Paco Botanica

The secret Paco Command Center in Occupied Northern Virginia is enjoying a glorious burst of color this summer, which gives the recuperating Mrs. Paco something nice to look out the window at.

The above pictured plant is a moonflower, which generates numerous brilliant white, trumpet shaped flowers. Each flower, when it's ready to blossom, is rolled tight, like a fancy napkin at an overpriced restaurant, and it suddenly unravels in the blink of an eye. The flower only blooms after the sun goes down, and it withers and dies the next morning when the sun rises (kind of like vampires, or the shelf-life of Obama's latest foreign policy pronouncement).


The gladiolas are starting to bloom, and what a magnificent flower it is. The blossoms tend to be so heavy that they pull the stalk down to the ground, so I try and cut them for interior display before they wind up lying there like a bunch of drum majors, passed out in their gaudy uniforms from an excess of strong drink.


This perennial hibiscus has great, flashy-looking red flowers the size of bread plates.


Some beautiful orange dahlias. These flowers, along with the gerberas, tend to attract goldfinches, which savagely tear the petals off. I am bound by an oath to friend and commenter Rebecca not to get after the little devils with a shotgun; in fact, I am pleased to report that I have decided to enter into peace talks with the finches. My lead negotiator will be the neighbor's cat.

Mrs. Paco sends her regards. She is still in considerable pain, but ever so slowly is on the mend. Please remember to pray for blogger kae's mother, who has also recently undergone surgery for a serious illness.