Rainbow Chard

Here is a rainbow chard illustration from 2010:

One thing I really like about colored pencil over water color is that I am just better at getting in the fine details, like all the little wrinkles in these swiss chard leaves. Perhaps it's just that the fine pencil tip makes me slow down more than the spreading watercolor. But I love the texture in these.
Rainbow chard is also called five color silverbeet and the SESE tells me it is originally from Australia. I think it is one of the most beautiful vegetables. 

Thai Red Roselle

Here is an illustration of Thai Red Roselle from earlier this year:

The SESE catalog has a lot of fun stuff to say about this beautiful plant:
Its "bright red calyxes make a "zingy" tea, sauce, or jam. The tea is widely popular in Egypt where it's called karkade. Roselle was called "Florida cranberry" in the 1890s and is still sometimes called sorrel or Jamaica sorrel. The creamy-white flowers and young leaves are edible and have a citrus tang. It is also grown in warmer areas as a thick ornamental annual hedge."
And if anyone who is reading is near Nashville, TN I have some prints up in the O Gallery in the Arcade this weekend for the gallery crawl.

Peppermint

Today I'll post an illustration of peppermint from earlier this year:

Here is an interesting fact about mint from the SESE catalog: Mint grown from seed does not come true and produces plants which vary in flavor from spearmint to menthol mint to peppermint. I guess they are kind of like us humans, you never really know what you're going to get because we have so much diversity in our genes. Apples are the same way, that's why we have to graft stems from existing trees onto new roots of other trees if we want to get more apples that taste the same way. So, I suppose if you find some mint that you really like, let it spread and enjoy it while it lasts.

Lemon Balm

Here's an illustration I did of Lemon balm earlier this year:

And no, lemon balm does not grow lemons. I just put them in the picture to make whoever is looking at it think of the scent of lemon rather than just another green leafy herb. Lemon balm in great in hot or cold tea or you can even put a bit in salad. The SESE catalog tells me Lemon balm has anti-viral action (in lab tests) against herpes simplex, mumps, and other viruses and that its also a sedative, calmative, and carminative. Wikipedia tells me its native to Southern Europe and the Mediterranean Region and that its crushed leaves when rubbed on the skin can be used as a mosquito repellant. I will have to try that one!

Tithonia Torch

Here is an illustration I did in, I think, 2009 of Tithonia Torch Sunflower:

The SESE catalog tells me it is also called the Mexican Sunflower. These are not your typical big and tall sunflower as they are a bit smaller, they grow to about half the height of other sunflowers and they spread out with big bushy leaves. They are native to Mexico and Central America. Why am I not surprised?
According to gardeningcentral.org they are also unique in that they will bloom twice in one summer. Of course, I imagine this is true only if your summers are long enough. The website says. "If you plant it in March or April it will grow and produce beautiful flowers into June.  The blooms will then fall off and germinate.  You can then expect more blooms by October."

Blue Larkspur

Here is an illustration of Blue Larkspur that I did in 2010:

For this one I actually got to draw them from the real thing, which is so nice when I can manage it. Normally I have to draw from random pictured I can find on the internet because actual variety of plant I am trying to draw is out of season and/or too hard to come by, but the land-scaper and herb gardener at Twin Oaks, Hildegard, grew these down at the end of the drive way. The funny thing is, that I actually ended up sketching them in and then taking pictures of them to work on them inside because it looked like rain. But it is still nice to be able to draw from my own pictures. That way I can get the angle and plant parts I want to see in good detail. It's also nice to draw things that I have at least seen very close up in person rather than only in a picture because I have a better understanding of how it all looks together, the angle that the flowers come off the stem, the shape of the leaves etc.

German Chamomile

Here is an illustration from this summer of German Chamomile:

I love to have chamomile tea before I go to bed, but there are lots of other uses for chamomile besides making you warm and cozy. The SESE catalog tells me chamomile has long been used as a carminative, [an herb or preparation that either prevents formation of gas in the gastrointestinal tract or facilitates the expulsion of said gas] and as an anti-inflammatory, anti-ulcer remedy to protect gastric mucous membranes. It is also anti-spasmodic and anti-microbial. Used as a nasal wash to treat sinusitis.
And its also a really cute flower to grow in you garden or decorate a cake with. :)