Flowers Everywhere

This is one of the last Siberian iris purchased here.  The catalog picture displayed this plant as having dirty white flowers.  For several years no purchase was made since we enjoy pure white flowers.  Imagine our surprise when the new purchase first opened its blossoms here.  Over the years the mail order scraps have taken hold and are now impressive.  We want to divide our clump and will once again put it on the to do list.

Nearby our Unadilla home, an older woman lived in a very small building.  She was an excellent neighbor allowing us to tap her maple trees and engage us in pleasant conversation.  This plant was one that she carefully tended.  It was given to us by her daughter.  These plant to people connections bring to the surface pleasant memories.  This written record will help us remember since we would now be accurately classified as elderly.

 

This is another of our self planted treasures.  Digitalis is classified as a poisonous plant but only adults live here.  A former student has pleasant memories of her interaction with these flowers when she was a child.  She placed two potted plants outside of her door so that her daughter could have a similar experience.  We also find the shrinking tunnel wildly marked with colored dots magical.  Its chance occurrence close to our stone wall only increases the magic. 

This Woodland sedum has no flowers yet but its light bright leaves are beautiful in their own right.  Growing close to the sizeable stone placed to make the slope manageable adds to the appeal but that one weed needs to go.  In the not too distant past I used hand power to move this stone to its final resting place.  Repeated similar actions may be part of the reason why back ache pain is now nearly a constant companion.  The lichen covered grain of the stone and its companion plants looks great.

These Dianthus flowers look totally magical as they seem to float in the air.  Their scent is so compelling that we violated our do not pick the flowers rule with two flowers in a bowl on the kitchen counter.  These are truly a wonder.

 

 

These are the remains of an early flower named Prairie smoke.  It has been twice featured in earlier posts.  Most flowers leave nothing behind after their work making the next generation's seed is formed.  These look fragile but remain intact. 

Self Planted Beauties

Foxglove is a common name for this plant.  That name makes no sense to me since nothing about this plant suggests an item of clothing that any wild animal might wear.  The tubular tunnel shape of the flowers would likely encourage a child of any age to insert fingers into the blossom.  An acquaintance remembers her childhood fascination with these flowers and bought a potted plant so that her daughter could also have her own memories of this plant.  Digitalis is another name for this plant since it is the natural source for the chemical used in a heart medication of that name.  All parts of this plant are considered poisonous if eaten but not all who admire this plant know that.

  

We did not plant seed nor transplant this Foxglove in our shade garden.  Somehow a seed found its way here.  There is no way that we could weed out this single plant despite its pure white color.  We prefer the more vibrant pink or purple coloration frequently seen.  This plant is self seeded and young plants can be easily transplanted when they are young.  The decision ahead of us is whether or not we will let this plant produce seed.

Rose campion is another self seeder that establishes a large number of plants in a rather small area.  This plant is a favorite here both because of its flower color and its foliage color.  Here again these plants can be easily transplanted when small.  We are unable to keep up with our several gardens and may harvest seed this fall to get something attractive growing on ground that we cannot take good care of anymore.

 

This photo shows the view looking out from the house toward the garden.  The rose bush and the Smoke bush occupy a planting bed that we have completely lost control of.  The rose bush was a gift from Jane and she was shocked to see its size if left unpruned.  These Rose campion plants are self sown and seem to do an excellent job of eliminating the weeds in their ground. 
 

March 1, A New Record ? !

There were a couple of very excited gardeners here this morning.  For March 1 in upstate New York, it was warm and balmy.  We decided to get ready and head down to play in the garden by the road.  It took us a while to get everything together.  Where did I put my favorite nippers last fall anyway?  By the time we were all ready to go out it began to rain!  I was crestfallen, but we decided to take the truck for a ride to visit the back. By the time we got back there the rain let up. We had a fabulous time  in the woods.  I saw a flock of bluebirds and that was fantastic. While we were back there the rain stopped, but the wind was picking up.  Our original plan seemed within reach so we made a pit stop at the house then headed down the lane to garden by the road.

A walk around inspection tour of the plants no longer covered by snow was first.  These foxglove plants flourished under the snow cover. They look terrific for now!

One thing we have discovered about this garden bed is that almost everything grows like Jack's beanstalk.   Here are three Dame's Rocket plants.  We love the flowers but these plants fill  the picture now and  will be gigantic later.  Ed will need his pry bar  and determination to tackle them.  They are definitely not the project for today!

The green tips of King Alfred daffodils are a welcome sight.  Just thinking about those bright yellow flowers makes me happy!  But what about today's fun?

Here is a close look at one of Ed's Autumn Joy sedums.  The time for cutting these plants back is right NOW!  It's a good thing I found those nippers!  Ed removed the cages and we worked side by side.  The idea was to cut back the dead stalks before the green shoots get bigger.  Ed dug out any weeds near the sedums muttering about the quack grass sneaking in from next door.
                                                                         

As we worked the wind was picking up.  Ed had to chase his hat several times and the trugs kept blowing over.  I'm a little rusty using my garden cart, but I only did one wheelie and I did not end up on the ground.

Now that's what I call progress! We finished the entire row of sedum plants.

When our mail was delivered, our mail carrier remarked, " In the garden on March 1, isn't that a new record!"  Maybe, but  we got a glimpse of spring and we grabbed the chance to enjoy it!  We knew it must be time for lunch.  Ed cut back just one Siberian iris and then we headed back up the lane to the house.

The rest of the first day of March featured rain, thunder, winds, plummeting temperatures and finally some snow  but we had a glorious morning!