Native and Exotic Blooms For May GBBD

Let me put you on the spot!

Isn't native Iris versicolor pretty. Versi has loved the rain that has parked itself over my garden all spring and refuses to move. It's well established now, so it will make it through the droughts that will arrive in July!

A dramatic deep purple Iris germanica that looks black across the garden

The other stunner in the garden is a tall nearly black bearded iris with a slightly sweet fragrance that already needs to be divided. Music to my ears with a flower this gorgeous!

Penstemon X (P calycosus) continues to bloom everywhere.

Penstemon calycosus native to the Central Basin

Letting it go to seed means the Garden of Benign Neglect is a sea of hummingbird and bee favorites flowers for at least a month...

Photo from my missing post Take A Chance On Me

The noid peony was blooming earlier this month. It has the tiniest bit of fragrance, but the single bloom with the intense golden yellow stamens is what drew me from across the nursery to grab this plant clearly marked~'red peony'. Tell me the truth! Could you have resisted its charms?

Spiderworts are blooming in full force~This is cultivar 'Sweet Kate' of the lime colored foliage.

and who planted this pretty little flower? "Not I!" said the innocent gardener! But, it looks sweet among the rampaging pink Evening primroses.

Evening Primrose with agastache foliage

Noid daylily

Monarda bradburiana~ Who knew I would have to go all the way to Chicago

The Lurie summer 2009

and the Lurie to find a Middle Tennessee native monarda that can take the dry soil that Clay and Limestone dishes out.

Proven Winners Superbells® Cherry Star is being trialed in a container in full sun

I wish you all a marvelous week and a delightful May 2011 Bloom Day. Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day is brought to you by Carol, of May Dreams Gardens. Stop by her blog for links to blogs and blooms all over the known blogasphere. You're in for a treat~it's Spring (and Autumn in the Southern Hemphisphere) and gardens are dressed in their finest.

xxoogail

This post was written by Gail Eichelberger for my blog Clay and Limestone Copyright 2011.This work protected under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Please contact me for permission to copy, reproduce, scrape, etc.

Give Us Pleasure In The Flowers Today~April Bloom Day

Phlox pilosa, Aquilegia canadensis, Iris germanica, Lunaria annua

OH, give us pleasure in the flowers today;

And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here

All simply in the springing of the year.

(from A Prayer in Spring by Robert Frost)

Epimedium x youngianum 'Niveum' is gorgeous~
Even if you must lie on the ground to see it.

Phacelia bipinnatifida

Epimedium versicolor 'Sulfureum', columbine foliage and ajuga

Phlox divaricata

Iris germanica

Iris cristata

Red Tulips

Collinsea verna

Lunaria annua

Kale blooms attract bees, skippers and cabbage whites

Astranthium integrifolium -Entireleaf Western Daisy, a little native annual

Left of the Sitting Bench

Foam Flower

The Susan's Bed is greening and coloring up nicely

I wish you all a marvelous weekend and a delightful April 2011 Bloom Day. Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day is brought to you by Carol, of May Dreams Gardens. Stop by her blog for links to blogs and blooms all over the known blogasphere. You're in for a treat~it's Spring and gardens are dressed in their finest.

xxoogail

PS "Well," said Pooh, "what I like best -- " and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called”

This post was written by Gail Eichelberger for my blog Clay and Limestone Copyright 2011.This work protected under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Please contact me for permission to copy, reproduce, scrape, etc.

There are plants that capture our attention and never lose it.

A classic beauty Iris germanica

This bearded Iris is one of them.

Which might be surprising coming from a native plant enthusiast.

I met them when I was about 7 years old. A friend invited me to her house to play after school. They had a big sunny front yard filled with old fashioned flowers. The garden was being tended by her grandmother; a serious woman with the most amazing silver blue hair. She was very kind to an inquisitive little girl who peppered her with questions about the tall purple flower that smelled exactly like grape soda. She let me walk across the lawn to touch and smell the flowers I now know were German Iris.

Iris with Columbine, Shooting Star, Golden Ragwort and Foam Flower

To this day, their scent evokes the sweetest memories of kind friends, sunny gardens and silvery blue haired gardeners. Their tall form and rich lilac flowers fit nicely with my dear wildflower friends.

They are beautiful and smell luscious. Let's try something.

Imagine a warm spring day.
The birds are singing just over your shoulder.
There is a hint of sweetness in the air.
You feel the irresistible urge to move closer,
to find it.
It's right over there.
Tantalizingly sweet.
You are so close that you can see the beard,
touch the velvet petals and,
it smells delicious.
Just like grape soda.

Tell me, is there a plant that has captured your attention and never lost it?

xxoogail

This post was written by Gail Eichelberger for my blog Clay and Limestone Copyright 2011. This work protected under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. I grant you prior permission to use my feed and quotes of 100 words or less as long as you give credit. Other than those two things, if you want to use my stuff, just ask me. Really, I am a nice person if you just ask. Please contact me for permission to copy, reproduce, scrape, etc.