Saturday, April 07, 2007

Banana Shrub - Michelia Figo


Banana Shrub - Michelia Figo
Originally uploaded by linfrye.
The other day I left my office to pull a few weeds from the kitchen garden. As I moved among the plants, I noticed a heavenly, absolutely SWEET scent, and following 'my nose' to this bright green shrub along the fence. Michelia Figo, or banana shrub (http://www.floridata.com/ref/M/mich_fig.cfm).

This glossy green shrub was covered in cream flowers that made my head swim with a scent like bananas -- but only more upscale, more exotic,and so much less cloying than ripe bananas. INCREDIBLE! So I snapped a photo and sketched it at home.

I think come fall when my students are propatating woody ornaments, THIS shrub will be on the 'to do' list!

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

That looks lovely, Miss Lin! So does the redbud...

caseytoussaint said...

This one is beautiful, Lin! I love your fresh, loose approach.

Anonymous said...

Never heard of this one either! I am such a neophyte about plants but it sounds wonderful. Your shading is superb as well as the lines and curves on the fence.
Hugs,
Lorraine

Teri said...

It sounds heavenly Lin, and looks heavenly too. And love the fence with it.

Brenda Yarborough said...

Wonderful loose and lovely work! I can almost smell it from your description of the scent!

Bill said...

Good job! Charming, 2 tings notable I'd like to mention: (1) a very harmonious analogous, cool-temp color scheme (the blues and greens) yields a calming and gentle mood; and (2)your variation between vague leaves in the background and well defined leaves in the front--just like they should be.

Deborah said...

I've never heard of a banana shrub, how cool. Very nice drawing.

Laureline said...

I love the delicacy of the flowers juxtaposed with the solidity of the fence. Your palette of shades of white and green is serene and lovely.

Sue Seibert said...

Lovely, Lin. Never heard of this plant, but I'd love to see and smell it some time.

Happy Easter!

Brenda Yarborough said...

All your recent florals are just wonderful!! Your blog is so full of spring!! I, too, have never heard of the banana shrub and googled it -- drats, it's a tropical so I'm sure it wouldn't survive in the desert.

Jana Bouc said...

Wow! How exotic. I've never heard of such a plant but it sounds (and in your painting, looks) wonderful.

Shelly McC said...

Beautiful work! I also lovethe tulips a little down. Gorgeous!

Linda said...

Lin, this is beautiful -- and I never heard of this shrub! Will have to look it up... you are a source of knowledge AND inspiration!

Africantapestry and Myfrenchkitchen said...

Oh, Lin, this is just so beautiful. It has your style written all over it, which I love.
Ronell

platitudinal said...

An exotic upscale banana scent! I like that description (says I who swoon at the smell of banana cream pie). The fence made a lovely background, and it’s wonderful how you put the shrub in the spotlight with the watercolor washes to balance the space in the left. Everything comes together beautifully.

~Luci.