM
rhudran.bsky.social
I wasn't supposed to post today but I couldn't resist! Foliage comparison of English and Egyptian Lavender, also called Fernleaf Lavender.
1/2
#photography #mint #lavenders #flower #lavandula #multifida #angustifolia
An image of Fernleaf Lavender, Lavandula multifida, and English Lavender, Lavandula angustifolia. The main focus is on the leaves, but the purple flowers are visible. English Lavender has largely linear leaves with some dentation around the middle of the leaf, while Fernleaf Lavender has finely divided leaves that give the plant its common name, vaguely resembling certain ferns. The English Lavender's foliage has a pale green appearance with a tinge of blue, while Fernleaf Lavender's foliage has a pale green appearance with a tinge of yellow, like a sagey lime green. Both have a soft appearance due to the presence of very short, densely-growing plant hairs called trichomes.
April 11, 2025 at 8:01 PM
rhudran.bsky.social
Here's another of Purple Nightshade, with good foliage detail. By the way, the whole plant is very poisonous. A deadly beauty.

#photography #nightshades #flower #solanum #xanti
A picture of Purple Nightshade, Solanum xanti, with focus on leaves rather than the flower. The leaves strongly resemble tomato leaves; they are soft, hairy, with undulating edges and have a medium to mint green. The flower is slightly out of focus, the details blending together slightly.
April 10, 2025 at 6:51 PM
rhudran.bsky.social
The same day I captured that nightshade shot, I snapped this one, too. I had to do some digging, but I think this is Paiute False Bindweed. A Morning Glory, it may well be highly toxic but beautiful.
1/2
#photography #flower #wildflower #calystegia #longipes #bindweed #morningglory
An image of what is believed to be Paiute False Bindweed, Calystegia longipes. The plant is a low, twisting mass of narrow stems that trail along the ground and barely wider green, pointed leaves. Flowers are emerging from the trailing stems on short stalks of green; beautiful morning glory flowers of white and blushed with rosy pink. One flower, still opening, faces the camera and shows the stamens inside the flower.
April 9, 2025 at 8:06 PM
rhudran.bsky.social
At a guess? Hmmmm.
A quote posted bluesky post that has since been deleted.
April 8, 2025 at 10:35 PM