Author Archives: Andrejs

Capsicum annuum

Cayenne pepper
7″ x 14″, 2018

The mention of chilies instantly conjures up an aroma of spicy, piquant food from Asia to Mexico and North Africa. For millennia Asian cuisine was spiced with ingredients such as ginger, assorted radish, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, mace and cinnamon and black peppercorns, but with no trace of chilies whatsoever. A 180° longitude west, in Mesoamerica and parts of South America, the chili plant had been cultivated for over 5,000 years. So how did this remarkable ingredient become such a vital ingredient in the diet of people half-way across the planet? more…

Campsis radicans

Campsis radicans800

Trumpet vine
18″ x 26″, 2015
Prints available

The genus derives its name from the Greek ‘kampsis’ meaning flexure, curve or bending, referring to the curved stamens of the flower; the latin ‘radicans’ (rooting) refers to its aerial rootlets. more…

Aesculus x carnea

Aesculus hippocastanum

Pink horse chestnut/buckeye
12″ x 17″, 2015

My trudge to town takes me down a path lined with some majestic old catalpas, maples, stately oaks and a couple of younger horse chestnut trees. In the late spring the tips of the branches are covered with small pink flowers clustered in panicles, resembling a candelabra. Like the bees, birds, bugs and other pollinators, I too am lured by the color and profusion of the delicate blooms, contrasting so sharply with the dark green of the enormous leaves which surround them. more…

Trillium

Trillium

Trillium cuneatum, T. erectum, T. grandiflorum, T. luteum, T.  ovatum
2014

In upstate NY if you walk by a shady meadow in early May you might find it carpeted with white or red speckles. If your curiosity is sufficiently aroused you might take a closer look and be rewarded with a wondrous discovery. more…

Crocosmia crocosmiiflora

Crocosmia

‘Lucifer’ (Falling stars, Coppertips)
11″ x 16″, 2014
Prints available
The August garden tends to look tired and frazzled, like Cinderella after the ball. But one exotic plant that dazzles and bewitches is Crocosmia. more…