Double Flowering Poppy

Ask the Expert: What is this flower?
It is a 2.5ft high plant with grey green leaves and cerise pink flowers with pendulous buds which straighten as the blooms open.  Joane

Plant Expert Reply:

This interesting flowers looks like a Papaver somniferum - an Opium poppy.  Most of these poppies have single blooms (meaning the flower has only a single row of petals).  This one is a double flowering poppy - multiple petals.  Blue-green seed pods will follow the flowers.  These seed pods can be dried and are fantastic additions to dried flower arrangements. Be careful not to ingest any part of this plant - it will cause stomach upset.

This question was sponsored by local flower shops across the U.S. and Canada.

Morning Glory VIne

Ask the Expert: what type of vine is this that has a purple flower I’m doing a project and I’m having a hard time identifying this vine. Tabetha

Plant Expert Reply:
I believe what you have is a type of morning glory. The funny thing about the morning glory is there are 1000 plants in the morning glory family - Convolvulaceae. Some look very similar and some don’t. Yet, commonly they are all called morning glory even if they are also called by other names. There are 10 genus associated with this family - Calystegia (island morning glory), Convolvulus (bindweed - bush morning glory), Ipomoea (orn sweet potato, moon vine, morning glory), Merremia (Spanish morning glory), Rivea, Astripomoea, Operculina, Stictocardia, Argyreia and Lepistemon.

So long answer short, I believe it is a Ipomoea tricolor.

Ask The Expert: What color is an American Beauty Rose.  Valeria.

Flower Expert Reply:

This seems like a very simple question to answer. However, there is a lot of mystery surrounding the color and actual heritage of this rose.  The foundation for this confusion may be a result of a 1999 movie - American Beauty.  In the movie, a dark red rose is used thus creating a connection between dark red roses and the term American Beauty.

The history, color and origin of this rose is surrounded by controversy. The original American Beauty rose is said to be a rich deep pink, long-stemmed rose with intense fragrance. It has been said that the original rose came from a nursery in Baltimore MD and was planted in a Washington DC garden in the 19th century. A well-known Washington DC florist then took cuttings from this plant propagating a large number of plants which he forced to blooms. This florist then sold the long stem roses under the name American Beauty. Many rose experts claim that the American Beauty is actually a French rose called Mme. Ferdinand Jarmin, a French rose.

Since confusion and controversy surround this rose, some red roses maybe sold as American Beauty roses or called Red American Beauty roses.

Hopefully one of our readers will have more information about this rose.

Ask the Expert: What is this flower?

Cockscomb - Celosia

It grows along my driveway among a ton of wildflowers….just moved into this place in East Tennessee and have never seen these before. Jan

Plant Expert Reply:
This interesting pink flower is commonly called cockscomb because it resembles the comb of a rooster. The genus name is Celosia. The perennial cockscomb is Celosia argentea and the annual types fall under Celosia spicata. The perennial cultivars of this plant will have either the crested, coral-like heads of tightly clustered flowers (combs) or open, feathery, pyramidal flowerheads. The annual cultivars will display open, compact, erect, cylindrical flower spikes. I am assuming by the look of the flower in the picture it is a Celosia argentea.

An interesting addition to the garden, Celosia is also a versatile flower for decorating. Florists use it both as a cut flower in fresh arrangements and as a dried flower in permanent arrangements.  So enjoy this wonderful flower while you can - a killing frost will put them to rest for the winter.

Passionflower - Passiflora

Ask the Expert: What kind of flower is this one found in Florida?
This flower is strange. I have never seen it before… Dereck

Plant Expert Reply:

What you have is a blue passionflower (Passiflora caerulea).  It is a twining vine that can grow 30ft in length. Passionflower is evergreen in tropical climates.  Although it will survive in areas where the winters are cool, the vine will become deciduous. They will produce a fruit that is edible.  Passionflowers are wonderful additions to butterfly gardens since they are exclusive hosts for numerous species of Heliconian butterflies.

This flower identification was brought to by real local florists across the United States and Canada.

Zinnia Bloom

Ask the Expert: What kind of flower is this?
Flower no bigger than thumb nail
Grows up to about a foot tall

Alexandra E

Plant Expert Reply:

I believe it is a type of zinnia.  Probably a Zinnia augustifolia by the look of the leaf in the picture.  Another option would be a type of Dahlia.  Both of these genus are in the Asteraceae family and have similar characteristics.    A view of the plant and the leaves would help me make a better identification.

Ask the Expert: Purple Flowering Vine
We live in central Oklahoma. It is now mid September and my neighbor brought me these purple flowers off a vine he found growing up his cucumber trellis.

He has lived in his home for 29 years and did not plant this flower.  The vine is purplish in color and the blossoms are shapped similar to a butterfly.  I hope the pictures show you enough detail for identification. Sandy

Plant Expert Reply:

It looks like a hyacinth bean vine (Dolichos lablab) bloom.  You should start to see purple bean pods.  This vine with heart-shaped leaves is considered a short-lived perennial in frost-free areas.  Most people grow it as an annual.

Although the beans can be cooked and eaten, they are poisonous when eaten raw. Birds probably dropped the seeds in your neighbors garden.

Malasian Orchid - Spathoglottis plicata

Ask the Expert: flower identification
Would appreciate your assistance identifying the common and scientific name of this flower. It is growing in in my mother-in-law’s front yard on the Big Island of Hawaii at about 1500 ft altitude.  Wally

Plant Expert Reply:

I believe it is a Malasian Orchid (Spathoglottis plicata).  It is a terrestrial (ground) orchid that naturalizes quite easily and it sometimes referred to as a garden orchid.  It can be found in Hawaii, Australia and tropical Asia.

Ask the Expert: Ask the Expert: What kind of flower is in this photo?

Red Spider Lily - Lycoris radiata

A friend had this photo sent to her and we really like these flowers but dont know what they are called - S bailey

Plant Expert Reply:

The beautiful flower is called red spider lily.  The common name spider lily is attributed to at least 2 genus Crinum and Lycoris.  Red spdier lily is mostly associated with Lycoris radiata a bulbous perennial with red flowers.  Lycoris radiata (red spider lily) late summer  into early autumn.  It is sometimes known as the hurrican lily because it can be found in many southeast gardens during hurricane season.

White Flower Hymenocallis harrisiana

Ask the Expert: identify night bloomer
the flower blooms randomly every few years & starts blooming @ dusk & completes a bloom cycle in ~5 minutes.  i’d appreciate you identifying it & providing any online info that is available about it.  thanks - ed johnston

Plant Expert Reply:

You have a type of Hymenocallis probably a Peruvian daffodil (Hymenocallis harrisiana) or a Spider lily (Hymenocallis acutifolia).  The plants all in the Amaryllidacaea family.  They are bulbous perennials.

Different species of this plant have different blooming cycles. The first hymenocallis will bloom in spring followed by summer blooming ones and finally autumn blooming ones. You can find them in a native habitat in  United States from Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia, south to the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas. They are also found in Mexico, Central America and South America.

You can find more information about hymenocallis at http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=HYLI.