favorite flowers [redux]

as of 07/14/22 13:54 PDT

“what’s your favorite flower?” you ask… well here’s more answer than you ever wanted:

especially favored flowers

• morning glories (Ipomoea, Convolvulus)¹
• [giant trumpet nightshades]
  • Brugmansia
  • Datura
• [legumes]
  • lupine (Lupinus)
  • (showy bean trees)
    • poinciana (Delonix)
    • coral trees (Erythrina)
  • Wisteria
• [many alien looking aroid spathes]
  • esp. calla lilies (Zantedeschia)²
• [gloriously giant beauties among the succulents of the asparagus family]
  • esp. Yucca
  • and Agave
• [other bountifully flowering trees]
  • esp. horse-chestnuts/buckeyes (Aesculus)
  • and Catalpa and similar (e.g. Paulownia)
  • dogwood (Cornus)
  • tulip-tree (Liriodendron)
• snapdragons and relatives (Antirrhinum, Sairocarpus, Linaria, Cymbalaria)
• [many cacti]
  • esp. the various ‘night-blooming cereus’ (Epiphyllum, Hylocereus/Selenicereus)
  • and some the cuter barrels like fishhook/pincushion cacti (Mammillaria)
• [many orchids of course]
  • (mainly frillier/smaller/many-flowered species)
    • esp. Oncidium
    • also Cattleya
    • and Bulbophyllum
    • a few Dendrobium
• [big ornate flowers with delicate structures]
  • Rhododendron (and azaleas)
  • Passiflora
• [many zygomorphic, tubular, and/or bell-shaped flowers]
  • foxgloves (Digitalis)
  • lily of the valley (Convallaria)
  • [little bells of the heath family]
    • e.g. manzanita (Arctostaphylos)
    • and madrone (Arbutus)
    • and even many wintergreens like salal etc (Gaultheria)
  • [weird succulent milkweed relatives]
    • e.g. Stapelia, Hoodia, Huernia, Orbea
  • pipevines (Aristolochia)
• jasmine (Jasminum)
• [pretty little flowerheads in the verbena family]
  • Lantana
  • vervain (Verbena)

favored ‘normy’ flowers

• daffodils (Narcissus)
• lilies (Lilium)
• [other lily-esque flowers]
  • amaryllides (Hippeastrum)
• [many spring bulbs, esp. the blue ones]
  • hyacinths (Hyacinthus)
  • grape hyacinths (Muscari)
  • bluebells (Hyacinthoides)
  • squills (Scilla)
  • and sometimes even a Crocus

honorable mention flowers

• milkweeds (Asclepias, Funastrum)
• lotus (Nelumbo)
• Aloë and other asphodel family relatives
• [sprays of colorful little flowers]
  • california lilacs (Ceanothus)
  • (true) lilacs (Syringa)
  • butterfly-bush (Buddleja)
• [mom’s favs]
  • Cymbidium
  • tobacco (Nicotiana)
• [a very select group of composites]
  • yarrow (Achillea)
  • golden yarrow (Eriophyllum)
  • Dahlia I suppose, and sea dahlias/tickseeds (Coreopsis)
  • african daisies (Osteospermum) if the mood is right
• honeysuckles (Lonicera)
• california poppies (Eschscholzia)
• larkspur (Delphinium, especially the more wild-type ones)
• many of the showier sages (Salvia)
• [a few of the showier ones in the myrtle family]
  • bloodgum and other Corymbia
  • bottlebrush trees (Callistemon) and some other larger/pinker/redder Melaleuca relatives
• [some in the protea family, though many of these I also find weirdly disconcerting]
  • Hakea
  • Grevillea
  • but not so much Banksia or Protea
• [misc. california native flowers]
  • buckwheats (Eriogonum)
  • yerba santa (Eriodictyon)
  • blue dicks (Dipterostemon)
  • scorpionweeds (Phacelia)
  • sand verbena (Abronia)
  • canchalagua/centaury (Zeltnera)
  • blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium)
  • sea lavender (Limonium)
  • monkeyflower (Diplacus/Mimulus/Erythranthe)
• pride of madeira and other Echium
• [mycoheterotrophs]
  • ghost pipe/pinesap (Monotropa)
  • snow plant (Sarcodes)
• [weird blue flowers]
  • sapphire tower (Puya)
  • jade vine (Strongylodon)
• [other showy legumes]
  • redbuds (Cercis)
  • orchid trees (Bauhinia)
• frangipani (Plumeria)
• nasturtium (Tropaeolum)

disfavored flowers³

• roses (Rosa)
• tulips (Tulipa)
• [big round orchids]
  • e.g. Phalaenopsis
  • and most Dendrobium
• [most composites/asters]
  • sunflowers (Helianthus)
  • daisies (Bellis, Leucanthemum, Glebionis)
• Magnolia
• iceplants (Carpobrotus, Mesembryanthemum though Delosperma I hate somewhat less)
• hellebores (Helleborus)
• [spurge (Euphorbia) [pseudo-]“flowers”]
  • e.g. poinsettia, crown-of-thorns, etc
• [plain ‘flower-shaped’ flowers]
  • e.g. Citrus and relatives
  • [smaller nightshades]
    • e.g. tomatoes and other Solanum
  • [many/most in the rose family]
    • e.g. apples (Malus) and pears (Pyrus)
    • cherries, plums, etc (Prunus)⁴
    • blackberries and most other Rubus⁵
• kinda hate birds of paradise (Strelitzia) for some reason
• lavender (Lavandula)
• violets (Viola)
• (wood)sorrels (Oxalis)
• Cyclamen
• Geranium (and Pelargonium)

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1. usually my response to my favorite flower↩︎

2. usually what i call my second-favorite↩︎

3. I definitely like some of these plants, just not really the flowers↩︎

4. tho I can definitely appreciate the mass beauty of a blossoming cherry or similar, but the individual flowers less so↩︎

5. though I do enjoy a good salmonberry flower↩︎

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