Flower Fest - K for Klamath Weed

Never heard of Klamath Weed? Neither had I. But then I hadn't heard of many wildflowers and weeds till I moved to Colorado. But wait, this is one that everyone has heard of. Yup, it's none other than St. John's Wort. (When I first heard of St. John's Wort, I wondered why a plant would be called a wart...but that's a whole 'nother story!)

Anyway, egged on by Sree and Priya, I decided to put paint to paper a second time. Either that or slip in a picture of K Kosmos. Seriously, I grew Kosmos with a K; it was some Martha Stewart Garden brand of seeds from K-Mart - yes, that's how long ago it was. The flowers were gorgeous and some rather plain looking butterflies did come along for the nectar. But even though I found references to the flower spelled with a K, all text had it spelled as cosmos. Sree has already done a brilliant job with Cosmos for Flower-Fest - 'C', so I figured I might as well try again with paints.



I don't know what went wrong with the leaf on the right and whatever I did to correct it, only made it worse. So I gave up. Hey! It's only my second watercolor. So cut me some slack here!

Klamath weed or St. John's Wort, Hypericum perforatum, is a perennial plant found in almost all the US states at low elevations and in dry places. It is classified as a noxious and poisonous weed. It exudes oily secretions from its stems and these can cause a rash on people with sensitive skin. Ingesting large quantities of this weed can result in convulsions, palpitation and high heart rate, increased body temperature, and even blindness in both humans and animals. Paradoxically, this weed is used in herbal medication, and was recently identified as an effective treatment against some forms of depression. Huh? Everything in moderation applies to Klamath weed, too! (Reference)

Again, since it will be helpful to know what the real flower looks like, I based my watercolor on this lovely picture of the flower and plant.

This is my entry for the letter K in the Flower Fest - the A - Z of Flowers.

Flower Fest is the brainchild of Nature & Me and Sree. Every two weeks, the focus will be on a letter of the English alphabet. The current letter is K. I am submitting photographs of flowers as my entries.

Tags: Flower Fest, klamath weed, St John's Wort, hypericum, flower

Flower Fest - J for Jacob's Ladder

Jacob's Ladder is a delicate, ornamental flower from a genus of 25 flowering plants called Polemonium. I think the picture below is of Jacob's Ladder but since I don't have a close-up of the flowers, I am not entirely sure. If anyone knows whether these are or are not Jacob's Ladder, please let me know!


And, so the challenge continued for J. It's been snowing every Friday or every weekend for the past 6 weeks - yes, we're already picked up 3 inches today - and the chances of going anywhere is very low, making it even more difficult to take new pictures of flowers. The writing was pretty clear on the wall that I was going to have to attempt to paint something.

Please be gentle with me. I have never done any painting in my life - except for some basic fabric painting. This is the first time I have done a watercolor. I know of no techniques and sometimes I wonder if I know how to hold a paintbrush. I used watercolor pencils and a combination of wet and damp paintbrushes to come up with my first and only masterpiece.


Since most folks will need to know what the flower really looks like, I based my watercolor on this gorgeous picture.

This is my entry for the letter J in the Flower Fest - the A - Z of Flowers.

Flower Fest is the brainchild of Nature & Me and Sree. Every two weeks, the focus will be on a letter of the English alphabet. The current letter is J. I am submitting photographs of flowers as my entries.

Tags: Flower Fest, jacob's ladder, polemonium, flower

Flower Fest - I for Iris

Iris. Never really cared for these flowers. The 'hairy beard' put me off. So I never really paid any attention to these flowers. Until last spring, when I saw several buds in my yard that I did not recognize...


A walk around the neighborhood told me that I was the expectant gardener of the common iris. And when they bloomed, I was in love. The petals are so delicate and they come together so well, that I was soon overwhelmed by their true beauty.


I further realized how much I cared for these plants when they were attacked by whiteflies. Hosing them down with soap and water did not work so I had to resort to pesticides. This spring, if we ever get there, will tell whether the bulbs survived.


This is my second entry for the letter I in the Flower Fest - the A - Z of Flowers.

Flower Fest is the brainchild of Nature & Me and Sree. Every two weeks, the focus will be on a letter of the English alphabet. The current letter is I. I am submitting photographs of flowers as my entries.

Tags: Flower Fest, iris, flower