Freaky Friday - Botanical Edition

This is the time of the year when it's hard to imagine that it'll ever be warm out again. So I thought I'd do a botanical edition of Freaky Friday, showing unusual plants that grow here in my neck of the woods. All pics are by me, natch.





This is a turk's cap lily:

The first turk's cap I ever saw was out in the middle of the nowhere. I imagine that there used to be a house there, long ago, and all that remained were the lilies someone planted by their doorstep. Now I grow turk's caps at my own doorstep, in homage to the ones I saw growing in the woods. Awwwwww.

Here are some jack-in-the-pulpits:

I like the stripes. Jack-in-the-pulpits are very picky about where they'll grow. I'm out in the woods all the time, all over the place, and I only see them in a few areas.

In the fall, long after they're done blooming, jack-in-the-pulpits form fruit:

Too cool, no?

Here's a spooky plant called an Indian Pipe:

I'm not sure if these are technically a plant or a fungus, but they're very ethereal-looking, aren't they?

This is a bluebead lily:

Bluebead lilies are small, only about four inches high. The blooms really are that shade of green, but the fruit is blue, hence "bluebead".

Finally, let's look at some ladyslippers:

Like jack-in-the-pulpits, ladyslippers are very particular about where they put down roots, growing in only a few remote areas locally. And like jack-in-the-pulpits, they bloom in spring, and are all done showing off by the time summer rolls around.

So! Thus concludes the tour of freaky plants. Spring is coming! I sure hope so, anyway.