Pied Beauty

Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889)

Glory be to God for dappled things—
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches' wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;
And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:

Praise him.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Foliage Friday: Selaginella

Selaginella
 Selaginella belongs to a large family of plants known collectively as spikemoss.  They are rather fern-like in appearance but aren't really true ferns.  Most of them are tropical or subtropical, but some, like the Resurrection Plants, are native to deserts.  Resurrection Plants are dry and brown until it rains.  Then they quickly unfurl and are a beautiful bright green.

Some selaginella have dark leaves with a red reverse.
Selaginella, or Club Moss, can't really tolerate winter temperatures and even here, should probably be kept in a container.  It's a perfect terrarium plant and is easily divided if you're inclined to share.  Keep it in partial to mostly shade in a humid environment and you can enjoy Selaginella during the warm weather outdoors.  Then bring it inside for a winter break.  It might be helpful to place the container on a tray of pebbles that you water, to increase the humidity.

Perfect for fairy gardens or Wardian cases.
I can hardly believe I typed that.  We usually don't try to increase the humidity around here!

1 comment:

  1. Beautiful textures. Up north, we can use a little wintertime humidity. These plants are so delicate looking. They would be great in a terrarium.

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