 |
| 'Kaveri' |
ProfessorRoush would have a more witty and winsome post this morning, but the evening stroll last night with Bella left him speechless at the beauty. We had a brief rain this morning and, little as it was, the flowers were all the happier because of it. We needed the rain; even the buffalograss was about ready to call it quits. Besides, I'm tired from swinging steel (I'll explain at the bottom). Now I'll shut up and let you enjoy:
This 'Kaveri' lily, an Oriental-Asiatic cross I've had in the garden for 5 years. She's tough, about 3 foot tall, and blooms her head off. I've got several clumps and comes back year after year. She just started to bloom, a little later than the Asiatics, a little earlier than the Oriental and Orientpet lilies.
 |
| 'Spider Man' daylily |
And here, the first bloom of a new daylily for me, Hemerocallis 'Spider Man'. This Award of Merit winner has 7 inch blooms of the brightest, most soul-quenching red you would ever want in your garden. I'm pleased this spider-type daylily has joined mine.
These perennial sweet peas have never climbed and covered this makeshift trellis as I envisioned for them, but they bloom a nice happy shade of pink in the down season between the first bloom of the roses and the blitzkrieg of the daylilies.
I didn't plan this combination of daylily and 'Tiger Eye's sumac, but the momma sumac seven feet away suckered over next to the daylily and embraced it. This is one of those fortuitous moments in a gardener's life that won't ever repeat, because next year this baby sumac will be too big to allow it to stay here.
Another great combination provided by the wiles of fate, this grouping of orange
Asclepias tuberosa, yellow-orange Black-Eyed Susan, and the young blood-red Hollyhock all self-seeded themselves to this spot; two natives and a cultivated garden escapee. The only thing I planted in this picture was the low-growing yellow barberry, 'Gold Nugget' which has been there for years.
 |
| Wavy-Leaf thistle |
So, why am I tired? Well, that's the fault of Mrs. ProfessorRoush. No stop it, that's not what I mean. Yesterday, she photographed this Wavy-Leaf Thistle,
Cirsium undulatum (at least that's what I think it is), and she posted it on Facebook. I'd been eyeing the thistles in the surrounding pasture, knowing that they were close but hoping they would wait a week to start blooming. But no, this one had to start early, and Mrs. ProfessorRoush had to post it on Facebook right away, thus providing photographic evidence for the county authorities that I was allowing a noxious weed to populate the prairie. I discovered late in the day that she had literally forced my hand and so I spent an hour last night swinging a machete and chopping off thistles, in the wet grass no less. Thistles are one flower I just can't tolerate proliferating in my prairie, any more than I can abide a wife serving as an unwitting spy for the county.
This 'Kaveri' lily, an Oriental-Asiatic cross I've had in the garden for 5 years. She's tough, about 3 foot tall, and blooms her head off. I've got several clumps and comes back year after year. She just started to bloom, a little later than the Asiatics, a little earlier than the Oriental and Orientpet lilies. 
These perennial sweet peas have never climbed and covered this makeshift trellis as I envisioned for them, but they bloom a nice happy shade of pink in the down season between the first bloom of the roses and the blitzkrieg of the daylilies.
I didn't plan this combination of daylily and 'Tiger Eye's sumac, but the momma sumac seven feet away suckered over next to the daylily and embraced it. This is one of those fortuitous moments in a gardener's life that won't ever repeat, because next year this baby sumac will be too big to allow it to stay here.
Another great combination provided by the wiles of fate, this grouping of orange Asclepias tuberosa, yellow-orange Black-Eyed Susan, and the young blood-red Hollyhock all self-seeded themselves to this spot; two natives and a cultivated garden escapee. The only thing I planted in this picture was the low-growing yellow barberry, 'Gold Nugget' which has been there for years.
Just a note that the wavy-leaf thistle, Cirsium undulatum, is native to central and western North America. I cand't find any indication that your state regards it as a noxious plant (bull thistle or Canada thistle, different story). An obnoxious plant, sure; it is spiny as the dickens. I tolerate it in our mixed-heritage garden (native and non-native plants) because despite its lax form, indifferent color, and prickly demeanor, it is the equivalent of a 5-star restaurant to the pollinator crowd--solitary bees, calliope and rufous hummingbirds, and an assortment of butterflies all use it. But, appreciating it is an acquired taste, and one I wonder if I should lose from time to time.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this! We had some growing and my family thought it was a nice flower. I have some butterfly bushes and lavender so, I am getting rid of the thistle before it dries and I am pulling it out of my dogs fur!!
ReplyDelete