buds and blooms

He’s Red Hood, and he has the literal Bat of Gotham standing behind him like a wall of muscle. They’re as close to invincible as humans get, in this town. And that kind of confidence scares off their would-be mugger.

Haemanthus deformis

This is the very first time this wonderful bulb has flowered for us here at the Ruth Bancroft Garden. The flower has that "white paint-brush with the tips dipped in yellow paint" look, much like the flowers of the more commonly seen Haemanthus albiflos, but that species has much smaller leaves and forms clumps, plus its flowers rise well above the foliage. The extremely wide and thick leaves of H. deformis give it a special appeal. Haemanthus is a genus in the Amaryllis Family, and H. deformis comes from South Africa - home to a staggering number of bulbs (more species than any other country in the world).