Gentle Ed

This post title is not some declaration of the true character my inner self but is the varietal name of a plant.  The flower is somewhat understated.  Its petals are short and rounded with barely visible ruffled edges.  A yellow eye spot sharply contrasts with maroon petals but is controlled.  White midribs strongly anchor the petals.  When searching the catalogs for new plants, I must admit that this name was a strong factor in my choice.

Elegant Candy was never selected for purchase here.  A visit to a local one man breeding operation placed me in contact with a huge pot of an expensive and much desired plant.  Its price was more than reasonable but when we returned home the pot's contents of three plants became obvious.  One was the named plant while the other two were these.  Strong ruffles and a vigorous growth habit contribute to my feelings of having purchased a bargain but a sense of having been slickered lingers.

Blueberry Candy was clearly chosen.  Pale peach ruffled petals sharply contrast with the purple eyespot.  This plant is well proportioned with the smaller flowers matching a mid-sized plant.  Dreams of a large Daylily bed persist but deer relish their flower buds.  A fenced large bed would look horrible and the deer would simply jump the fence to get to the buds.  Urine sprinkled on the ground keeps the deer away but the desired garden would be close to the public road.

Indian Giver is the horrible name of this beautiful flower.  It is offered for sale at $50.00 or more and may be well worth that price but I am slow to part with that much money.  This was the third plant purchased with Elegant Candy.  It has grown large enough to divide but I remain reluctant to hack apart a plant this beautiful.  Here we have more white ruffled edges on purple petals.

Ivory Edges is a rather obvious name for this stunning flower.  An exploding eyespot close to clearly defined ruffled edges makes a statement that can be easily seen from some distance away.  More than three dozen Daylilies grow here and I sometimes wonder what will become of them when I am elsewhere.  These plants hold their own against the weeds and would likely expand over a decade of no care.

Yellow Chiffon looks a little beat by mid afternoon on a cloudless hot July day.  Many mail order businesses offer a free plant with orders.  Usually these plants were unique enough to obtain varietal names but failed to gain wide acceptance.  This plant is modest in size and the flowers fade early in the day.  It arrived here hiding a horrible secret in its root mass.  A never before seen  sedge soon grew from the daylily root mass.  We have been diligently weeding it out for years but it remains an ever present wandering pest.  The triangular stem of that pest reminds us of the free plant with a secret that just keeps on giving.

Make The Most Of Today

If you only had today like these Gentle Ed daylily flowers, what would you do with your day?

These beautiful flowers have just one day.  They certainly make the most of it.  I'm headed out to spend some time enjoying them while I pull a few weeds.

A Certain Sadness

This time of year presents mixed emotions for those of us who garden.  Without notice efforts have shifted from the race to get ready for this year's garden to work directed toward next year.  A last flower and a last bud signal the end of the floral display for Gentle Ed.  Spent scapes are gone.  A few weeds are gone and the mulch is in place to carry this plant across the next two seasons.  Those of us who live this far North know all to well the name of that second season.  We usually experience our first frost before the end of next month.

Mom's Gatchellville Iris were timely divided and spent the hot days of July with their rhizomes exposed to full sun.  I find it hard to believe that this sun scald is good for the plants but it seems to be working.  New mulch was pulled away from the base of the iris to keep the sunburn coming.  Gatchellville, Pa. is the name of Becky's maternal grandmother's home town.  The family has taken these iris with them at every move.  They are well traveled and it feels good to maintain family connections.

Anise hyssop is the foreground plant with the purple flowers.  Golden stargazer lilies are planted nearby.  Native to our Great Plains, Anise hyssop is a fantastic butterfly plant.  This morning while looking out of the living room window, I saw a Monarch butterfly feeding on this plant.  It was up and working before I had managed to find the door.  Anyone interested in trying to help these butterflies survive could include this plant in their efforts.  The adults need milkweed as a site for eggs while Anise hyssop serves as a great food source for the fliers.

Cardinal flower is another colorful native that feeds butterflies.  This plant has so much going for it that I cannot imagine a garden without it.  Sheltered by my stone wall, this plant survived late hard frosts on its own.  Now, it is simply a feel good plant.  Just look at that red color.  The black seeds are on the sweet ciceley.  It's native, but we have wild populations growing here because of our actions. It does well among the ancient apple trees that line the steep slope of our kame terrace.

A basket of sun ripened and sun warmed tomatoes will chase away any feelings of sadness.  Italian Goliath is the varietal name of the pinkish colored tomatoes.  One of them completed my lunchtime BLT sandwich.  This is the only time of the year when we eat real bacon.  A BLT cannot be made without it and that sandwich is one of the reasons why we grow tomatoes.  This is also the only time of the year when we eat fresh tomatoes.  Garden fresh has totally turned us off store bought tomatoes.

Lunch dessert consisted of fresh warm black raspberries and vanilla ice cream.  This is without question a splendid time of year if one can maintain focus on the present day.  Harvest and flowers are what gardening is all about but both signal that an end is near.

First Flowers

First flowers of the season are helping us to see past the rampant weed growth overtaking large areas of the garden.  This Spiritual Corridor daylily was the second purchased by mail order.  Ruffled yellow edging is a little over the top but these flowers certainly catch and hold the eye.  Here again, several years were required for a sizable clump to develop but we now have one large enough to divide.

American native Cardinal Flower is rarely seen as a single flower.  Usually numerous blossoms crowd a vertical spike making it difficult to see the flower's structure.  Two up and three down with two white floaters are a combination  seldom seen.  Soon our gardens will be over run with this riot of red color.

In all honesty, this is the second flower for Gentle Ed.  The first blossom was sadly torn, perhaps by the all to common insects that seem to be everywhere now.  That is not all complaint since the Bluebirds are finding easy food for their nestlings.

Indian Giver is a beautiful variety with an insensitive name.  I seem to be a soft touch for ruffled edges in light colors.

Wineberry Candy was initially placed near the edge of a new planting bed.  Quack grass quickly reclaimed the area so this plant has faced a challenge from the start.  It clearly deserves a better location.  If we ever get the upper hand with all of our weeds, this plant deserves better siting.

Daylilies Center Stage

Destined To See is our first purchased daylily.  It has held this spot inside of the stone square since 2008.  The color combination, crinkled colored petal edge and scent made this plant irresistible.  All expectations have been exceeded with this one.  We could divide it to increase the number of plants but for now we will leave it alone.

Daylilies and Orientals are in competition with each other for top billing in our garden.  Clarity of color is a trait that usually favors the Orientals.  Hardiness in our harsh climate makes daylilies a winner here.  This Big Bird's pure color can successfully compete with anyone.  It will hold a place in our garden.

Blueberry Candy is new to us this year.  Every catalog that we have seen pictures this variety with white petals.  The descriptions characterize the petal color as creamy or rose.  The petal edge should have a thin stripe the same color as the eye.  What we have is less than what we expected but we find this plant a pleasant addition to our garden.  Next year it may be closer to type.

Nanuq is another plant in its first year here.  We are impressed with its flowers.  Pale yellow colors the newly opened petals but they quickly change to white.  It appears to be two different plants.  A bright pale yellow flower greets an early visitor while a nearly pure white flower is on display later in the day.

Gentle Ed was our extravagant purchase this year.  We usually shop the sales.  Close attention has been directed toward Gentle Ed as it attempted to bloom.  It did fail to completely open its first two flowers.  Daily watering has helped produce a perfect flower.

Yesterday the entire day was spent carrying water to the plants.  We use the two sprinkling can delivery system since our water comes from our own well.  With the cans all of the water is directed at the base of the plants.  Some of the garden did not get any water since the need is greater than our ability to deliver.  No rain is in the ten day forecast.  We must accept the fact that some of our plants are going to die in this drought.  Better them than me.