Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Now in Bloom

Now in full bloom here are Aquilegia (columbines), Aruncus dioicus (goatsbeard), Dianthus deltoides, Polemonium caeruleum (Jacob's ladder), Iris sibirica (Siberian iris), Dianthus barbatus (Sweet Williams), Lupinus polyphyllus, Digitalis grandiflora and one lonely Oriental poppy.

I fell in love with the pictures of these Songbird Mix aquilegias on the Swallowtail seeds website and started some last year. Here is one of the products, a long-spurred, upwards facing flower, small plant (less than 2 ft tall). I have another that flowered a pale yellow, but no blues.


My in-laws are in town visiting and I enjoy leisurely tours through the garden with my mother-in-law, who also enjoys gardening. She mentioned that her Siberian irises are doing nothing much and I pointed out these pale blue ones of mine, which have taken three years to start blooming! About half of mine still have no blooms, but I'll generously give them another few years and a "talking to", as another gardener friend admonished.


The sloping rock bed is full of color with Aquilegias, Digitalis grandiflora (yellow foxglove), purple alpine asters, pink dianthus, and the start of thyme's season of purple blooms.


The yellow foxglove (at the top of the picture) is extremely hardy and requires ordinary garden conditions. It does very well here, but of course is very poisonous. Like the drug digitalis, it can slow the heart to the point of stopping it altogether.


Two grey plants do fabulous in my garden: Lamb's ears (tall grey plant on left) and Artemisia "Silvermound" (fluffy moundish plant at left). Both need no special care, full to part sun, and low to moderate amounts of water. The lamb's ears creeps outwards while the silvermound does not spread.


Here's a moth the dog could get along with. It has a furry white coat!


Alpine asters amid three colors of Dianthus deltoides. All are great rock garden plants, though I need to shear the flowers off after the blooming season to keep them tidy-looking.

2 comments:

O.I.M said...

hello gardenista. wow...lots going on in your garden right now. it looks great. I have foxglove for the first time this year. with a five year old running around it's poisonous qualities are a concern for sure. but it's planted out of easy reach and there's a strict hands-off policy in effect. It really is beautiful in bloom.

I love that moth picture. I have to admit your dog fluff situation is something I have never encountered. moth and dog alike made me chuckle.

thanks for the tag. my six random facts have been posted. it was fun.

cheers and happy gardening.
irena

Anonymous said...

OOOOOhhh ahhhh

very nice!
I love the foxglove. I always had the wild pink and white ones at my cottage when I was little. I never knew they were that poisonous! Good think I didn't chew on them :). These ones are more of a dwarf variety, no? They don't seem as tall and floppy as the taller ones.

Your garden is looking great! It puts almost all warmer clamate gardens to shame!! :)