I often mention that my mum's flower garden is like a little private paradise. Many different plants tucked into different corners, flowers beds and borders. From very early spring until the first frosts there is always something in bloom. And in winter, when the flowers are gone, berries and evergreen shrubs are the stars.
This is one of the perennials she has there.
Dictamnus is a slow growing plan, but with some time can reach quite a nice size. With good care it can reach 1m in height and the flower stems grow even higher. The white and pink (those two mum has) flowers open in spring. After they are gone they produce equally lovely seed pods that remind me of anise stars.
It does like sunny spots and I can say it doesn't need much care. I know that in summer, when it gets very hot only the very demanding plants get extra watering - this one is not one of those :p
It is native to warmer parts of Europe, South Africa and Asia, so I guess it is used to hot conditions.
Can you see all those tiny little pimples on the buds? They are filled with oil. Apparently it is fragrant and if you touch the flowers or leaves you will smell some citrus or lemon scent. I didn't really try that, so cannot tell. I also rad that this oil can be irritating to skin. Again, I didn't notice anything like that.
Now the fun part - the oils are flammable! In Polish we call the plant Moses bush, which you may, or may not know, is a bush that was burning on some hill. In English it is called burning bush or gas plant.
Apparently in a very hot and dry condition it can catch fire on its own. Never happened in our garden, but I am curious how flamable it is. Next time I will take some will try to burn it.
I be a little scientist :)
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Shot with Nikon D5500 + Sigma 105mm lens
Location: Poland
All photos and text are my own.
