The one the ancients put on their door to ward off evil spirits? I of course, had no idea at the time of its historic occultist underpinnings, I just found it a curious plant when I saw it at Serra Gardens and I bought it.
You might revisit the post, I find it interesting.
This plant is thought to be Moly, the plant that Homer considered the most holy of all plants, said to be revealed by the god Hermes himself.Ulysses was handed a sprig by Hermes to assure him that he would be safe when he wandered into the Palace of Circe. Proteus's daughters were cured by this plant after being driven mad by Dionysus.
The plant is indeed very odd. It dies off and than pops a tall flower stalk out of a strange bulb like base when you least expect it.
In the spring it is equipped with a lovely leaf form but it loses all foliage on the approach of summer.
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| Ulysses foiling the wiles of Circe - Pier Francesco Cittadini (1616-1681) |
3 comments:
Do you know about the statue in your garden, the one in the first photo??
It is a Garden Sprite designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for the Midway Gardens in Chicago in 1913. Sculpted by another fellow.
Yup.
Such a great post, Robert. Love the Sea Squill. Such a dramatic life cycle. Wish I could share your thoughts on the Serra Gardens FB page. I totally respect your use of this technology, but I can't figure out how. If you had the notion, it would be great to include this post on our feed.
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