Fffffascinating feathers

I do find the whole cycle of nature so fffffascinating. I love watching the transformation that occurs to plants through the seasons. It's rather quirky that plants can flower some years and not others - and that they're so affected by the weather and the amount of water they get. And I'm curious to know if plants appreciate our loving care and attention as we tend them over the years - let alone our emotional attachment.






Apparently the idea of talking to plants was first introduced in 1848, when Dr Gustav Theodor Fechner, a German professor, suggested the original idea in his book Nanna (Soul Life of Plants). He believed that plants are capable of emotions, just like humans and that healthy growth can be promoted by showering plants with attentive chatter. Later, a botanist called Luther Burbank, suggested that, although plants may not understand the spoken word, they might telepathically understand the meaning of speech.




In 1970, a New York dentist called George Milstein released a record called Music to Grow Plants By. Various experiments were carried out (straight faces all round, of course), and there did seem to be some evidence that soothing and/or classical music was of benefit to plant growth, as opposed to loud agressive rock-type music.







In reality (ie ignoring scientific models and experimental quackery), we don't really have much in the way of confirmation that plants like to be talked to, or that they appreciate the odd blasting of Mozart's Requiem (although perhaps that's not so soothing). I think it's a lovely idea though, and I do often stroke the leaves of my plants and tell them how sensational they're looking. I just hope that the neighbours aren't watching!





I've also been known to place unique feather fascinators from ShopCurious amongst the plants to photograph them, which might seem equally odd, but it's all in the name of art. These are just so naturally beautiful, they could almost be real. They also look fabulous in your hair, or as a fashion accessory on your clothes, attached to a hat - or just as a rather original decoration for your dressing table perhaps?





By the way, for anyone who's interested to know what happened next to my Triffid - here's how the magnificent flower curiously withered and died. I hope that wasn't a reflection of my negecting to converse regularly enough with it. The flower has since been lopped off and the plant looks somewhat less threatening...

Another yukka type plant has just burst into bloom though. Have you got any plants that have fffffascinatingly started flowering at the very end of the 'summer'? Or have you experienced any other curious natural occurences, possibly linked to the strange weather patterns of late? If so, do let us know.
Will you?