Spring break in Portland, Oregon. That's what my 18-year old son Ben asked for. Well, not really. It was supposed to be 3 days at a surf beach in Mexico, then a bit of culture in Oaxaca for mom and dad. Imagine turning 18 in Mexico and having a legal beer. THAT'S spring break! Long story short - the timing didn't quite work, so he chose Portland. Surf sucks, no sun, but that was his second choice.
Airport, light rail, Pioneer Square. So after carrying our luggage 3 blocks through freezing rain, Lin (my wife), Ben and I headed out on the light rail to Washington Park. Destination - the Japanese Garden. We disembark, take the elevator up to ground level, and right there before us is the entrance to the Portland Zoo.
Perhaps I'm the first to discover this botanical wonder, but I'll be damned if the spruce tree (or whatever the hell that conifer is - they all look the same to this Santa Barbarian if they ain't palm trees) has this ginormous Hibiscus flower sprouting from it. Maybe it's a Hibispruce?
Hibiscus is a pretty familiar sight down our way, so imagine my surprise to see this image from someone's bad acid trip blooming in the light drizzle. I climbed the tree and took some pollen samples, so I'm pretty sure I can complete the taxonomic analysis and secure my place in botanical history. I'm guessing I'll get some kind of scientific recognition at the next Convocation of Brilliant Botanists when they convene in Stockholm next year.
I'll start packing.
9 comments:
LOL....and if you ask me...it's nearly psycho- painted too.
My GTS photo is shared, hope you can find time to stop by!!
I would have assumed a Hibispruce was only a drunken revelation without the photo. I'd be careful collecting pollen. It may be much more potent than a couple beers.
Anni - thanks for stopping by. I visited your blog but couldn't figure out where to leave a comment. Fun stuff there; wanted to leave a few thoughts.
Wiseacre - I think we're way beyond beer's ability to induce such visions. We're talking some rare mushroom or alkaloid from the Amazonian jungle.
Book your place you are onto a winner their, that is one rare bloom ,infact it is bloomin marvelous
How cool is that! Glad you collected some pollen - this rare find might never be repeated again. LOL - at least without the help of magic mushrooms.
Enjoy your spring break!
Learn somethin' new every day!
Nice, you come all the way to Portland, and that's the report...dude, this is the most righteous gardening city in the US... surely you saw some real plants that inspired you... We have had crappy weather, so we aren't as far along as I wish we were...
GWG, ah Portland, hopefully you saw a few Japanese Maples along the way? What a nice city, but I can see how its hard to compare to Santa Barbara, an equally beautiful city in its own right.
Sean
You always see the weirdest things! Must be something about you....Sorry I missed your post GTS post last week, so I'll wish you a VERY belated Happy GTS!
Aiyana
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