Friday, July 27, 2012

Two Mysteries




I'm looking to my readers to solve two mysteries for me.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.



Sister E. added this to my garden last year.  It blooms now (late July to August).  Its delicate blossom is 3" across.  Its foliage is similar to blackberry lily and toad lily. I'm quite certain it is of the iridaceae (iris) family.  I'm a-swoon over it but would LOVE to know the exact name.





This is my moonflower. It shows off huge trumpets at night, just beneath my trellis.  By the end of the season it will have filled in the base of the  trellis with a blossom-loaded vine.  I had this annual once before and it released a heavenly scent which made sitting in the night garden most pleasurable.  The descriptions usually boast about the scent.  But this year's purchase has all the aromatic allure of styrofoam.  Next year I want to be sure I get the variety with the added bonus of perfume.  Anyone know if there are two different descriptions for this and what I should look for next year?

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Astrantia

 Any combination of cream and pink pulls me like a magnet.  (I believe Helleborus Royal Heritage started me down that cream/pink/green road when I was at a Mother/Daughter week-end with Emily at St. Mary's College many years ago.)  It took me a long time to discover Astrantia, pictured here in the 'Roma' strain. I hadn't heard of it until a year or so ago.  I loved it the instant I put it in my shade garden.  It blooms in early summer. The foliage stays green,  if offers boundless blossoms and the plant grows each year without becoming invasive. It's one of those flowers that brings peace and contentment when I hold it in my gaze.  And makes me wonder what took me so long to make the discovery!

Friday, July 13, 2012

Favorite Daylilies

When Edna St. Vincent Millay said, "Oh World, I cannot hold thee close enough," she must have been standing in front of a daylily bed. I just can't seem to tamp down my enthusiasm for hemerocallis.  I have accumulated 35 varieties, each of which is catalogued, mapped and photographed.  Most of them I've acquired from generous gardening friends, and I do not know the names.  I brought a few from my Pittsburgh garden, dating to pre-obsession.  In that move I threw out the tags, so I no longer know the names.  Of all the garden things  I've disposed of, what I would most like to have back are those tags so that I could identify my original daylilies.  This morning as I was walking through the garden I took a few pictures so that I could share my very favorites.

Aubrey Johnson 
dollops of orange sherbert


Ice Carnival
Huge blossoms of lemon, lemon, pure lemon


No Name
It is as if God dipped his brush in burgundy paint to grace each petal


Barbara Mitchell
delicate pink, huge sparkly blossoms


No Name
The purplest in my garden, complementing every shade of rose and purple around it.  Huge.


No Name
This is the dearest little one, growing in bridal bouquet size.  I want it on the edge of EVERYTHING


No name
My favorite pure red.  Next to Shasta Daisy, it is a show-off.


Woodland Romance
"Romance" fits.  My heart stops whenever I look at this one.


No Name
Hovers between butter and cantaloupe, a color that is greatly needed to balance my too many reds.


No Name
So smooth and sweet I really believe I can feel it smiling at me.

I have not caved in to a new variety yet this year and it looks hopeful that I will be able to say that at the end of the season as well.....................unless I happen to see one that is the perfect shade of orange that has thus far eluded me.