Pink Turtlehead

When I was in college, studying horticulture, I took many plant identification classes.  I loved them.  I loved knowing the scientific names.  I loved identifying plants on quizzes and exams.  I loved learning attributes to similar and completely different genera, and I loved being able to use that knowledge to help me identify the plants around me.  I also found a few plants that I loved based solely on their names; pink turtlehead is one of them.  (Yes, recall the post of how I sometimes act like a nine year old?!  Here is your example: I use every chance I get to say 'turtlehead'.)

Besides the name, I also love that this plant has lovely pink blooms that flower at the end of summer and into fall, a time when I feel like there are more plants starting to fade from the summer heat than not.  It's so amazing to have something else that provides yet another bloom before fall starts.  The turtlehead grabs a tinsy bit of summer and reminds us that it [summer] is still here!  And, I love the fact that turtleheads are so low maintenance (read: easy to grow for people who pretend to have a green thumb)!  We didn't have to do anything to these guys to get them to flower and they look great!  Now that is what I'm talking about!

Without further ado, please welcome our pink turtleheads - blooming for the very first time, in our new house!  We planted them earlier in the summer!

(For the record, here are some other plants that I love because of their names:

-Gayfeather - We planted some of these at the same time we planted the turtleheads.  They died.

-Paul's Glory - A hosta cultivar.  I always want to add 'hole' to the end of that one, but I don't.  I know, so juvenile...When will I grow up?

-Christmas Fern - The scientific name is Polystichum acrostichoides.  I feel like it's the perfect precursor to a horticultural dispute, "Why don't you go Polystichum acrostichoides?"  (Obviously, that doesn't make any sense, but it sounds threatening, right?!)

-Toad Lily - A bit of an oxymoron, don't you think?!)

(And, for the other record, I have never put any of these plants in any of my clients' designs.  I don't think I could explain their attributes without cracking a smile!)

Turtle, turtle!