Category Archives: plants

Mysterious Witch…

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Mysterious? What are you talking about?

Background:

I enjoy exploring the details of landscape and gardens. 

Hamamelis mollis = witch hazel is now in bloom everywhere in the colder areas of the northern hemisphere.

Yesterday I was walking outdoors and discovered this Hamamelis mollis hybrid in glorious winter flower. I checked for a scent and enjoyed a light but gently intoxicating fragrance. Hamamelis? Common name = witch hazel.

Why witch and why hazel? Answers online and in books inconclusive and vague. Not a hazel and nothing to do with witches. 

And the fragrance, nobody in the home-grown-health, medical or perfume communities could define or replicate that witch hazel scent. Check it yourself.

So where do I turn? 

I, a novelist, have created a protagonist in my image—obsessed with landscape, gardens and plants. In my novel, Tangier Gardens, the protagonist, CJ, explores in Morocco the landscape of northwest Africa as well as the gardens and plants of Tangier. 

You can sample his story for free @ https://amzn.to/3HLrtyv

Before the snowdrops…

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Snowdrops? You mean snow flakes? No, I mean Galanthus nivalis, snowdrops, the earlist bulb flowers of spring.

Galanthus nivalis–snowdrops

Promises…

Before the snowdrops–the hazelnut promise.

At the same time of the year when we hope for hazelnuts, CJ in Tangier Gardens was enjoying the tangerines, the clementines, his rare relief. Read some of Tangier Gardens for free @ https://amzn.to/3HLrtyv

Tangerines and more.

Xmas lingers…

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Christmas doesn’t.

Xmas tree labyrinth–don’t they know it’s February!

I knew a guy once who couldn’t figure out the difference between Christian months and Islamic months–and he damn near lost his life. I wrote a novel about it: Tangier Gardens, try it then buy it @ https://amzn.to/3HLrtyv

Scherenschnitt and Winter

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Winter tree model for paper-cutting, scherenschnitt

Ice: winter cold

CJ spent so much time on the Tropic of Cancer in Arabia that he desired the cold of winter; but as a youth in Tangier Gardens, he didn’t know that was in store for him.

Buy the book and find out how it came about @  https://bit.ly/3SIAfma

Landscape and CJ

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20,000 feet or on the ground…

Where are the plants?
Where are the plants?

In Tangier Gardens, CJ learns about landscapes, gardens and plants. Landscapes are mysterious because they harbor weirdness as he learned from Bree and he sensed from his West Africa experiences.

In Yenbo Palms, CJ once again gets wind of unusual things in the landscape, this time in the deserts of Arabia.

These stories are not for, or about tourists. They are about the expatriate who never dreamt of leaving home. They are about a person who is, like most of us, inspired by the beautiful and endlessly varied landscape. 

He loved landscape so much he studied it in college and earned a degree in landscape architecture. But what he learned in school didn’t prepare him for the expatriate landscapes that perplexed him. Arcane landscapes? Could there be such a thing?

CJ chases nature, its landscape and plants to their existential roots. He describes his interactions with cultures, landscapes, gardens and plants of the world—where the unexpected and downright strange become daily facts of life.

Tangier Gardens, buy it now on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3HLrtyv

Garden Secrets

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Travel Morocco with CJ.

Experience the powerful landscape roots that nourish culture in people. 

Walk the Oval Garden paths with him. 

Discover sensual garden secrets.

Learn age-old techniques to unlock the hidden mysteries of Mediterranean plants.

Take a walk in Tangier Gardens.

EXCELLENT VALUE! On sale now-75% off.

Only 99cents at Smashwords this link: https://bit.ly/3SIAfma

Don’t know MOROCCO?

Watch this one minute video.

https://flahertylandscape.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Sun-and-sand-MOROCCOtrial03-720WebShareName.mov
A fine journey to Morocco.