Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Field Trip!
This time of year, when the rose bushes are so weighted down with flowers, they reach the ground, and the catbird is singing in his tree so enthusiastically, I fear he'll burst, it's hard sometimes to get me out of the garden. However two words will have me packing the cooler in a flash... GARDEN TOUR! As we drive through the countryside, Liz loves to stick her head out the window, and yell "Here Bossy" at the cows, but even she was on good behavior today, as we were going to the big city to see our friend Wanda's garden for the first time, when the iris are blooming... so we drove right past Shueyville, and right by the siren lure of the cowboy bar in Swisher, and into town. I guess Wanda wasn't sure we were going to be able to find her place in the city, as she gave me instructions over the phone, then e-mailed me a map, then for good measure she was out front in the driveway when we pulled up. Not to worry... as we rounded the corner there were typical suburban lawns sporting a couple of arborvitae as far as the eye could see, and then there was Wanda's place... flowers everywhere, with a rainbow of iris in full bloom. I decided maybe she wasn't out front waiting for us, but instead eyeing the street to see if she could plop some pots of flowers there, as there wasn't much room left in her yard! I took some pictures, which follow; I have a pretty good memory, so didn't think I'd need to take notes, but after looking at about the jillionth iris, I just gave up on names. We also got to see where various roofs and porches had landed during the tornado that went through her back yard a year or so ago (I noticed she didn't seem too heartbroken over the trees she had lost... more sun for planting iris
My woodland garden leads to flopsy iris, so I was amazed (and jealous) of Wanda's iris looking like small, straight trees.
A Walk In The Garden Today
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Garden Mysteries
There are lots of mysteries in the garden... where did I leave that trowel, why did I plant a bright pink rose right next to a chartreuse arborvitae, but this is a bigger mystery, involving a very small plant... what the heck is this, anyway? It's popped up in the middle of an azalea bed, and I have no idea what it is, but have this nagging suspicion it's something I planted and promptly forgot about. It's only about four inches tall, arising from the ground like a rolled up newspaper, as on the left, then spreading a pair of waxy leaves that suggest a pair of kidneys. It looks like it might be getting a tiny flower bud at the base of the leaves. It's cute whatever it is. Of course things do pop up around here that I had nothing to do with. My Sister had given me some cleome seed, which I scattered about. Last sping a plant sprang up in a sunny spot in the mum bed, so I left it be, and it grew taller, and taller, and then one day, when it was about five foot tall, I really looked at it, and realized it was a marijuana plant, lustily odiferous, and sticky. Now wild hemp is actually pretty common in Iowa (during WW II they tried growing it to make rope), but we do have some pretty big parties, with people wandering at will through the garden, so who knows. At any rate I pulled it up, in case my Mother-in-law brings her church garden group back for another tour.
A Walk In The Garden Today
Primula cockburniana. Orange normally isn't my favorite flower color, and the thought of an orange primrose doesn't fill me with delight, so I resisted for a long time purchasing this primrose, but in fact it's rapidly become one of my favorites; the combination of its whitish stems and buds, and dainty, sweet smelling muted orange flowers is delightful.
Friday, May 27, 2005
A Walk In The Garden Today
Arisaema triphyllum, our native jack in the pulpit. I have a variety of Asian jacks, but our plain old native is really more spectacular than many of them. Wayne, on Native Plant Blog (see Garden Links) had a nice piece on the sub-types of our native jack... the picture is of the dark spadex type.
Arisaema fargesii; I LOVE the foliage on this jack in the pulpit... it looks so tropical, and can reach three feet tall, with HUGE leaves. The flowers are at the base of the plant.
