Saturday, 25 June 2016

Plant of the Month : Kalmia angustifolia


Among all the brilliant flowers at this time of the year, the peonies, the foxgloves and roses, which are flowering now in splendour, this unobtrusive small evergreen bush grows unnoticed for  most of the year until it comes to flower in June. Now it produces an abundance of little pink or white flowers that look like tiny cupcakes. These open to waxen flower cups, little bells with delicate paintings on them that look like minuscule cake moulds.
It is toxic though. Its common name is sheep laurel or lambs' kill  - the cupcake shape and the sweet looks are deceiving. It belongs to the family of Ericaceae and needs acid soil like most of its members and grows well among rhododendrons. 







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