Danger!

Yesterday was kind of a cold and rainy day so once again I stayed in and worked on paperwork. I did get a little break to show some school kids around the greenhouses. I noticed that the fishtail palm (caryota mitis) not only is flowering but it has fruit ripening so I took a picture so you could see both.

Everyone keeps asking if the fruit is edible and I didn't know so I finally looked it up. It seems the fruit is toxic. Some sources say that not only is the fruit poisonous but just handling the fruit is harmful because of the oxalic acid. Some sites leave that part out altogether. Sometimes finding accurate information on the internet is a challenge. I found more sites that listed it as poisonous than not so I'm erring on the side of caution and saying that "No, you cannot safely eat the fruit from the fishtail palm."

And speaking of danger, here are today's river photos.

I've been focusing a lot of attention in the last couple of months on the gardens in the amphitheater. There have been a lot of plants transplanted down to the amphitheater gardens. There have been a lot of donated plants put in as well. I know this picture doesn't do it justice but if any of you remember what it looked like last year you'll notice that there are a lot more plants in the garden than before.

Yes, I know this looks like a big weed patch but there are actually some nice yucca, grasses and spireas in there too.

You can see them better here. There is still a lot to do in terms of weeding and cleaning and primping but the bulk of the planting is finished. It took a lot of work and the effort of a lot of volunteers to make it happen. Which is why it makes me so mad that some jerk had to drive over a part of the garden and kill some of the plants. I know it is one of the hazards of gardening in a public space but it ticks me off just the same.