So, class, that title is an obscure science fiction reference if I ever heard one, isn't it? Who knows who Eccentrica Gallumbits is, raise your hand...
Anyone? Anyone?
A character in
Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series of books,
Eccentrica is the famous triple-breasted whore of Eroticon Six. So, where in Seattle would you find a whore with three breasts?
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| Those do kind of look like boobs, dontcha think? |
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| Oops, wrong Amazon |
I've been wanting to get into town to check out the plantings outside the
Amazon Spheres (there are three of them), ever since they opened this past winter. Loree at Danger Garden visited during her trip to the Northwest Flower and Garden Festival, and posted about it
here, and I really wanted to check up on those cool plants.
I usually do a "day in Seattle" every summer, so this year I figured it would be my visit to the Spheres. But I've had to put it off over and over all August, because of the wildfire smoke. I knew it would entail a lot of walking, and I wasn't up for inhaling all that smoke while engaging in physical exertion. All the air quality maps said the air was unhealthy to breathe for everyone, not just for the sensitive or those with compromised health. Finally on Thursday, the breezes blew through and cleared the air, and I thought "I'll do it on Friday."
Of course, when I got up on Friday, it turned out that some of the smoke had returned to the area in a kind of meteorological backwash. But I went anyway.
It was pretty fabulous. Lush and green and wonderful. There's a lot I can't identify, but if you know, tell me. Also, there's lots of photos in this post, so get comfortable.
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| A combination of Pseudopanax ferox and Pseudopanax crassifolius at the entrance to the Understory exhibit, which tells you a little bit about the construction and philosophy behind the Spheres |
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| Fuchsia speciosa |
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| Tree ferns everywhere |
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| There was quite a lot of this plant also, which I don't recognize -- so I'm going to call it Eccentrica gallumbitsii -- in fact, that's what I'm calling everything I don't recognize |
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| Pyrrosia sheareri -- I thought it was P. lingua, but Loree IDed it as P. sheareri, and she's more knowledgeable than I, so I'm going with what she said |
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| Another lush tree fern |
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| Beesia and maidenhair fern |
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| Nice to see even their Podophyllums are burnt |
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| Huge clumps of Pyrrosia |
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| Many weren't looking their best after our long, dry, hot, smoky summer |
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| This looks like some kind of Bromeliad |
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| This was IDed in Loree's post as Ochagavia carnea |
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| Abutilon |
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| Nice form echoes in the Mahonia, tree fern and maidenhair fern |
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| Bloomed out Cautleya? |
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| I should know this, it looks familiar -- something salicifolius? |
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| Aralia-like fruit |
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| Plenty of lush new growth |
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| Fascicularia pitcairnifolia |
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| Agave parryi at the foot of a restio |
The area was absolutely crawling with people and dogs -- Amazon's corporate
culture is very dog-friendly, they encourage their employees to bring
their dogs to work. And they were celebrating International Banana Split
Day, so the courtyard area had a huge tent set up where they were
handing out free bananas and ice cream, and people were lounging
everywhere. Normally, this many people would freak me out, but I was so engrossed in the plants I didn't care. Besides, they were busy eating and talking and walking their dogs. They weren't looking at the plants at all.
I was the only freak doing that.
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| I'm afraid this flowering plant is another Eccentrica gallumbitsii -- I have no clue |
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| The bees were all over those flowers, which remind me of St. John's wort |
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| This cutie is looking longingly down into the doggie play area, where three other dogs were romping |
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| Cuphea? |
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| Grevillea |
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| Grevillea |
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| Sorry for the out-of-focus photo, this area was a bit breezy |
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| Another plant I have no clue about, other than to suspect it's some kind of Aralioid |
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| A closeup of the seed capsules and the new growth |
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| Schefflera delavayi and Sinopanax formosanus growing into each other's space |
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| A Bigleaf Magnolia had a good few leaves that had seen better days, they were a bit chewed up by being in a spot that might be perhaps a bit too breezy |
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| Hardy Ginger |
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| Papery bracts and seed capsules of Dierama -- all the while I was photographing it, I was beset to the right of me by a woman encouraging her pup to poop |
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| Calycanthus, possibly 'Hartlage Wine' -- I couldn't detect a scent |
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| One more plant that I have no ID for, but it does have beautiful blue flowers |
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| Woodwardia and Blechnum were everywhere in this bed |
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| Many of the Woodwardia had colored up, but this one was especially intense |
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| I'm curious to know what this grass is -- I saw Sporobolus heterolepsis at the Hardy Plant Study Weekend for the first time, and this reminds me of it |
I don't know either of these next two plants, but they have some nice bronze new growth.
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| Ginger flower closeup |
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| What beats a Schefflera taiwaniana? |
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| How bout two of them? |
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| A nice foliage vignette -- I know Mahonia eurybracteata and Astelia, and maybe some kind of hardy Begonia-- but the rest are question marks |
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| And that brings us full circle back to the entrance to the Understory exhibit |
That Eccentrica! She is one luscious lady. And I haven't even ventured inside yet.
Amazon is now opening the Spheres to the public on two Saturdays a month. I have a reservation for September 15. Hopefully I'll get some good photos, even if I'm in a crowd being led around by the nose. And maybe I'll learn something.
