Garden Variety: What's blooming at the Baltimore Conservatory? - Mid-Atlantic gardening: Tips and pictures on flowers, vegetables, public gardens, composting and farmers’ markets

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January 18, 2010

What's blooming at the Baltimore Conservatory?

Rawlings Conservatory

Photo credit: MIchael Lemmon

On Mondays, Garden Variety will be letting you know what's blooming at the Howard Peter Rawlings Conservatory and Botanic Garden in Baltimore's Druid Hill Park.

This week, it is Pachystachys Coccinea.

Commonly known as the "Cardinal's Guard," it is part of the Acanthaceae family. This tropical shrub grows 3 to 4 feet tall with soft green leaves and is native to northern South America.

The scarlet red tubular inflorescences grow in spikes up to 6 inches long and are very attractive to hummingbirds.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Garden photography

Comments

Thanks! I've really been wanting to learn more about our local botanical gardens.

Posted by: Amo | January 18, 2010 10:55 AM

The conservatory is a beautiful place to visit. Definitely worth a trip.

Posted by: Anonymous | January 18, 2010 4:18 PM

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About Susan Reimer

Susan Reimer has spent 16 years writing about raising kids - among other topics - in her column for The Baltimore Sun. And every time son Joseph or daughter Jessie passed another milestone - driver's license, college, wedding or a move to a new military duty station - she has planted another garden. Now she will be writing about those gardens - and yours - here on Garden Variety.

Susan isn't an expert gardener, but she wasn't an expert mother, either. Both - the kids and the gardens - seem to be doing well in spite of her.

She lives in Annapolis with her husband, Gary Mihoces, who loves to cut his grass but has noticed that there seems to be less of it every time the kids pass another milestone.

Follow @susanreimer on Twitter