Another Volunteer

It's early summer in the front yard display flower garden. For the third year in a row, the portulaca came back from seeds by itself. But just a few plants came back this year. This is a low growing plant that has succulent-type leaves, and requires little water. The flowers only open in full sun, though.

Thankfully the white color characteristics stayed with the plant and seeds. Once the seedlings were discovered growing in the spring, I was afraid that they would have some of the psychedelic colors that portulaca are known for. Plants that produce seeds can sometimes create seeds with characteristics different from the parent.

Early Summer

The front flower garden is finally getting into full swing. The purple coneflowers are looking good after lots of rains this spring. There is a 'dead time' in the garden between the spring bulbs and the time the perennials start up when nothing is blooming; the purple coneflowers are the first plant that begins the summer bloom season.

These were started from seed about two years ago. After admiring a neighbor's plants, I was later given some seeds from them. They were planted and nothing grew that year. So, some seeds were purchased form the store and planted the following year. About four plants survived infancy, and the rest of the seed packet was thrown out. These resulting plants lived through the summer and never bloomed or grew much.

All that changed the following year (last year), when they came up after the spring and bloomed, then started spreading throughout the summer. This is the second year of blossoms, and the plants are very healthy and happy from the looks of the abundant flowers. I will need to thin them out now, probably in time for the neighborhood Fall Plant Swap Brunch.

Liatris Envy

Last year, a neighbor across the street exchanged some plants with me. She gave up some of her lavender Liatris in return for some red cosmos plants that she admires every year. Her liatris was spreading and was being pulled up and thrown away. My cosmos come up from seed every year and always require thinning out, too.

I planted the litaris in the spring after it bloomed for her last year, and took care of it throughout the summer. This spring, it responded with a showy display of rather large 2 feet tall flower spikes looking like toilet bowl bristles. This week the neighbor remarked how good my liatris looked compared to her plants. She reasoned that this was due to the fact that my garden received more sun than her plants got. Maybe, but maybe someone is a better gardner.

Foxglove Finally

Foxglove was planted in spring of 2006, and is finally producing flowers this year. Pam's Choice was purchased as three plants from Michigan Bulb. Two of the plants were correct, but the third is ending up being a shorter pink variety - not what was ordered. I have heard from several sources that this company is not a good one, with the plant material not being top quality.

This plant is producing several spikes with the tallest being 6 feet (1.8 m). It appears to have additional flower stalks beginning, so there should be a show well into June. The online sources state that Foxglove is a biennial, meaning it booms in its second year and then dies. The landscape architect friends state that if the flower stalks are cut off before going to seed, the plant will live and continue to produce in future years.

While visiting Mount Vernon estate this past weekend, several varieties of foxglove were blooming in George Washington's garden. None were the Pam's Choice variety, but were shorter, and colors generally included pinks, lavenders, and light yellows.

Late Spring

A week later and the Poet daffodils (Narcissus poeticus) are blooming. These are a "geranium" type, with multiple blossoms on each stalk. They are fragrant, but only if you are nearby to notice. They came back quite well from last year.

The Red Emperor tulips have since finished blooming. Orange tinged tulips, and the Monsella tulips are now opening. I do not remember the exact type of orange tulips or where I got them from last year. The shorter later-blooming Monsella tulips are yellow with red stripes in them, and open wide in the sun. Although I am pleased with them, they do not resemble the pictures in the catalog, being smaller and less defined in shape.

Late Bloomers

One of the two new varieties of daffodils that grew for the first time last year are beginning to bloom now. The Lemon Chiffon daffodils have creamy white petals and long cups with a lemon yellow color. The lemon color gradually turns to a creamy peach after about a week. These easily multiplied after the first year, so some were lifted last spring and planted last fall for this year.

Red Emperor tulips are now blooming. These are the earliest 'big' tulips to come out. I tried orange emperor a few years back, but they did not bloom at the same time as the reds - a week or two later, and they did not come back or multiply well. Experience with Red Emperors is that each blub splits into 3 bulbs after blooming. Each resulting bulb is not quite as big as the original, and may or may not produce a flower the following year.

Spring Daffodils

The Ice Follies daffodils are blooming a bit earlier this year because of the warm weather. This are a reliable plant that easily multiplies year after year, and I like its visual interest. It is an early daffodil starting out with light yellow cups and creamy white petals, but the cups gradually turn white, too after about a week.

At the same time, the Fifer daffodils are blooming. These were found growing around the property when it was purchased, in the 1980's, hence they are named after the street. They are early too, but the flowers are somewhat smaller and unspectacular, with yellow petals and darker yellow cups.

Both types are planted in the front display garden to show up the property, and are doing well in full sun.