Reblooming Iris germanica ‘Immortality’
Iris germanica ‘Immortality’
Dahlia ‘Tsuku Yori No Shisha’
Dahlias From The Garden – No ID
Zinnia elegans ‘Purple Prince’
Zinnia elegans ‘Purple Prince’
Zinnia elegans ‘Purple Prince’ and Common Lantana
Dahlia ‘Totally Tangerine’
Lycoris radiata (Spider Lily)
Salvia guaranitica ‘Black and Blue’ and Rudbeckia fulgida (Orange Coneflower)
Immortality is a reblooming iris that has been surprising me with fresh blooms.
Thursday I had a fun but frustrating few minutes chasing a Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis ssp. astyanax).
(iNaturalist originally suggested this was Red-spotted Admiral (Limenitis arthemis) but the identification has been updated by two reviewers. The only other time I’ve recorded one in my garden is August 29, 2015. It may also have been incorrectly identified. Will have to check on that.)
Much quicker than I, this one escaped several close-up portraits so I can only show drastically cropped images.
I rely heavily on iNaturalist for identifications but its artificial intelligence algorithms are imperfect. It suggested Polites peckius, the Peck’s skipper for the next, but in fact the insect is yet another of the much more common Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus). When after a few hours no iNaturalist reviewer had seconded that id I submitted the images to Carolina Leps (Butterflies and Moths), a Facebook forum with local and willing experts. So okay, plenty of fieries this year.
For a week I have spotted a yellow butterfly sailing high across the garden and finally yesterday managed a quick shot of a Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae). Generally butterflies prefer flowers which are single in form, but the cloudless stopped at several of the frilly, fringed Dahlia ‘Tsuku Yori No Shisha’. Who could resist it!
I have seen several clouded skippers this year and posted one earlier in the week. This one landed yesterday on a segment of verbena bonariensis that still has fresh flowers. Most have gone to seed. These images captured the markings and detail of Clouded Skipper (Lerema accius), so I am sharing them here for reference.
Hope you had a chance to marvel at October’s harvest moon. Enjoy a fine weekend and thanks for reading.
In A Vase On Monday – Aloe And Iris
Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden invites us to share an arrangement composed of materials collected from our gardens.
Aloe from last week’s vase made an easily accessible starting point for today. The focal point is a reblooming yellow iris from a foundation bed in front of the house. The timing of this iris is interesting—one in the back garden had already bloomed a full month earlier.
Reblooming Iris – a passalong
This one opened Friday, the day after Hurricane Michael passed through town. We were extremely fortunate, not even losing power, though many neighborhoods nearby were without for days due to fallen trees crashing on power lines. On a day following a hurricane the sky is always clear blue, incredulously intense, pristinely innocent.
Leaves from Gold Dust Aucuba and cuttings from some ubiquitous-in-autumn, yellow potted chrysanthemums serve as filler.
Reblooming Iris and Aucuba japonica ‘Variegata’ (Gold Dust Aucuba)
Materials
Flowers
Chrysanthemum
Iris
Foliage
Aloe
Aucuba japonica ‘Variegata’ (Gold Dust Aucuba)
Vase
Ceramic bowl, black matte exterior, red glazed interior
Weighted florist’s pin, black
In A Vase On Monday – Aloe And Iris
This black and white study of the chrysanthemum buds illustrates how yellow serves as white in balancing light and darks in a floral design.
In A Vase On Monday – Aloe And Iris
Thanks to Cathy at Rambling In The Garden for hosting and giving us an opportunity to share flower designs across the world. Visit her to discover what she and others found to place In A Vase On Monday.
In A Vase On Monday – Blue And White In Autumn
Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden invites us to share an arrangement composed of materials collected from our gardens.
In A Vase On Monday – Blue And White In Autumn
With the autumn season officially upon us, my garden is overgrown and in need of some tough love. Even the zinnias are fading. Today’s vase is fitted with a few rebloomers and lingerers, beginning with several lusciously fragrant gardenias. Of the the few zinnias that remain most are coming in with very tiny blooms. I spotted several diminutive white ones to include. There are also a couple of pristine Shasta daisies making a surprising appearance for this time of year.
In A Vase On Monday – Blue And White In Autumn
The title of this vase would more accurately be “purple, blue and white in autumn,” with Angelonia from the meditation circle providing purple hues and Blue Sky salvia offering up a true blue.
In A Vase On Monday – Blue And White In Autumn
In A Vase On Monday – Blue And White In Autumn
Materials
Flowers
Angelonia ‘Purple’
Gardenia jasminoides
Leucanthemum x superbum (Shasta Daisy)
Salvia uliginosa ‘Blue Sky’ (Bog sage)
Zinnia ‘Cut and Come Again’ (Zinnia elegant pumila), Botanical Interests.
Vase
Small matte-glazed blue ceramic vase
Thanks to Cathy at Rambling In The Garden for hosting and giving us an opportunity to share flower designs across the world. Visit her to discover what she and others found to place In A Vase On Monday.
In A Vase On Monday – Yellow Iris
Cathy at Rambling In The Garden invites us to share an arrangement every Monday using materials collected from our gardens.
A reblooming yellow iris appeared suddenly that I was eager to share. While awaiting Hurricane Florence earlier in the week, I prepared a vase for today by foraging foliage from several previous weeks’ vases and pulling in a freshly cut dahlia and a handful of zinnias.
In A Vase On Monday – Yellow Iris
In A Vase On Monday – Yellow Iris
There was not time to fuss with this one. We are safe from the storm and feeling very grateful. Hope you dear readers in the affected areas fared well also.
Materials
Flowers
Dahlia ‘Fireworks’
Iris
Zinnia ‘Cut and Come Again’ (Zinnia elegant pumila), Botanical Interests.
Foliage
Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’ (Wormwood)
Canna
Gardenia
Vase
Porcelain Ikebana vase, Georgetown Pottery, Maine. Triangle Ikebana Blue Wave (6.5 W x 6.5 L x 2H inches)
In A Vase On Monday – Yellow Iris
Thanks to Cathy at Rambling In The Garden for hosting and giving us an opportunity to share flower designs across the world. Visit her to discover what she and others found to place In A Vase On Monday.
Reblooming Iris August 27, 2016
It feels a bit strange, but welcome all the same, to see a bearded iris reblooming. This one is a pass-along and I do not know its name. This image is from August 27. The flowers lasted but a short time under the strong summer sun.
Reblooming Iris August 27, 2016
There’s been essentially no rain for 6 weeks so the garden looks sad. A few blooms here and there lift my spirits, but can do only so much. I do have a few photographs of flowers taken over the last couple of weeks to record and document the waning days of Summer 2016. Today seems to be bloom day so the timing works well. Some of the pictures from September 2 have water droplets that disprove my memory, but the rain was brief, not the quenching, restorative kind.
Zinnia – September 2, 2016
Tradescantia (Spiderwort) – September 2, 2016
Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ (Herbstfreude) – September 2, 2016
Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ (Herbstfreude) (Stonecrop) September 15, 2016
Salvia greggii ‘Furman’s Red’ (Autumn Sage) – September 2, 2016
Salvia greggii ‘Furman’s Red’ (Autumn Sage) – September 2, 2016
Rudbeckia laciniata (Green-Headed Coneflower) – September 2, 2016
Rudbeckia laciniata (Green-Headed Coneflower) – September 2, 2016
Rudbeckia fulgida (Orange Coneflower) – September 2, 2016
Rudbeckia fulgida (Orange Coneflower) – September 2, 2016
Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm’ (Black-eyed Susan) – September 2, 2016
Physostegia virginiana (Obedient Plant) – September 2, 2016
Physostegia virginiana (Obedient Plant) – September 2, 2016
Marigold
Perovskia atriplicifolia (Russian Sage)
Periwinkle (Vinca) – September 2, 2016
Gardenia jasminoides – September 2, 2016
Garden Phlox Phlox paniculata ‘Nicky’ – September 2, 2016
Euphorbia ‘Shorty’ (Shorty Spurge) – September 2, 2016
Cleome hassleriana (Spider Flower) – September 2, 2016
Buddleja davidii ‘Adokeep’ (Adonis blue Butterfly Bush) – September 2, 2016
Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’ (Wormwood) – September 2, 2016
With apologies to anyone who is sensitive to spiders, this intrepid garden sentry has been a constant presence for several weeks. Just after I discovered it (and almost backed into it), the Yellow Garden spider relocated to its current location from the other side of the tree. It is also sometimes know as Writing Spider.
Argiope aurantia (Yellow Garden Spider) -August 27, 2016
Argiope aurantia (Yellow Garden Spider) – September 2, 2016
With the pressing heat the garden has not been tended for weeks. I made a quick stop this afternoon in search of Antirrhinum majus (Snapdragon) to replace Angelonia, the stalwart of the meditation circle from June until frost.
I should have shopped at a better garden center but it is unlikely I will have time to get to one. At this store the available snapdragons were generically labelled and although I had hoped for white ones, the choices were either “unknown” (because no flowers had opened) or yellow or this multicolored one that I chose. It sports mixed flowers of red, pink, coral and yellow and should add some pep to the labyrinth.
Antirrhinum majus (Snapdragon) – September 15, 2016
Antirrhinum majus (Snapdragon) – September 15, 2016
Reblooming Iris germanica
Reblooming Iris germanica
In A Vase On Monday- Lemon Yellow
It is interesting each week to join Cathy’s floral challenge called In A Vase On Monday. Her goal is to nudge us to fill a vase using materials gathered in one’s own garden.
Today’s vase features a single iris stalk with two open flowers and three buds. This iris is one of several selected at our community’s plant swap last October which had the good manners to be a reblooming variety and a nice color. Since the first of September these passalong irises have enlivened a small southwestern-corner bed with numerous richly hued and fragrant flowers.
Reblooming Iris germanica
I used strongly patterned, boldly colored Canna leaves to add balance and drama to the arrangement. This orange-flowered canna has not bloomed for the last two years and perhaps needs to be divided; nevertheless, its foliage is attractive and adds nice height to the southern side garden.
On a whim I cut a few stalks of wispy Pink Muhly Grass to add a softer element to the design. I liked the one curving shape introduced by a grass stem, but overall I do not think this material was particularly effective or necessary.
In A Vase On Monday- Lemon Yellow
The hand painted Fenton Glass vase, a gift from a sister, proved to be the perfect height for today’s flowers, approximately 1:3. The diameter of its opening was just snug enough to hold the elements upright and stable. The yellowish-green coloring toward the base subtly echoed the bright lemony yellow of the iris.
In A Vase On Monday- Lemon Yellow
Materials
1 stem reblooming Iris germanica
1 small stalk Canna
6 stems Muhlenbergia capillaris (Pink Muhly Grass)
Thanks to Cathy at Rambling In The Garden for hosting. Discover what delightful things she and others are placing In A Vase On Monday.
Gardenia jasminoides ‘Chuck Hayes’
Gardenia jasminoides ‘Chuck Hayes’ fell victim to the cold winter and did not bloom in spring. Most of the shrubs have recovered now and offer occasional flowers. Two weeks ago I cut several for a Monday vase. I ended up not using them as the flowers were too far past their prime, but I enjoyed their sweet fragrance for several days.
This evening I spied a fresh bloom, apparently home to a little translucent, white spider. This may be a crab spider or a ghost spider.
Gardenia jasminoides ‘Chuck Hayes’
More of the yellow reblooming bearded German Iris have opened this week and the white Iris germanica ‘Immortality’ will soon follow. On the left beside the irises a Heuchera villosa ‘Big Top Bronze’ (Coral Bells) has been blooming for several weeks. Although the plant tag indicated this cultivar could tolerate full sun, even planted here in part sun its leaves have brown edges, crisped by the hot summer rays.
Heuchera villosa ‘Big Top Bronze’ (Coral Bells) and Reblooming Iris
Autumn Joy sedum is fully open in front of the northern border. Several bees and a wasp were feeding on it. This group of plants have a dusky rose color, while nearby some purchased a year earlier have a flatter top and brighter pink hue.
Hylotelephium telephium ‘Herbstfreude’ (Autumn Joy)
Reblooming Iris germanica (Bearded iris)
This morning the yellow, reblooming iris has opened adding a bright cheeriness to the small island in the southwest corner of the garden.
Reblooming Iris germanica (Bearded iris)
Until a better home could be found for them, these passalongs were planted here temporarily last fall in what was planned to be a part-shade garden. The maple that was providing the shade had to be removed as it was getting too large and its roots were spreading too far and wide. I need to give some thought to what to do with this island bed now that it is sunny again. This could be a fun little area to plant and the iris seems to like it.
Reblooming Iris germanica (Bearded iris)
Reblooming Iris germanica (Bearded iris)
pbmGarden 