Substitute spud

Went back downtown this morning - in the car this time. I wasn't going to get caught out two days in a row! Took the camera, as always, but it wasn't a good day for it really and I came back with nothing.

I've been meaning to Blip this flower for a few days - it's not as sharp as I would have liked as it was wet and windy. Today might not have been the best day, but it may not last much longer if this weather continues. I'd been waiting to take a picture of my hardy white begonia - Begonia grandis subsp. evansiana 'Alba', to give it its full title, but just when the flowers were about to open we had several nights of a very light frost and that was that. We rarely have frost in October, even if it barely dropped to minus 1.

Anyway, back to today's Blip. This is a twining perennial from Mexico and South America - I have Blipped it before, but here it is again. Bomarea edulis is sometimes called the Climbing Alstromeria, is reasonably hardy and grows from tubers which are harvested in Peru and boiled like potatoes. I've never tried them; maybe I will when I have more of it. 

Quote of the day:

Thomas Jefferson – “The greatest service which can be rendered any country is to add a useful plant to its culture.”