i received this bouquet last night from a dinner guest who also happens to be a beloved friend. “thank you, martha,” i thought to myself, as she handed me the flowers, and i handed her a glass of champagne. “you have just saved me from having to forage for a still blog image tomorrow.” of course those were willow leaves, and of course, i mean of course, those were sweet pea flowers. i almost didn’t look them up, before i wrote this caption. because, i mean, of course. but then i googled sweet pea flowers. and then i googled purple sweet pea pods, and suddenly, as often happens in nature, i was lost without a compass. nothing looked quite like this plant or its flowers and pods. but somewhere several pages into a sweet pea google search, somebody had posted a cranberry colored seed pod, and called it hyacinth bean vine, and several minutes later i was feeling both relieved at having taken nothing for granted, and sheepish about the vastness of botany, and the puniness of my grasp on it.

bouquet of willow and hyacinth bean vine (??)

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