Georgia O’Keeffe couldn’t pass up a Jimson Weed’s trumpet blossom without wanting to paint is. Every one I see is a siren song that draws my camera to it at this time of year before summer dust dulls the leaves. I was out riding my bicycle this morning and they seemed to be everywhere. It’s a toxic plant that goes by many names; and looking at the elegant blossom with full knowledge that it is poisonous shrouds it in mystery that other beautiful flowers lack. A rose is a rose is a rose. But a jimson weed is Locoweed, Angel’s Trumpet, Thorn Apple, Devil’s Trumpet, Mad Apple, Stink Weed, Sacred Datura, Green Dragon, and Devil’s Trumpet. Shakespeare called it belladonna.

Perhaps if the beautiful Agapanthus were poisonous it would seem more exotic.