ARMCHAIR TRAVELS - VEGGING OUT IN PALERMO

If you’d rather contemplate a date than fret over The Debate, then join me in vegging out with Palermo’s strange and wonderful vegetation.  I took these photos between January 2015 and today.  Some of them were taken in the Villa Giulia, a large public park with specimen trees open from dawn to dusk and located nearby.  Many come from the Orto Botanico, said to be the oldest botanical garden in Italy.  The rest were taken on our balcony or while walking around town.  Some of the plants featured I can identify, and others not.  If there are any budding botanists out there who want to jump in with genus and species, please do!  I have to admit that when it comes to vegetation, my ignorance doesn’t diminish my bliss.  Vegging out is my one of my preferred antidotes to tuning in.

Because they are so prolific and ubiquitous, let’s start with the cactus family.  These were taken at a biannual plant sale at the Orto Botanico.

This mean "ostrich girl" was discovered on a walk.

One of the several cacti below was our "starter cactus," which someone had dumped by the roadside.  We rescued her and brought her home.  In gratitude, she was very fruitful and multiplied.  By the way, cactus seem to be indestructible.  We've hacked them back and still they persisted--just like a certain Senator we know.

Then there are the succulents.  These come from our balcony and the Orto Botanico.

Palm trees may be a dime a dozen in Palermo, but to me, they will always be luxuriously exotic.  And not only that, they symbolize “Relax” (as the Italians say, preferring to transform the verb into a noun).  When palms are in fruit, the sensation of far dolce per niente intensifies.  This beauty, like the one in the title slot, graces the waterfront along Foro Italico.

This trio can be found at the Villa Giulia.

Dark and mysterious, this palm grows in the garden at the Cattedrale.

And these riot in front of Palazzo Reale (the seat of the Sicilian government, which has itself been known to riot).

Returning to symbols, the fico d’India is used in Sicily as a motif on everything from ceramics, to jewelry, to kitchen towels, to refrigerator magnets.  This time of the year, the cactus fruit is also on the menu and can be found in every grocery store and fruit stand.  As a dessert, I give it a “Meh.” As a tree, though....Pretty impressive.

And when it comes to trees, nothing is weirder than the false kapok.  Here she is, her bowling pin body dressed in April thorns.

Here she reveals her bloomers.

And here she shows how she got her name.

I don’t know what these trees below are called, but I can't get enough of them.  The contrast between the blood orange flowers on black leafless branches, all silhouetted against an impossible blue sky—well, it’s simply crazy gorgeous!

These frangipani bianchi are very fragrant.  They remind me of Hawaiian plumaria.

Lantana grows all over town, like a weed, and that’s just all right with me.

Perhaps the most majestic of all the plants I've encountered here is the Ficus macrofylla, a giant fig frequently mistaken for a magnolia.  Its air roots hang like wizened beards.

The roots resemble a sleeping elephant.

The trunk and its multiple branches remind me of a threatening phantom.

Its canopy is so ginormous that nothing can grow beneath it. 

The ficus above reigns in Giardino Garibaldi in Piazza Marina. You can read about Palermo’s giant ficus here:  ficus-macrophylla-palermo.

This wild iris blooms only in winter.  During the rest of the year, it's just a couple of tan, shriveled-up leaves.  We liberated this plant from a country hillside one Sunday, threw it into the back of the car, and planted it at home.  We always think it's dead, but it comes back every year.  As do we.

Here are some that will be familiar:  bamboo, hibiscus, papyrus, rose, jacaranda, and banana.

 

And for good measure, here's an unidentified cutie who doesn't know whether she's coming or going:  "I'm flowering.  I'm fruiting.  I'm everything for you!" 

Thank goodness for vegetation!  And thank goodness for vegging out.  When life sucks like a lemon, go look for the tree. 

Keep it real!  And wear your damn mask!

Marilyn