Wednesday's Story

Whirligig…

is a toy that spins or whirls in the wind.  The word itself is so playful that it makes me smile. The whirligig I came across at the Huntington Library and Botanical Garden blows in the wind and looks as if it could spin or whirl at any moment, even though it’s a flower. Both the flower and the word remind me of giggling and playing when I was a child, and I’m so appreciative that a flower can bring me back to those moments. Flowers create connections to each other, to a time and a moment; this whirligig did just that.

Whirligig. Doesn’t it just make you smile when you say it out loud?

points of interest

Daisy-like composite flower appearing from late spring to autumn. Crimped or spoon-shaped white female ray florets (petals) with blue on the reverse and a bright blue pseudo-bisexual disc floret (center). This spreading subshrub has inversely lance-shaped, toothed, gray-green leaves.

general care

Full sun, water regularly to prevent drying out. Remove wilted flowers to encourage blooming. Cut back in early spring or autumn to encourage fresh growth. Propagate through cuttings.

friday’s flower fact

Often labeled as an annual, Osteosermums are in fact half-hardy subshrubs that cannot tolerate frost but can be overwintered in a protected environment.