out my window 2

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I would be remiss, if I did not acknowledge a second plant blooming outside my office window. (See May 20 posting.) Another one that pays homage to the Old Dominion, the state named in honor of the "virgin" queen of England: Elizabeth I, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, who coincidently was beheaded (for not producing a son) 473 years ago this week, on May 19, 1536.

Reportedly, just before she died, Boleyn remarked, "I heard say the executioner is very good, and I have a little neck."

The plant is called Virginia sweetspire or “Itea virginica." Like the good Queen Mother, its floral display is borne with a little neck that supports a raceme of small white, star-shaped lacy flowers.

This one, more shrub than tree, likes to grow in swamps or near the edges of streams or lakes. None of these I have, just outside my window, but the landlocked sweetspire seems to be quite pleased with its surroundings.

It's listed as being tardily deciduous (don't you just love that?) which means like the sweetbay, it does not always drop its leaves in the fall in a timely manner. It just depends on how far north it finds itself growing.


- Photo taken at Ijams Nature Center

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