Remember

~Give thanks today for those who died in service to their country~

Daylily Season~ FFO 2010

The very first daylily flower open this year in the garden. It's an unnamed cross by a Garden Web plant swap friend. I have alot of "Dana's" plants in the garden~ daylilies and other kinds of plants as well. This one I call Dana's Purple and it's always an early season bloomer for me. This is the first picture taken this morning just as it came from the camera.

I love daylilies:)

Why It's Called Butterfly Weed

This past week brought some much needed rain but the garden seems to be in a lull when it comes to flowers. The one flower that really pops right now is Butterfly Weed, Asclepias tuberosa.

This morning with Salvia farinacea


This afternoon with Black Swallowtail




Gray Hairstreak


American Painted Lady and Gray Hairstreak



I've never noticed any larval activity on my plants but they sure do a good job of providing nectar.

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day~ May 2010

This month's GBBD finds the garden parched. Some plants have gone on strike while a few stalwarts keep keeping on. My garden is high and dry and I haven't used the sprinkler at all so far this year. I was pleasantly surprised to see some daylily scapes have appeared also. If we don't get rain soon it will really put a damper on daylily season:(

And the bunny says...




I've gotten only two new plants this Spring~ Pineapple Sage and
'Diamond Frost' Euphorbia. I just love the airy & delicate blooms plus it'll take some abuse.


A short Nigella next to a Sedum whose name I've forgotten


Arachnid camouflage at work on the Blanket Flower


The second generation of this Sweet William is all white. I had never grown this before last year. All of my dianthus have born single blooms per stem.


There are a few holdouts on the last Siberian clump.


Salvia 'San Carlos Festival' is blooming in one location but not others.


I have a couple of variations of Larkspur blooming. Peak bloom hasn't come yet:)



Rudbeckia triloba blooms somewhere in the garden the whole season.


Lychnis coronaria with Asclepias tuberosa in the center getting ready to bloom. I need to pull all of the Lychnis very soon~ it has reached critical mass here and must be stopped. It even grows in the lawn!


My azaleas always wait until May to bloom. These were planted as foundation shrubs by the builder and I would love to replace them one day~ this photo is flattering.


Salvia 'Christine Yeo' is not a heavy bloomer but I like the overall habit of the plant.


Viburnum bracteatum 'Emerald Luster' ~ it bears repeating that if you want a full sun Viburnum in the south then this one is worth tracking down.


Open flowers on my one and only Knifophia bloom:)I hope that this clump will be a sleep/leap one for me.


Happy garden Blogger's Bloom Day to all of you! To see what's blooming in gardens all around the world visitMay Dreams Gardens.

First and Last

I've had some firsts since my last post~ one good and one bad plus some ffo's for this year. My bad first was digging up a yellow jacket's nest. It could have been much worse since only one yellow jacket got a couple of stings in through my sweats. Having never been stung by one I didn't realize that the pain gets worse instead of better as time goes by. I proceeded to pull a few more weeds cautiously on the other side of the bed until I finally understood that I'd better look after that sting now! Ouch!

My good first ever is this bloom on a Knifophia that was shared with me by a friend who grew it from seed 2 years ago. Of two non hybrid Knifophias that I've planted this is the first to grace me with a bloom. The fancy one from Plant Delights Nursery bloomed one year but took last year off too. I love the symmetry, color and uniqueness of the blooms.



I have an abundance of Nigella- Love in a Mist- this year.



Self seeded Larkspur



Delosperma- Ice Plant



This Salvia is very similar to 'Indigo Spires' and may be but I recieved it as an unknown division.



Verbena/porterweed look alike



Penstemon- Eastern Smooth Beardtongue



New growth on Cryptomeria japonica 'Globosa Nana'- still very nana



The bright clean new growth of Illicium parviflorum- Small Anise Tree



My only rose in the garden- a rugosa from Sweetbay which I am enjoying tremendously this year.



I have a hard time getting a good shot of this Geranium sanguineum which is settling in after a couple of years in this spot. I love this plant!



And now for the "last" part of the post. I don't think there will be many more Iris pictures this year. Unless I'm shocked by a second bloom stalk these are my last blooms from 'Titan's Glory'



The Iris virginca- Blue Flag Iris is not having a very good year. This first bloom has been the only one worth taking a photo of.



I have three clumps of Siberian irises from three different sources. This is the last one to bloom. It is completely engulfed by Chrysanthemum 'Sheffield Pink' and probably needs a bit of attention. I was happy to see blooms this year as I would not have been surprised if it went on strike.




I don't know if I'll get around to another post by Garden Bloggers Bloom Day or not. I am woefully behind in my garden maintenance but I do love to play on the web!

Very Pink

The overcast skies of the last couple of days have made it very apparent that I have alot of pink blooming in the garden right now. some of it is eye popping, screaming pink actually,lol. I grew this Salvia greggii from seeds shared by a generous California salvia collector. It's been here for a couple years now and does seem to improve with age.



I acquired this Penstemon 'Elfin Pink' in my very first mail trade a few years back.



I have some more subdued pinks blooming as well but will share those next post- took some great pics this morning but had no time to prepare them for this post. The Rugosa rose is beautiful now:) Of course the perfect compliment to pink is purple...

'Titan's Glory'- my first ever blooms from a division I planted in summer of 2008




Another wonderful iris from Nancedar~ this one has smaller blooms than the one from Carla



I've never really noticed this Yaupon in bloom before. It's 'Shadow's Female' and it's really thriving now after quite a few years of settling in~ should be plenty of berries this year.



I accepted a few Campanula 'Cherry Bells' from a friend last summer thinking that maybe my dryish conditions would keep it in check. Apparently the bunnies find it quite tasty at the stage just prior to blooming:(



And here's one of the satisfied customers now...



I wanted to share with you some freebies I have to offer on my other blog
Little Wing Photography & Design. There are 5 different desktop wallpapers available for easy downloading. Two of them have May 2010 calendars for convenience. If you use one let me know what you think.

Happy Tuesday! back to work...:(